The weekly Radiation Bulletin has been published since 1985 by the Abalone Alliance Clearinghouse (SF California USA). It is produced using a combination of social bookmarking and programming. You can search the thousands of stories by going here.

Every week there are at least 700 to 1,000 articles covering nuclear issues around the world. The Rad Bull distills this into a digestible stew.

The Radiation Bulletin opens and closes by clicking on the Green or Blue Highlighted bars. To access the full news story click on the Story's Title

Welcome to the new design format for the newsletter. I'm also going back to the older name, Radiation Bulletin, which had been used for over 13 years prior to the "Top Stories" version. Comments are welcome. The new Accordian design compresses the newsletter into a very tight format that should make it a lot easier to review all of the stories.

The NPT conference continues to be a major news maker, or at least with the alternative press. The global push to create a nuclear free zone was pretty much destroyed by the U.S. refusing to put Israel on the hotseat over its failure to sign nuclear treaties. In one of the most controversial stories to break, secret documents were released about U.S. plans to release destablizing troops, even a full attack on Iran. The Korean situation also continues to get hotter, with one Russian expert weighing in that the North had nothing to do with the sinking of the South Korean ship.

Internationally, the country of Vietnam is going ahead with plans to construct a number of nuclear reactors. The government press in the country is covering the issue as if all is well. The UK nuclear situation continues to be a major concern with EDF meeting with Huhne to discuss their demands that the government help finance the construction of new reactors. Six workers were contaminated by Cobalt at a Foundry in France. A new story out of Switzerland over where Europe should be dumping n-waste was released and there is a great new website called bank Track that lists what banks around the world are financing nuclear energy. CitiCorp in the U.S. is the biggest bank from the U.S. involved. In Canada the conservative Harper government is attempting to pass new legislation that would overrule all opposition to nuclear energy development, while there is growing opposition around the great lakes on plans to ship old steam turbines out of the country for recycling by the Swedish Studsvik.

In the U.S. Obama tried to sneak through $9 billion to build 3 new reactors in the U.S. in military supplemental legislation. It passed in the senate but was delayed in the House of Reps. The state of Oklahoma's governor vetoed legislation that would have opened the state to more nuclear development. Energy Solutions is moving some of its main operations to Oak Ridge Tennessee (Getting tired of attacks in Utah!!!) The company is also involved in Europe with several new contract bids in the news. The WCS Texas waste dump continues to make news due to the recent disclosure of offers to take waste from around the country rather than from just Texas and Vermont.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on waste held another meeting and this coming week will be the national conference on nuclear waste in Chicago.

"Soil excavated from an area outside the nuclear reactor building at the Vermont Yankee plant in Vernon over the last month likely contain much of the radioactive material that has leaked from underground pipes in recent years, but the state Health Department said independent testing is expected to continue indefinitely to be sure no more remains.

Officials said they have removed 180 cubic feet of dirt from the site this month, material now bagged and awaiting shipment to a nuclear waste facility."

"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. "

"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."

"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."

"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. "

"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."

"A Connecticut River fish caught four miles upstream from the Vermont Yankee nuclear reactor this winter tested positive for low levels of strontium-90, a highly dangerous radioactive isotope recently confirmed in soil outside the plant.

But the Department of Health said Monday that the fish's strontium-90 was not related to this winter's radioactive leak at Vermont Yankee, and state officials attributed the strontium to atmospheric testing in the 1960s and the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 20 years ago, which spread radioactive fallout even as far away as Vermont."

"The issue of tritium-contaminated water that leaked from the Oyster Creek nuclear generating station in Lacey dominated the annual briefing Tuesday night of the plant's safety performance.

The May 14 discovery of water containing tritium " a weak radioactive isotope that is a byproduct of nuclear fission " has been of especial interest to environmentalists and other plant critics, who attended the meeting conducted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Exelon Nuclear, which operates the plan, has said the water was residue from a July 2007 leak from pipes in an underground vault. The NRC is in the process of verifying that statement.

"The outstanding question, which we hope will be clarified, is whether the NRC helped Exelon to hide the truth from the public" regarding the May 14 discovery, Richard Webster, legal director of the Environmental Law Center, said prior to the assessment meeting held at the Toms River Holiday Inn."

"Entergy Corp Chief Executive J. Wayne Leonard said on Monday that building new nuclear plants remains too costly and will prevent many utilities from participating in the fledgling nuclear renaissance in the United States.

"Utilities do not want to take that risk," Leonard said at the Reuters Global Energy Summit in Houston. "It's risk we don't control."

New Orleans-based Entergy suspended two license applications filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for proposed new reactors to be built either in Louisiana or Mississippi in 2008 after being unable to negotiate a favorable construction contract."

"The Tennessee Valley Authority has issued the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement on the generation options associated with Bellefonte Nuclear Plant in north Alabama.

With the statement final, four of five detailed studies are complete to support a future decision by the TVA Board of Directors about building or completing a reactor at Bellefonte.

"Completing a nuclear unit is one option that would help us meet our customers' growing needs and provide a reliable and safe power source at significantly less cost per installed kilowatt than other generation options," said Ashok Bhatnagar, senior vice president of TVA's Nuclear Generation Development and Construction. "At the same time, additional nuclear generation leads to a reduction of our carbon footprint."

The options being studied are whether to finish one of two partially built reactors at Bellefonte, build a newly designed Westinghouse Advanced Passive 1000 reactor there or take no action. "

"Tests on soil samples taken at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant in Vernon now confirm the presence of a new - and more serious - form of radioactivity in the ground outside the reactor building.

Yankee spokesman Larry Smith released a statement late Friday afternoon confirming the presence of strontium 90 -- a "hard to detect" isotope found 15 feet below ground in soils excavated during the search for a broken pipe leaking tritium last March."

Video: Former workers of the Rocky Flats Nuclear plant are dying at an alarming rate.

This video is about this coverup and scandal.

"Clinical examination for six French workers exposed to radiation during a mission was underway, so was the inquiry into the accident, the French Nuclear Security Authority (ASN) confirmed to Xinhua on Friday.

The incident occurred Wednesday when the six workers were repairing a machine containing radioactive cobalt but unfortunately encountered a radiation leak during their operation at Feursmetal, a forge at the western French town of Feurs.

"Clinical examination is currently conducted in order to record and evaluate the threats to their health. Furthermore, the ‘Procureur de la Republique' (public prosecutor) is conducting an inquiry into this incident that will provide further information," ASN told Xinhua in an email statement."

"Fifteen area residents filed federal lawsuits on Friday on their behalf or an estate, claiming that the operations of two former nuclear fuel plants in the Parks Township-Apollo area caused illness and death.

The defendants, Babcock & Wilcox Power Generation Group and Atlantic Richfield, operated a uranium fuel-processing plant in Apollo and a plutonium plant in Parks from 1957-86.

The lawsuits add to similar suits first filed Jan. 26 in the same federal court. They were filed by the same attorneys from the Providence, R.I., law firm Motley Rice, specialists in environmental law cases, and a Pittsburgh law firm, Goldberg, Persky and White. "

"An investigation has been launched following a fire at the Dounreay nuclear plant in Caithness.

Fire alarms alerted the site's firefighters to the blaze at the Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) at about 0040 BST on Friday.

The fire involved sodium which had earlier been removed from pipe work and stored in a small tented enclosure.

Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL) said the fire was extinguished.

"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 Northwest has taken prompt and aggressive action to address a string of unplanned shutdowns, said Scott Oxenford, chief nuclear officer of the Columbia Generating Station.

Tuesday night the Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a meeting in Richland to provide the public with information about the Richland nuclear power reactor's performance last year. About 30 people attended.

Because of the unplanned shutdowns, or scrams, the plant has been receiving heightened oversight. As of Tuesday, 29 of the nation's 104 power reactors were receiving heightened oversight because of issues. "

"The Department of Labor (DOL) Site Exposure Matrices (SEM) Website is a repository of information gathered from a variety of sources regarding toxic substances present at Department of Energy (DOE) and Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) facilities covered under Part E of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA). In putting together SEM, DOL held round table meetings with workers from DOE facilities all over the country and gathered their input on the hazards at these sites. DOL also obtained copies of thousands of documents from DOE regarding toxic substances at those facilities.

In addition to toxic substance information, the SEM Website also contains information regarding scientifically established links between toxic substances and illnesses. Displayed links for diagnosed illnesses show how these correlate to toxic substance exposures. The relationship between toxic substances and diagnosed illnesses shown in SEM is derived from records of research by recognized medical authorities maintained by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). DOL continually updates these relationships as new disease associations are recognized by NLM. The causal links provided by NLM do not represent an exclusive list of the pathways necessary for an affirmative Part E causation determination. Every case is evaluated on its own evidentiary merits. (Please note, however that SEM does not address the relationship between radiation and cancer. For purposes of EEOICPA, the relationship between radiation and cancer is evaluated by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH))."

"U. S. panel advises $150,000 payments

Former Bethlehem Steel workers and their families got the good news Thursday for which they had been waiting for years.

A federal advisory panel recommended that former Bethlehem workers"or their surviving family members " be compensated for diseases that might have resulted from their work on the company's Cold War-era nuclear programs.

The recommendation by the 16- member Advisory Board on Radiation and Worker Health places the Bethlehem workers in a "special exposure cohort" that makes them eligible for federal payments of $150,000. "

"New delhi Soumya is just 13, but she knows all about bone marrow transplants, radioactive sources and what exposure to radiation can do to the human body. She has first-hand experience, for her father Ajay Jain had been kept in isolation at the Army Research and Referral Hospital, undergoing treatment for exposure to a radiation source.

Jain finally returned home on Thursday, more than a month after he was admitted to Max Hospital in Pitampura, on April 10, with a burn injury on the right side of his posterior. It took him another five days to realise that the piece of metal he had kept in his wallet for months had caused the injury. It turned out to be a piece of radioactive Cobalt-60. "

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is holding the public meeting to get comments regarding any environmental issues the agency should consider as the addition to Duke Energy's site plan is reviewed.

The public will have a chance on June 17 to express concerns over plans to build a pond and dam to provide a back-up water source in case of prolonged drought at the proposed Lee nuclear facility near Gaffney.

Duke applied in late 2007 to build and operate two AP1000 reactors at the site and updated the application last September with plans to create an additional water source called Make-Up Pond C, to support the proposed reactors. The NRC is seeking comments specifically regarding the environmental issues associated with creating the pond, said Roger Hannah, an NRC spokesman."

"Prairie Island Nuclear plant operators knew of the potential for flooding in the plant's Unit 1 and Unit 2 turbine buildings, but failed to understand the implications on important safety-related equipment, according to a preliminary finding submitted to the plant Thursday by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The failure to identify and correct the potential safety issues in a timely manner is a significant human performance issue and cause for further review by the agency, according to NRC inspectors. Plant officials have 10 days to respond to the findings before the NRC decides whether to take enforcement action.

"We're waiting now for their response," said NRC spokesperson Viktoria Mitlyng."

"In a letter dated May 20, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Petition Review Board denied a request by Rep. Paul Hodes, D-N.H., that it order Entergy to keep its Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant off-line until a number of actions have been completed regarding a recent leak of contaminants into the groundwater under the site.

Hodes had asked the NRC to prevent Yankee from restarting after its current refueling outage until the removal of tritiated water from the ground is completed.

He also asked that Entergy finish removing soil that was contaminated with radioactive cesium, manganese, cobalt, zinc and strontium before the plant is restarted.

In addition, Hodes requested that the root cause analysis, the final report on why tritium leaked from the plant, and the NRC's review of documents submitted to it are both completed prior to restart. "

"The maximum radiation dose that might have been received by a child due to a leak of tritiated water at Vermont Yankee was .000072 percent of the average annual dose received from natural sources, according to a document submitted by Entergy, which owns and operates the nuclear power plant in Vernon, to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

According to the report, consumption over a one-year period of fish from the Connecticut River or vegetables, beef and milk raised with river water would have resulted in a one-year dose of .00026 millirems.

The average daily dose to humans from natural sources is 360 millirems.

Entergy's dose calculations have been verified to be accurate and are "a small fraction of the regulatory requirement of 3 mrem per year," according to a Ground Water Monitoring Inspection Report released by the NRC on Thursday. "

"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission yesterday released internal records that show one of its senior employees filed a pair of complaints questioning the agency's own diligence in obtaining Davis-Besse documents from FirstEnergy Corp. in 2005 and 2007.

Those records also show the employee, Jim Gavula, was later told by NRC brass that the agency - highly critical of FirstEnergy in the past - believes it did everything within its power to get more cooperation.

Mr. Gavula, an NRC employee for 24 years who now helps the agency review technical documents, filed the complaints as a senior reactor inspector in 2006 and 2008. Such records, often kept secret, were authorized by Mr. Gavula to be made public."

"A nuclear power plant operated by The Southern Co. will face more federal inspections because the electronics controlling an emergency power system on one of its reactors failed to work, federal regulators said Friday.

The problems affected an automatic control system for one of the diesel generators attached to a nuclear reactor at Plant Hatch near Baxley in southeast Georgia. The commission said the problem was a low-to-moderate safety risk and ordered an additional round of inspections since it previously identified another problem at the plant related to an emergency diesel generator."

The UN NPT Conference taking place in New York City has set up an online TV channel to cover the month long event. This link is to a presentation by IEER's Arjun Makhijani. There are many more shorts as well. For example, here is the link to all the working papers submitted for the conference, including many promoting nuclear energy.

"Arjun Makhijani, Head of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, explains the problems in dealing with nuclear waste and dangers related to reprocessing.

 

"Environmentalists and local politicians Friday cheered a Colorado Division of Reclamation Mining and Safety order late Thursday directing Denver-based Cotter Corp. to begin curtailing drinking water contamination from an inactive Jefferson County uranium mine this summer.

Uranium pollution revealed to be more than 13 times state standards was contaminating Ralston Creek, and the state rejected a cleanup plan proposed by Cotter, which owns the Cotter Mill uranium processing facility near Canon City and several uranium mines around the state.

The mining division required Cotter to begin water treatment at its Schwartzwalder uranium mine west of Arvada by July 31.

"The mining division took bold and decisive action to protect our drinking water," Jefferson County Commissioner Kathy Hartman said in a release. "I am pleased to see immediate action to protect Ralston Reservoir."

Uranium levels at the mine itself exceeded 1,400 times Colorado water quality standards.

"Uranium Resources, Inc. announced today that the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit has denied a petition for a rehearing or en banc review of the court's previous decision that upheld, in all respects, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) original decision to grant URI a license to conduct in-situ recovery (ISR) uranium mining in McKinley County, New Mexico.

On March 8, 2010, the Tenth Circuit denied the original petition by several parties opposed to uranium mining for review of URI's NRC license, which the Commission issued to Hydro Resources, Inc. (HRI), Uranium Resources' wholly-owned subsidiary, in 1998. One of the opposed parties, The Eastern Navajo Dine Against Uranium Mining, subsequently filed a petition requesting a rehearing or en banc review of the March 8 decision. In a May 18, 2010, order, the court denied the rehearing request and indicated that no judges of the court acted on the request for an en banc review. The petitioners now have 90 days from May 18, 2010 to file a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court requesting that Court's review of the Tenth Circuit's decision."

"Russia is ready to invest $1 billion in uranium exploration in Namibia, Russia's state nuclear firm said on Thursday as it seeks to compete for projects with global miner Rio Tinto in the African country.

"We're ready to start investing already this year," the head of state corporation Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, told journalists.

Namibian President Hifikepunye Pohamba was visiting Moscow to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

Kiriyenko said the uranium extracted from Namibia could be used for a nuclear power plant Russia was building in Turkey."

"Thirty-six states could start shipping loads of radioactive waste through Texas for more than a decade _ likely crisscrossing the Dallas-Ft. Worth Metroplex on major highways and train tracks _ if they get approval this summer to send their contaminated materials to a West Texas disposal site.

The proposal to allow the states to send low-level waste to a site in Andrews County has prompted concern from some state lawmakers, who worry about the safety of communities along travel routes _ including the Interstate 20 corridor through North Texas _ and from environmentalists, who worry about radioactive leakage and contamination at the site.

An eight-member commission is expected to take up the issue in coming weeks, considering rules that would govern what materials are accepted and whether dozens of states should be allowed to send radioactive waste to the Waste Control Specialists' Texas site owned by Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons. "

"The Department of Energy is proposing that it close and cover two landfills at Hanford using federal economic stimulus money to start the project.

Both landfills lie east of the Rattlesnake Barrier on Army Loop Road in the 600 Area about nine miles from the Columbia River. Although neither was used for waste with radioactive contamination, containers of hazardous chemicals were disposed of in one, the Nonradioactive Dangerous Waste Landfill.

DOE considered digging up portions or all of the waste in the landfills but concluded that closing and covering them with a barrier would comply with state regulations. "

"Two S.C. congressmen insert directives into House defense bill

WASHINGTON -- The House passed a defense bill on Friday that calls for studies on what it would take to restart the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository and what the impact would be if the project is closed for good.

The studies were inserted into a 600-page bill report by two congressmen from South Carolina who have been protesting the Obama administration's decision to terminate the Yucca project.

There was little discussion of the issue during the two days the House debated its annual defense authorization bill.

While the administration's moves to shut down the project have been criticized in Congress, it still might be too soon to tell whether efforts to revive the program are isolated to a few dozen angry lawmakers or whether a broader uprising is brewing.

Aides to Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the Senate majority leader and the chief shot blocker against Yucca Mountain bills, said the studies will be dropped when the defense bill is debated in the Senate."

"An association based in Switzerland is helping its European neighbours in their search for a good place to dump nuclear waste.

Ten nations have enlisted the aid of Baden-based Arius, or Association for Regional and International Underground Storage. They hope to consolidate their radioactive waste within a single location.

The countries in question include Austria, Ireland, Italy and seven others – but not Switzerland. In 2006, the federal government enacted a ten-year moratorium on the export of nuclear waste – the storage of which is the producers' responsibility."

"The French nuclear group Areva said Friday it would halt shipments of depleted uranium to Russia in July in response to a commercial dispute.

Areva each year sends several tonnes of depleted uranium to Russia to be re-enriched in facilities operated by the Russian nuclear agency Rosatom.

A contract between Areva and its Russian partner Tenex, a Rosatom subsidiary, was to run until 2014, with a possibility that conditions could be re-negotiated for the period 2011-2014.

"We have agreed on ending the contract in 2010 because of a disagreement over commercial conditions," an Areva spokeswoman told AFP, adding that shipments would stop in July."

"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"

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"."

"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 US' search for a new spent fuel storage or disposal facility must be transparent, and state and local governments should be part of any early siting discussions, speakers told President Barack Obama's blue ribbon commission on nuclear waste Tuesday. The common threads of openness, and community and state engagement, were woven through many of the presentations the commission heard as it starts to evaluate how the US should proceed with a new strategy for managing utilities' spent fuel and the US Department of Energy's highly radioactive nuclear defense waste. The Obama administration established the commission to evaluate alternatives to the proposed nuclear waste repository project at Yucca Mountain, Nevada, roughly 95 miles outside Las Vegas. "

"EnergySolutions today announced that it will relocate the center of its Government Group operations to Oak Ridge. As part of that move, Alan Parker, the president of the Government Group, will be moving to the area.

"Under the organizational structure, Mr. Parker will be responsible for all of the company's work with the federal goverment. He will also be the lead representative for the company in the Oak Ridge and Knoxville areas as well as around the state of Tennessee," EnergySolutions said in the announcement."

"EnergySolutions announced today that it plans to relocate the Government Group operations to Oak Ridge, basically making Tennessee's Atomic City the headquarters for the company's work for the federal government.

That's pretty interesting. I asked for more details and got a few, but there are still plenty of questions. Is the Dept. of Energy pressuring EnergySolutions for more of an Oak Ridge presence because of the troubled Isotek Services project (a partnership headed by EnergySolutions) with hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars at stake? Is EnergySolutions growing weary of its critics in Utah, perhaps thinking Oak Ridge is friendlier to its nuclear agenda?"

AMEC, the international engineering and project management company, and EnergySolutions, the international nuclear services company, have formed a joint venture to bid for the Parent Body Organisation (PBO) contract at Dounreay Site Restoration Limited (DSRL).

The joint venture, which will be called Caithness Solutions Limited, brings together two companies with unrivalled experience in the international nuclear decommissioning market as well as in other key industrial sectors.

AMEC is a member of Nuclear Management Partners (NMP), the consortium that owns the shares in Sellafield Ltd and operates the site on behalf of the NDA. EnergySolutions, is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, and holds the contracts to manage and operate the ten Magnox nuclear sites in the UK on behalf of the NDA."

"Texas was all set to be part of an agreement with Vermont to dump nuclear waste in a remote region of the Lone Star state, and for the most part people living near the site were OK with it. Now, though, that compact could mushroom to include waste from 36 other states, reinvigorating those who oppose the project to fight harder.

-- Kentucky US Senate candidate Rand Paul's Republican colleagues have tried to contextualize his controversial comments about anti-discrimination laws and the Obama administration's handling of the Gulf Coast oil spill, but privately they bemoan the political newcomer's gaffes and wish he'd focus less on the national media spotlight and more on Kentucky and the economy. "In any campaign there's going to be a few bumps," said Brian Walsh, a spokesman. "

Colorado Community Says No to Nuclear Waste

Antonito Mayor Michael Trujillo fears the clean waters of the San Antonio River could be at serious risk.

On Monday, low-level radioactive waste from Los Alamos National Labs will be brought in and loaded onto trains right next to the river.

The county intends to file an injunction to stop it.

"The injunction process is basically asking the railroad to cease action and stop the unsanctioned county version of the transloading facility," said Trujillo.

Energy Solutions, the company that transports the waste out to Clive, Utah, said the railroad owns the land the facility sits on and has the right of way under federal law."

"About 50 people gathered outside a World War II radioactive waste dump in the Town of Lewiston on Saturday morning as part of an ongoing protest against the federal government's failure to clean up the site.

Organized by the Niagara Watershed Alliance, the protesters rallied at the Niagara Falls Storage site, which began as the Army's 7,500-acre Lake Ontario Ordnance Works and was the site of Manhattan Project research during World War II.

The idea was to call attention to the lack of action by the federal government and to call on authorities to seek local input on an eventual cleanup plan, said Vincent Agnello, Alliance secretary. "

"Texas was all set to be part of an agreement with Vermont to dump nuclear waste in a remote region of the Lone Star state, and for the most part people living near the site were OK with it.

Now, though, that compact could mushroom to include waste from 36 other states, reinvigorating those who oppose the project to fight harder.

Environmentalists, geologists, the Texas League of Women Voters and others say the huge dumping ground will pollute groundwater and otherwise wreak havoc with the environment. The company that runs the site contends it'll be safe and many local residents applaud any expansion as a way to bring more jobs and prosperity to the West Texas scrubland. "

"Congressman Sestak submitted language directing a study on the use of thorium-liquid fueled nuclear reactors for naval power, an important assessment of an energy source that has shown great potential to be more efficient for our military. As a result, the House Armed Services Committee included funding in the bill for research and development of a nuclear-powered destroyer reactor utilizing thorium energy.

While our nuclear Navy has thrived with a continuing record of zero reactor accidents, thorium may be more efficient than uranium as a fuel source. Massive fuel rods would not have to be utilized, and it produces only 1/2000th the waste of uranium. In domestic applications, waste can even be stored on-site, eliminating the necessity of facilities such as Yucca Mountain. Large deposits of thorium can be mined domestically in States such as Idaho, and we already have 160,000 tons in reserve."

BankTrack, in cooperation with a number of working partners, today launches www.nuclearbanks.org, a new website mapping the involvement of 45 leading commercial banks in funding nuclear power projects and companies active in the nuclear sector. [1]

BankTrack considers nuclear energy a grave danger for people and planet. The renewed interest in nuclear energy also poses a severe obstacle to achieving a sustainable solution to the climate crisis.[2]

The website provides information on 867 transactions, involving a total of 124 banks providing finance to over 70 nuclear companies. Between 2000 and 2009, these banks…read more"

"South Carolina's largest investor-owned utility plans to increase electric rates 2.73 percent to help pay financing costs for two nuclear reactors it plans to build.

South Carolina Electric & Gas Co., a subsidiary of Scana Corp., said in a news release Friday that the rate increase, set to take effect in October, will add about $3.33 to the monthly bill of a customer using 1,000 kilowatt hours of electricity each month.

The increase must be approved by state utility regulators."

"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."

"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.

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."

"Gov. Brad Henry has vetoed a bill that would have eased restrictions on nuclear power in Oklahoma.

Henry vetoed Senate Bill 2129 on Monday, saying the bill would "authorize actions that could serve as incentives for the construction of a nuclear power plant."

The bill would have removed from law a prohibition against the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority owning an interest in a nuclear generating plant. "

"Monju Restarted for the First Time in 14 Years
Be they sodium leak detectors, radiation leak detectors, or temperature monitors, malfunction of the sensors that indicate that something is amiss has become routine. JAEA acts on the assumption that they are all false alarms. One is reminded of the story of the boy who cried wolf. Who will believe when the alarm is for real?

Monju Restart: CNIC statement
Statement issued by CNIC on May 6, 2010, the day that Monju was restarted.

KK-1 Moves Closer to Restart
The committee concluded that there were no problems regarding insertion of control rods and, with virtually no substantive questions from the committee members, start-up testing of KK Unit 1 was endorsed.

Chugoku Electric's Unbelievable Lack of Awareness of Safety and Quality Control
On March 30 Chugoku Electric Power Company announced that it had failed to carry out checks on a total of 123 pieces of equipment during past periodic inspections of Units 1 and 2 of its Shimane Nuclear Power Station, located in Matsue City, Shimane Prefecture. On April 30 it updated the number to 506 pieces of equipment.

Uprating Nuclear Reactors Reduces Safety
Uprating is one of many fronts on which Japan's nuclear safety is being whittled away. Others include extended operation cycles, life extensions for aging reactors and the use of MOX fuel in light water reactors.

Japan to the Rescue of Sellafield MOX Plant
According to NDA's web site, "Agreement has now been reached between the NDA and the Japanese Utilities on an overall framework for future fabrication of MOX fuel in SMP.

2010 Fiscal Year Electric Supply Plan
Considering the past record, basing the CO2 emissions reduction plan on the Electric Supply Plan is a recipe for failure.

2010 Plutonium Utilization Plans and Plutonium Holdings
Data should be published by all companies in writing in kilogram units for all separated plutonium, wherever it is held.

Group Intro: Rainbow Kayak Squadron
The Rainbow Kayak Squadron is a group of concerned individuals, including local

"Few people see nuclear power as a cheap option. The capital cost is high, and the ultimate cost, if something goes seriously wrong, could be very large. The UK's nuclear liability law is based on the Paris and Brussels Convention on Nuclear Third Party Liability, which has been in operation since the 1960s. The operator is required to take out the necessary financial security to cover its liabilities and in the UK this is currently set at £140m. Recent amendments, which are not yet in force, are aimed at ensuring that greater compensation is available to a larger number of victims in respect of a broader range of nuclear damage. In particular, it will be possible to claim compensation for certain kinds of loss other than personal injury and property damage, including loss relating to impairment of the environment. The period of operators' liability for personal injury has been increased from 10 to 30 years and, more generally, the limit on operators' liability has been increased to €700 m. That's the situation as summarised recently by Lord Hunt, then energy Minister.

However if the worst comes, then even €700m is unlikely to be enough. The cost of just upgrading the emergency containment shelter at Chernobyl in 1997 was $758 m. Quite apart from the loss of life, with estimates of early deaths ranging up to several thousand and beyond, and also lifelong illnesses (e.g. related to immune system damage) for some of those exposed, the total economic costs of the Chernobyl disaster were much larger: e.g. Belarus has estimated its losses over 30 years at US $235 bn, with government spending on Chernobyl amounting to 22.3% of the national budget in 1991, declining gradually to 6.1% in 2002. And 5-7% of government spending in the Ukraine still goes to Chernobyl-related benefits and programmes. www.greenfacts.org/en/chernobyl"

"he shareholders of FPL Group, Inc. voted today to change the name of the company to NextEra Energy, Inc.

The company announced the proposed name change on March 19, 2010. During the company's annual meeting today, the proposal was approved by more than 95 percent of the shareholders who cast a vote. Following the shareholder vote, the name of the company was formally changed from FPL Group, Inc. to NextEra Energy, Inc.

The change is intended to better reflect the company's scale as one of the largest and cleanest energy providers in the country, its diverse scope of operations across 28 states and Canada, and its forward-thinking, innovative approach to providing energy-related solutions for customers. "

"Centrica and E.ON lobby Liberal Democrat energy secretary to commit government to �30bn nuclear newbuild programme

Leaders of the nuclear industry have sought urgent meetings with the new energy secretary, Chris Huhne, amid concern that he will not provide the support needed for their �30bn investment programme in a new generation of reactors.

Sam Laidlaw, Centrica's chief executive, and Paul Golby, head of E.ON UK, have scheduled talks in the coming days with Huhne, who has strongly indicated that his primary focus is renewable power."

"President Obama may be pressing for the nation to increase its supply of nuclear power, but the market is pushing in the opposite direction"at least in the view of one of the leading figures in the U.S. nuclear business.

John Rowe, chief executive of Chicago-based Exelon, operator of the nation's largest fleet of nuclear power stations, says the economics of the electricity business have changed sharply in just the past two years, dimming the prospects for a significant number of new nuclear reactors in the United States."

"A Democratic aide says President Barack Obama is poised to ask Congress to agree to $9 billion more in loan guarantees for the nuclear energy industry " on top of $18 billion announced earlier this year. The president is pushing for a new round of construction of nuclear plants.

At the insistence of Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California, the request for more spending on nuclear energy would be coupled with $9 billion in loan guarantees for renewable energy such as wind and solar. The aide spoke on condition of anonymity before a formal announcement from the White House.

The money would be tacked onto a spending bill for Haiti, Afghanistan and domestic priorities that Congress is expected to tackle after Memorial Day."

"New York's senators on Wednesday urged two federal agencies to reform the compensation process for workers at former nuclear sites, including those at the Linde facility in the Town of Tonawanda.

Democratic Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand called on Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and John Howard, director of the National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety, or NIOSH, to make it easier for cancer-stricken workers to receive compensation for their illnesses.

"Through a simple rule change, justice can finally be delivered to the nuclear workers of Western New York," Schumer said in a statement. "These Cold War heroes became dangerously ill developing the country's nuclear weapons program, and should not have to wait a minute longer for help."

Added Gillibrand, "New York's former nuclear workers have been neglected for far too long, and should not have to scale a mountain of red tape or prove the un-provable before receiving the compensation they deserve...Those affected must have an opportunity for their case to be heard.""

"Against the backdrop of the UN asking it to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, India on Sunday made it clear that it can't be a party to an agreement that it regards as "discriminatory".

"Our position on NPT has been clearly articulated before. India's credentials in non-proliferation are well-known," said a government source here.

"We have made it clear that we want complete, verifiable and universal disarmament," the source added.

India will not be party to any agreement that it regards as discriminatory, government sources stressed, while reiterating India's oft-repeated position.

At the end of the nearly month-long NPT review conference Friday, the UN has asked India, Pakistan and Israel to join the NPT and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) without further delay and pre-conditions.
"

"People in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the two Japanese cities attacked with atomic bombs by the United States during World War II, expressed disappointment Saturday at the content of a final document adopted at the latest nuclear nonproliferation conference, saying the text has been watered down due to nuclear powers' resistance to taking significant disarmament steps.

Sakue Shimohira, 75, who survived the bombing of Nagasaki, said, "I regret that the discussions lost (initial) momentum, but I won't allow myself to be discouraged by this.""

"Israel called "deeply flawed" and "hypocritical" a United Nations resolution ratified by 181 countries that calls for a 2012 conference on a nuclear-free Mideast, and said it would not take part in the talks.

"Israel is not obligated by the decisions of this conference, which has no authority over Israel," a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office distributed to press travelling with him in Toronto said.

"It singles out Israel, the Middle East's only true democracy and the only country threatened with annihilation," the statement said. "It ignores the realities of the Middle East and the real threats facing the region and the entire world." "

"The road to a nuclear weapons-free world is apparently paved with good intentions - but littered with plenty of platitudes and empty promises.

A month-long nuclear non-proliferation review conference concluded late Friday "with more of a whimper than a bang", said John Burroughs, executive director of the Lawyers' Committee on Nuclear Policy.

"The result was disappointing without being surprising," he said.

However, said Burroughs, one concrete achievement was on a make-or-break issue: a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East.

The final document, he pointed out, calls for a conference on this controversial subject in 2012, and the appointment of a facilitator to make it happen. The next nuclear review conference is due three years later, in 2015. "The road ahead is not easy," said Ambassador Maged Abdelaziz of Egypt, speaking on behalf of the 118-nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), "but it's the only way forward."

He singled out the reaffirmation by the conference of the importance of Israel's accession to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and the placement of all its nuclear facilities under the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna. "

"The 189 member nations of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty on Friday adopted a detailed plan of small steps down a long road toward nuclear disarmament, including a sharply debated proposal to move toward banning doomsday arms from the Middle East.

The 28-page final declaration was approved by consensus on the last day of the monthlong conference, convened every five years to review and advance the objectives of the 40-year-old NPT.

Under its action plan, the five recognized nuclear-weapon states " the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China " commit to speed up arms reductions, take other steps to diminish the importance of atomic weapons, and report back on progress by 2014."

"Then U.S. president Bill Clinton had offered Pakistan a $5 billion package to refrain from conducting tit"for"tat nuclear tests in response to India's in 1998 but the offer was rejected at the cost of sanctions, Nawaz Sharif, who was the prime minister at the time, said on Friday.

"I told him (Clinton) that we are not among those people who are sold for a few dollars, not now and in future too. Thus we successfully carried out our nuclear tests," Online news agency quoted Mr. Sharif as telling party activists on the 12th anniversary of the May 28, 1998 nuclear tests. "

"Nearly 200 nations, signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), have agreed to work towards a nuclear-weapons-free zone in the Middle East.

The members, meeting at the UN in New York, called for a conference in 2012 attended by Middle Eastern states - including Iran - to establish the zone.

The unanimously agreed document also said that Israel should sign the NPT. "

"The 189 member nations of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty on Friday adopted a detailed plan of small steps down a long road toward nuclear disarmament, including a sharply debated proposal to move toward banning the doomsday arms from the Middle East.

The 28-page Final Declaration was approved by consensus on the last day of the monthlong conference, convened every five years to review and advance the objectives of the 40-year-old NPT.

Under its action plan, the five recognized nuclear-weapon states " the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China " commit to speed up arms reductions, take other steps to diminish the importance of atomic weapons, and report back on progress by 2014."

"Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Thursday the United States must take an integrated approach to its national security.

Clinton, in a speech at The Brookings Institute in Washington, said the United States needs to exercise "smart power" to deal with "new and complicated threats" -- terrorism, nuclear proliferation, climate change, cyber-security and energy security to name a few."

"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.""

"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."

"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."

"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."

"Iran's recent formal notification to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of its nuclear fuel swap deal with Turkey and Brazil - a move aimed at budging from its previous tough stance - is expected to undercut the US-led international campaign for fresh sanctions against Teheran.

Due to deep concerns over Iran's nuclear program, the international community has pushed for several rounds of Teheran-targeted United Nations Security Council resolutions, urging the Islamic nation to put a moratorium on its uranium enrichment."

"Teams of American special forces have been authorised to conduct spying missions intended to pave the way for a military strike on Iran in case President Obama orders one, US government sources have confirmed.

The military units would penetrate Iranian territory to reconnoitre potential nuclear targets and make contact with friendly dissident groups, according to a secret directive written by General David Petraeus. The document's existence was disclosed for the first time yesterday.

It authorises an expansion in the use of US special forces throughout the Middle East, US officials said. However, it is the possibility of American troops operating covertly inside Iran that has the greatest potential to destabilise regional security. "

"Breaking the tradition of not naming countries, the first draft of the final document of 2010 Nuclear-Non Proliferation Treaty Review conference has asked India, Pakistan and Israel to join NPT and CTBT.

"The conference calls upon India, Israel and Pakistan to accede to the treaty as non-nuclear weapon States, promptly and without conditions, thereby accepting an internationally legally binding commitment not to acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices," the first draft of the document said.

"The conference also calls upon India and Pakistan to maintain moratoriums on nuclear testing and calls upon India, Israel and Pakistan to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) without delay and without conditions," it said."

"The five largest nuclear powers (USA, UK. France, Russia, and China) are set to impose tougher sanctions against non-nuclear Iran, while reminding the other two non-atomic states such as Turkey and Brazil, that only they can decide how and when to solve (or not) their purposely escalated conflict with Iran.
In line with that, and in a decision clearly taken beforehand, the five permanent Security Council powers reached on May 19, 2010 a deal on a new set of tougher sanctions against Tehran. The decision was announced only few hours after Iran agreed to deliver to Turkey its low-enriched uranium and to receive, in exchange, nuclear fuel for its plants within one year. According to the terms of the agreement, the entire exchange process is to be carried out under the direct, strict supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)."

"Israel's President Shimon Peres has denied a report which claims there was an alleged nuclear pact between Israel and apartheid South Africa.

Documents to be published in a new book show Israel agreed to give South Africa nuclear weapons in 1975, the Guardian newspaper has reported.

Mr Peres was Israel's defence minister at the time and was named in the Guardian article. "

Bangladesh and Russia signed a framework agreement for Russian cooperation for Bangladesh's first nuclear plant.

Bangladesh aims to produce at least 2,000 megawatts of electricity by 2020 from two units of the proposed Rooppur plant and also to have nuclear energy account for 10 percent of its total power generation by that time, Bangladeshi state news agency BSS reports.

The agreement, signed Friday in Russia, calls for the transfer of materials, technologies, equipment and services to implement joint programs in the field of the use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.

"No nukes » Matheson says there is no need for new nuke tests; primary foe, GOP nominee agree.

U.S. Rep. Jim Matheson said it would be "a giant step backward" to resume nuclear weapons testing and he will oppose any efforts to move down that road.

Matheson was responding to recent comments from two Republican Senate candidates -- Tim Bridgewater and Mike Lee -- who told The Salt Lake Tribune last week that they supported modernization and underground testing of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal.

The Democratic congressman will get no argument from his primary opponent, Claudia Wright, nor from Republican nominee Morgan Philpot. Both oppose resumption of nuclear weapons testing. "

"Secret South African documents reveal that Israel offered to sell nuclear warheads to the apartheid regime, providing the first official documentary evidence of the state's possession of nuclear weapons.

The "top secret" minutes of meetings between senior officials from the two countries in 1975 show that South Africa's defence minister, PW Botha, asked for the warheads and Shimon Peres, then Israel's defence minister and now its president, responded by offering them "in three sizes"."

"Documents reveal how then-defence minister Shimon Perez tried to sell South Africa's apartheid government the bomb

Israel documents: Cover page of memo revealing secret nuclear agreement with South Africa

This cover page of an ISSA (ISrael-South Africa agreement) meeting in Pretoria between Israeli and South African officials on 30 June 1975 establishes the presence of General RF Armstrong, who wrote the nuclear memo.

* Minutes of third ISSA meeting, 30/6/1975
Israel documents: Memo showing secret nuclear agreement with South Africa

This document details the another ISSA meeting during which Botha says he needs the 'right payload' and Peres offers it in 'three sizes' (paragraph 10). "

"The radiological legacy of U.S. nuclear weapons testing in the Marshall Islands remains to this day and will persist for many years to come. The most severe impacts were visited upon the people of the Rongelap Atoll in 1954 following a very large thermonuclear explosion which deposited life-threatening quantities of radioactive fallout on their homeland. They received more than three times the estimated external dose than to the most heavily exposed people living near the Chernobyl nuclear accident in 1986. It took more than two days before the Rongelap people were evacuated after the explosion. Many suffered from tissue destructive effects, such as burns, and subsequently from latent radiation-induced diseases.

In 1957, they were returned to their homeland even though officials and scientists working for the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) determined that radiation doses would significantly exceed those allowed for citizens of the United States. The desire to study humans living in a radiation-contaminated environment appeared to be a major element of this decision. A scientist in a previously secret transcript of a meeting where they decided to return the Rongelap people to their atoll stated an island contaminated by the 1954 H-Bomb tests was " by far the most contaminated place in the world.""

"Tim Bridgewater and Mike Lee, the Republican candidates for Bob Bennett's U.S. Senate seat, say they support the resumption of underground nuclear testing in Nevada, either to verify the reliability of the existing arsenal or to develop new weapons. But Utah's deadly history as a downwind victim of fallout from previous nuclear tests argues for a much more cautious approach to any resumption of testing.

First, it is not necessary to resume test explosions to verify the safety, security and reliability of existing nuclear weapons. That was the conclusion of a panel of the National Academy of Sciences in 2002. It has since been confirmed by the JASON group of independent scientific advisers that consults with the U.S. government on defense issues. "

"The story of Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson sounds like a film, and now it is

Cannes, from what I have seen from afar, has always seemed like the epicentre of surreality. Up close it is, if anything, even more surreal. We arrived on Sunday in a charming seaside town thronged with sightseers, journalists, aspiring actresses scarcely out of their teens, and white guys in linen blazers with tans and mobile phones. But daily this small, easygoing place is transformed, as the pressure of tens of thousands of people buying, selling, watching and writing about fantasy " with some documentary thrown in " grows. Every day the crowds grow thicker, the energy level higher and the fashion sense on the Croisette, the elegant sweep of palm-fringed pedestrian walkway by the sea, more extreme and startling. "

"Antinuclear activists from Japan, South Korea, Europe and the United States called on delegates at the Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference on Friday to pressure Tokyo to end its troubled Monju fast-breeder reactor program, saying it sets a bad example for the rest of the world and dramatically increases proliferation risks.

"On May 6, Japan's Monju fast-breeder reactor was restarted, after being shut down for over 14 years due to an accident involving a sodium leak and fire. It's a great irony that a plutonium-fueled fast-breeder reactor was restarted at a time when unprecedented international attention is being given to nuclear disarmament, nonproliferation and security," the letter, endorsed by 29 antinuclear groups, reads."

The U.S. Department of Energy's first energy innovation hub" Modeling and Simulation for Nuclear Reactors"to the Consortium for Advanced Simulation of Light Water Reactors (CASL). The consortium will be headquartered at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
* Amount: $122 million over five years
* Members: The CASL core consortium includes Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Idaho National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Sandia National Laboratories,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, North Carolina State University, the Electric Power Research Institute, Tennessee Valley Authority, and the Westinghouse Electric Company. Additional CASL partners include the City University of New York, University of Florida, Florida State University, Imperial College London, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, University of Tennessee, Texas A&M University, University of Wisconsin, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, ASCOMP GmbH, CD-adapco, Inc., and the Southern States Energy Board.
* Director: Dr. Douglas B. Kothe, a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from Purdue University. Kothe is currently the Director of Science at the National Center for Computational
Sciences, a part of the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility.
* Task 1: Develop computer models that simulate nuclear power plant operations, forming a "virtual reactor" for the predictive simulation of light water reactors.

"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.

"A commission examining U.S. nuclear waste policies amid a plan to abandon a proposed repository will hold its next meeting at the nation's most contaminated nuclear site.

The meeting will be July 14-15 at south-central Washington's Hanford nuclear reservation.

Some Hanford waste has long been planned for disposal at a nuclear waste repository. However, the Obama administration wants to withdraw its application to build the repository at Yucca Mountain, 90 miles from Las Vegas."

"Stimulus funds at Savannah River Site are going to be used in spectacular fashion today, as a cooling tower is set to be demolished using 1,100 pounds of explosives.

The K Cooling Tower stands 450 feet tall, weighs 24,000 tons and will be explosively imploded today around 10 a.m.

The dramatic demolition will not be able to be viewed by the public or media; however, Doug Loizeaux of Controlled Demolition Inc. said that there will be six remote cameras in place to capture the event.

One reason for letting the public know of the event is that S.C. Highway 125 will be closed for around 30 minutes the time of the event.

American Demolition and Nuclear Decommissioning Inc. is performing all coordination and on-site activities associated with the demolition. The company is working with Controlled Demolition Inc., a company specializing in demolition, which is performing the implosion.

The K Cooling Tower was constructed in 1992 to support nuclear production at the K Reactor; however, as the Cold War ended, the reactor and tower became unnecessary."

"The U.S. Department of Energy is proposing changes to the Rocky Flats site and is seeking public comment on the plan.

During the Cold War, the U.S. government built nuclear weapons at the plant on Colo. 93, and the materials led to some radioactive contamination. The weapons plant was closed in 2005 and the site went through an extensive cleanup. The factory was demolished, and most of the site became a wildlife refuge.

The DOE wants to demolish several dams on the site that hold surface water in retention ponds. Breaching the dams will allow water to flow and restore the wetlands and riparian habitat.

Local communities, including Broomfield, oppose the plan.

"Energy Secretary Steven Chu is bright (for goshsakes, the man is a Nobel Laureate), articulate and -- what's pertinent here -- not boring. The same couldn't be said for some of his predecessors, such as Spencer Abraham, whose most interesting moment may have been his introduction of a cartoon-like character, the Energy Hog, to try to get Americans schoolkids to conserve energy.

Anyway, Chu's speeches have a little life to them. Sometimes a lot. Maybe that means he's got a good speech writer. Or maybe he's just got a sense of humor and doesn't mind showing it. At his commencement address at Harvard last year, where he followed JK Rowling and Bill Gates in that role, Chu got worldwide play with this catchy quote: "I am not a billionaire, but at least I am a nerd."

There's always some meat on the bones, too, as you would expect of a scientist with a leadership flair."

"U.S. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu today announced the selection of 42 university-led research and development projects for awards totaling $38 million. These projects, funded over three to four years through the Department's Nuclear Energy University Program, will help advance nuclear education and develop the next generation of nuclear technologies.

"We are taking action to restart the nuclear industry as part of a broad approach to cut carbon pollution and create new clean energy jobs," said Secretary Chu. "These projects will help us develop the nuclear technologies of the future and move our domestic nuclear industry forward."

Twenty-three U.S. universities will act as lead research institutions for projects in 17 states. Other universities, industries, and national laboratories will serve as collaborators and research partners. The projects focus on four nuclear energy research areas:

Fuel Cycle Research and Development (13 projects, $11,823,154) "

"The full impact of a catastrophic oil well blow-out off the Louisiana coast is unclear but it could "focus attention" on cleaner forms of energy, U.S. Assistant Energy Secretary David Sandalow said on Thursday.

The Deepwater Horizon well, owned and operated by energy giant BP (BP.L), is believed to be leaking at least 5,000 barrels of oil a day into the Gulf of Mexico, and Sandalow said the worst oil spill in U.S. history would have to be taken into account in any new energy law."

"Canadians have watched in horror as BP's Gulf of Mexico oil spill has mushroomed week by week into the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history.

The damage to the Gulf's ecosystem is unknown. Oceanographers report seeing massive columns of oil well below the surface. This is a phenomenon not seen before. Likewise, the chemical dispersants used so far may prove to be a "cure" that rivals the oil itself for toxicity.

Economically, the costs are already staggering. BP has spent nearly $1 billion on cleanup and appears to have barely made a dent. Fishing and oceanside tourism anywhere in the Gulf states are crippled. Huge areas of precious wetland may have to be burnt.

Here in Canada we can draw some conclusions already about the consequences of this spill, which is now at least twice as serious as theExxon Valdezdisaster in 1989. "

"Nuclear power is a safer, more environmentally friendly source of electricity. So why does the US still rely on coal and oil instead?"

"ACE believes taxpayer funding should go to residents and small businesses for solar and wind energy installations, instead of the wealthy nuclear industry. With solar and wind there's no perpetual astronomical waste costs, no security force, no government subsidized catastrophic insurance and no need for evacuation plans.

In his April 30 letter, Ross Brady used meaningless calculations to support giving our tax dollars to the wealthy nuclear industry. Brady can defend dangerous, polluting, and costly nuclear power and attack ACE, but he can't silence ACE or make us move. I lived here over 40 years before Limerick Nuclear Plant started operating. I won't stop trying to prevent harm to our community's children and their children from Limerick's operations. ACE members care deeply about others. We don't believe anyone should have to leave their community for a safer life."