Nuclear power

20 May 2008 -- U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates faced tough questions from lawmakers Tuesday about the Bush administration's refusal to hold talks with Iran unless Tehran first halts its uranium enrichment program. Gates told a Senate panel that it is an open question whether such talks would succeed while President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad is in power.

At a Senate Appropriations Committee hearing on next year's Pentagon budget request, two lawmakers suggested the time has come for the United States to open wide-ranging talks with Iran - without preconditions.    » read more »

Nuclear Power Plant Proposed for Victoria Puts Region at Risk

May 8, 2008 -- AUSTIN, Texas – While an environmental consultant brought to Victoria to tout nuclear energy is quick to claim that a new reactor proposed for the area would be “clean and safe,” he is less likely to discuss today at a private gathering of business and community leaders his ties to the industry, which is sponsoring his speaking tour.

Nuclear plant: Photo by Gabriel (CC)    » read more »

May 6, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – The French-based AREVA company has notified Idaho’s Senator Larry Craig, Governor Butch Otter, Senator Mike Crapo and Congressman Mike Simpson that it has selected Bonneville County, Idaho, as the site of its $2 billion first U.S. uranium enrichment plant.    » read more »

Salt Lake City - Utah Governor Jon Huntsman decided Tuesday to direct Bill Sinclair, who represents Utah on the Northwest Interstate Low-Level Waste Compact, to vote against any proposals for foreign nuclear waste to come in to Utah. The issue is on the Compact's May 8 agenda.

Skull Valley, Utah: Photo by Rylan S L (CC)    » read more »

April 16, 2008 -- Nevada Senator Harry Reid called on the Department of Energy (DOE) this week to recuse the law firm – Morgan Lewis & Bockius – from any additional work on Yucca Mountain because of conflicts of interest recently acknowledged by the DOE’s Inspector General. “The Department set aside the Competition in Contracting Act to give Morgan Lewis this contract, potentially worth over $100 million, in a closed no-bid process that only involved two other law firms.

Yucca Mountain: Photo courtesy DOE    » read more »

Adding New Plants to Aging Fleet Will Increase Risk Without Safety Reform, Science Group Says

WASHINGTON (March 27, 2008) — The partial meltdown at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant began on March 28, 1979. Since the accident, not a single new nuclear power plant has been ordered in the United States. Indeed, 74 plants under construction at the time of the accident were cancelled.

The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant, which suffered a partial meltdown in 1979: The reactors are in the smaller domes with rounded tops (the large smokestacks are cooling towers).    » read more »

March 19, 2008 -- “Today's announcement is a step in the right direction, and I hope that as the process moves forward, this panel will deliver the kind of thorough, transparent investigation of safety, security and emergency preparedness at Indian Point that many have been asking for.

However, many details remain to be filled in, and as the panel begins their work, I urge them to consider input from stakeholders around the plant to ensure that the full range of concerns is addressed in the evaluation.”

Source: Senator Hillary Clinton

March 10, 2008 -- “As the scope of the Indian Point relicensing process is further defined this week, I continue to believe that it is vital that the NRC consider the full range of public concerns about Indian Point. Indian Point’s location near a major population center raises unique questions that the existing relicensing process does not guarantee review of, such as emergency preparedness.    » read more »

Public opposition is growing to a private company's proposal to ship radioactive waste from Italy to burn, "process," "recycle," transport and dump throughout the US.

February 28, 2008 -- Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS) and more than 40 national and local organizations* are calling on the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission to give the public more time to exercise democracy--to learn about, respond, intervene and request hearings on a plan that could open the US borders to nuclear power waste from around the world.    » read more »

Peach Bottom was the main topic of discussion at hearing

WASHINGTON, DC- U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) today testified at an Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on the safety of our nuclear security plants. At the hearing, which was held by the Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety, Senator Casey discussed the recent problems at Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station and also questioned to the members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) about the procedures in place for security.    » read more »

At Congressional Hearing Following Peach Bottom Security Lapse

February 28, 2008 - Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) today testified at a congressional hearing on nuclear plant safety held by the Energy and Public Works Committee Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety. The hearing was held at the request of Senators Specter and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) after recent security lapses at the Peach Bottom Atomic Power station in York County, PA.

Senator Specter’s testimony is below:    » read more »

February 08, 2008 -- Montpelier, Vermont – Today Vermont DPS Director of Public Advocacy Sarah Hofmann attended a meeting of the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS) in Washington, DC. The ACRS is an independent review committee of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) made up of scientists with expertise in the area of reactor safety. In the past, the ACRS has provided guidance on Entergy’s requests for a 20 increase in output at Vermont Yankee. In relicensing cases, ACRS approval is required.    » read more »

WASHINGTON (February 4, 2008) -- The Bush administration’s just-released $3.1-trillion budget flies in the face of common sense in solving America’s energy crisis, according to energy and policy experts at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).

The same pen that slashed investments in energy efficiency and renewables by 28 percent ups the giveaways to outdated dirty energy like nuclear power, conventional coal, and oil.    » read more »

January 24, 2008 -- "I am very disappointed in today's NRC decision. The fine announced today amounts to another slap on the wrist for Entergy, which has repeatedly failed to meet deadlines at Indian Point.

It has been a year since the legal deadline for Entergy to have a new siren system passed. The people of New York deserve better from Entergy and from the federal agencies charged with overseeing Indian Point.    » read more »

Bill attempts to remove all safety standards to accelerate licensing process

January 24, 2008 -- Washington, DC — Nevada Senators Harry Reid and John Ensign released the following statements about a bill being introduced in the Senate to speed up the licensing process to store nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain. This irresponsible bill calls for nuclear waste to be shipped to Nevada and stored in Yucca Mountain for 300 years before any radiation standard whatsoever is applied to the dump.    » read more »