France Into Nuclear in a Major Way

Next-generation nuclear is to receive a billion-euro boost thanks to a French investment program. Meanwhile the country's main nuclear research body has been re-branded...
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Senate Climate Road Map Caters to Nuclear, Offshore Drilling Proponents

Architects of Senate energy and climate legislation reiterated their support for nuclear power and offshore drilling yesterday in an effort to garner the support of moderate Democrats and Republicans...
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Lightbridge sees nuclear power future in thorium

Thorium - a little known metal more plentiful than uranium - could help power the so-called nuclear renaissance, without producing weapons-grade material with its waste, according to Virginia-based Lightbridge Corp...
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Iranian Documents Indicate Nuclear Work Continues

A secret document indicates that Iran has conducted operations that would be key to developing a nuclear weapon, the London Times reported today...
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Nuclear Disarmament Measures Must Address Fissile Materials

In order to truly abolish the threats posed by nuclear weapons the international community must take steps to safeguard or eliminate the fissile materials used in both military and civilian sectors, according to a recently released experts report...
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START Talks to Continue, Leaders Order

The leaders of Russia and the United States on Saturday directed diplomats to continue talks aimed at finalizing a replacement for the now-expired Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, Reuters reported...
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Iraqi WMD Claim Came From Taxi Driver, Says British Lawmaker

The United Kingdom based its 2002 claim that Iraq could deploy biological or chemical weapons within 45 minutes on information obtained from an Iraqi taxi driver, a British lawmaker told the London Daily Mail in remarks published today...
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How Much Uranium Does Iran Have?

Iran has a stockpile of low-enriched uranium that with continued refinement could fuel roughly "one-and-a-half nuclear bombs," the head of research for Israeli military intelligence told lawmakers in Jerusalem yesterday...
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Constellation CEO Shattuck urges United Nations to back nuclear

The United Nations is holding a climate change conference in Denmark to craft a policy to replace the Kyoto Protocol, an anti-global warming measure adopted in 1997. A new policy could set carbon emission standards and other plans to stop global warming for the years ahead. Shattuck released a statement emphasizing that nuclear power is a key piece of U.S. emissions reductions goals and should be promoted worldwide.
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Nuclear waste storage decision will affect SRS

Centralized storage of the nation's nuclear waste at two unnamed locations is a possible alternative to the Yucca Mountain project scrapped earlier this year by the U.S. Energy Department, according to a new Government Accountability Office report...
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STP Partner looks for Escape Strategy

There is now serious doubt over San Antonio utility CPS Energy's commitment to expanding the South Texas Project nuclear power plant after it made legal enquiries...
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Iran Says Nuclear Enrichment Will Increase

The Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, announced Wednesday that his nation would move to produce uranium of much higher enrichment levels, comments almost certain to heighten tensions over Iran’s nuclear ambitions...
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Progress Energy Closing Coal Plants

A large Southern utility said Tuesday that it would close 30 percent of its North Carolina coal-fired power plants by 2017, a step that represents a bet that natural gas prices will stay acceptably low and that stricter rules are coming on sulfur dioxide emissions, which cause acid rain...
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With an Eye on Copenhagen, Senate Tiptoes Back Into Climate Debate

Senate Democrats resume their efforts this week to advance global warming legislation as President Obama readies for the international glare of U.N. climate negotiations next week in Copenhagen, Denmark...
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Recognition of India as Nuclear Weapon State?

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he would like to see Washington assist his nation in achieving international recognition as a nuclear weapon state, the Press Trust of India reported today...
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Nuclear Fuel Bank in Russia

A stockpile of nuclear fuel is to be set up in Russia under IAEA auspices in an effort to increase security of supply...
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ElBaradei steps down

Mohamed ElBaradei has completed his final term as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and today handed over to Yukiya Amano...
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Support Building for Nuclear in Congress

During the 2008 presidential campaign, it was Sen. John McCain, not then Sen. Barack Obama, who touted nuclear power. Obama, for the most part, was noncommittal on the subject. But in the year since being elected, President Obama and congressional Democrats increasingly appear to be embracing nuclear power...
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INL Develops Nuclear Fuel to Reduce Fossil Use

INL researchers have developed a new type of nuclear fuel that leaves less waste and could help industries burn fewer carbon-emitting fossil fuels. The fuel is designed for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP), which could provide the heat and hydrogen many industries currently get from fossil fuels...
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Official: U.S.-UAE nuclear energy deal to be completed by December

The UAE and the US will complete the last formality in their epochal civilian nuclear energy deal — the exchange of diplomatic notes — in the first week of December. It has already been through bilateral executive and legislative processes....
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Alexander continues push for more nuclear power plants

U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander repeated his call in Murfreesboro this morning to build 100 nuclear power plants during the next 20 years....
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Nuclear Power Regains Support Among Environmentalists

Nuclear power -- long considered environmentally hazardous -- is emerging as perhaps the world's most unlikely weapon against climate change, with the backing of even some green activists who once campaigned against it....
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GAO Faults Plant for Lax Nuclear-Weapon Parts Oversight

The U.S. Government Accountability Office has found that the National Nuclear Security Administration's is not doing enough to prevent rogue actors from acquiring nuclear-weapon components from at least one facility, the Kansas City Star reported yesterday...
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Iran Demands Uranium Exchange Within Borders

The United States and other nations have urged Tehran to accept a U.N. proposal under which it would ship roughly 70 percent of its low-enriched uranium to other nations for further refinement. The material would then be returned to Iran for use in a medical research reactor....
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U.S. "Fully" Committed to Indian Nuclear Deal, Obama Says

"I reaffirmed to the prime minister my administration's commitment to fully implement the U.S.-India civil nuclear agreement, which will increase American exports and create jobs in both countries," Obama said....
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Homeland Security Misses Self-Imposed Schedule to Certify New Radiation Detectors

The U.S. Homeland Security Department has missed a self-imposed schedule to prove to Congress that the next generation of radiation detectors will work when deployed at the nation's points of entry...
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Undeclared Heavy Water Found at Iranian Plant

International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors discovered 30 metric tons of unreported heavy water during an audit last month of Iran's Isfahan uranium conversion facility, the Institute for Science and International Security noted yesterday in an analysis of the agency's latest Iran safeguards report...
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Los Alamos Lab Again Under Fire for Weak Computer Security

Information security weaknesses continue to plague Los Alamos National Laboratory, according to the Government Accountability Office, which reported on Friday that the lab failed to allow only authorized users access to the network...
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U.S., Japan to Cooperate on Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Research

The U.S. and Japan will begin to cooperate on "advanced fuel cycle technologies" for nuclear plants, or reprocessing nuclear waste, according to the Environmental Capital blog on the Wall Street Journal...
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Nuclear industry weighs in on nuke dump license

The nuclear industry's lobbying arm has suggested that work continue on a license request from the Energy Department to build a nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain, even though President Barack Obama has signaled an end to it....
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US senators push to ramp up nuclear energy

Two senators unveiled legislation Monday to double US nuclear energy output in 20 years and foster clean energy options with "mini-Manhattan Projects" named for the original US atomic bomb push....
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Lower cost estimate pledge for nuclear plant

Toshiba has promised Texan utility CPS Energy that it will provide a new, lower cost estimate for the South Texas Project before the end of the year....
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Prep for Six AP-1000s

Chinese planners are moving ahead with three new nuclear power plants based on AP1000 reactors - the first to be developed after technology transfer from Westinghouse...
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Safeguards Frustration

Inspectors still have lots of questions for Iran, even after full access to the newly revealed enrichment facility at Qom. Meanwhile, the country is being slow to agree a fuel deal and Syria is ignoring questions on its programs...
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Bill to Ban Foreign Nuclear Waste Moves Forward

Today, the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment unanimously approved Congressman Bart Gordon’s bipartisan legislation to ban the importation of foreign-generated radioactive waste for disposal in the United States...
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Trouble for AREVA Design?

A new generation of French nuclear power reactors came under attack on Tuesday as opposition parties called for an inquiry into their security systems, after three nuclear safety bodies asked for changes to their design...
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Progress Says It Would Need 12 Reactors to Meet Carbon Rules

Progress Energy Inc., the owner of utilities in three U.S. Southeast states, said it would need to build about 12 nuclear units by 2050 to comply with the emissions limits called for in climate legislation in Congress...
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Cold War Strategy with Iran?

The United States might have to adopt a "mini Cold War" strategy to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons, a leading arms control expert said yesterday...
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U.S. Backs U.N. Committee Call for Nuclear Disarmament

A disarmament committee of the United Nations passed a resolution yesterday that calls for the global elimination of nuclear weapons. The United States added its support to the measure for the first time in nine years, Kyodo News reported...
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New Transparency Measures Urged to Fight Nuclear Tech, Material Smuggling

A wide array of potential new measures to heighten the penalties for smuggling nuclear-weapon technology or materials were debated during a three-day conference here last week...
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China Plans to Build Advanced Nuclear-Power Plant

China will start building its first large nuclear-power reactor with home-developed "fourth generation" technology in 2012-13, a senior engineer involved in developing the system said.The Experimental Fast Reactor will have a designed annual power-generating capacity of 800 megawatts, and is due to come online around 2020, according to Xu Mi, chief engineer with the China Institute of Atomic Energy's Fast Reactor Experiment Department...
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EDF under pressure to pull out of US venture

The French government is urging Electricite de France to think about dropping its plan to acquire nearly half of Constellation Energy's nuclear assets and to partner with the U.S. company to build four nuclear reactors. In his testimony before the French parliament, Henri Proglio, who is set to take over EDF in November, said he was "not sure that [the U.S. deal] needed to be done." ...
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Transport a driver for nuclear build

A combination of electric vehicles with clean generation and nuclear power for baseload will solve America's climate and energy security problems, according to testimony from a senior utility chief.David Crane of NRG Energy, which has some 24,000 MWe of generating capacity, spoke in front of the US Senate's Committee on Climate Change Legislation yesterday...
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Exelon says $50 bln loan program would spark nukes

The chief executive of Exelon Corp (EXC.N), the largest U.S. nuclear power generator, said an additional $50 billion in government loan guarantees for nuclear power would be enough to spark the industry to build new plants. The current nuclear loan guarantee program of $18.5 billion could be expanded if utilities and lawmakers who back the industry win new incentives in U.S. climate legislation...
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US-UAE nuclear deal to take effect soon-State Dept

The United States and United Arab Emirates are finalizing a landmark nuclear power cooperation agreement now that Congress has given its tacit approval, U.S. officials said on Thursday...
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News Roundup  Exelon's Pa. nuclear plant secures license renewal from NRC

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday renewed the operating license for Exelon Corp's 786-megawatt Unit 1 at the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania for an additional 20 years until 2034...
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Israel Eyes Attacking Iran Over Nuclear Program

Israeli leaders are having a “serious conversation” about carrying out a unilateral attack on Iran should that nation continue to develop a suspected nuclear-weapon capability, one U.S. journalist said Wednesday following an investigative reporting trip to the Middle East...
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Iran Appears to Reject Uranium Management Proposal

Iran today appeared to turn down a U.N. proposal for France and Russia to refine a large portion of the nation's low-enriched uranium for use at a medical research reactor in Tehran. Instead, the Middle Eastern state proposed that it be allowed by buy additional nuclear material from other countries in an exception to international sanctions already in force, Reuters reported...
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Of Climate Change and Nuclear Power

Nuclear power should play an essential role in our efforts to mitigate climate change, argues Stewart Brand, the founder of the Whole Earth Catalog and longtime environmental activist...
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ElBaradei Pitches Plan to Manage Iranian Uranium

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei today proposed a draft plan for France and Russia to refine about 75 percent of Iran's low-enriched uranium for use at a medical research reactor in Tehran, temporarily addressing international concerns that such material could be converted for use in a nuclear weapon, Reuters reported...
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Iran Resists Deal to Ship Nuclear Fuel to Outsiders

President Obama’s effort to buy some time for diplomatic engagement with Iran appeared to run into further obstacles on Tuesday, when an Iranian delegation here balked at a deal in which it would ship much of its nuclear material out of the country temporarily, so that it could be converted for medical purposes...
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Clinton Calls for Expanded IAEA Authority

The International Atomic Energy Agency needs stronger authority to seek out potential clandestine facilities around the world that could be involved in nuclear weapons production, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a nonproliferation policy address today...
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Clinton Major Speech on Nonproliferation

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton rebuffed North Korean hopes it may be accepted as a nuclear state, saying the United States will never have normal, sanctions-free ties with a nuclear-armed North Korea...
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Groups criticize Obama's nominee for NRC post

Anti-nuclear groups are fighting the Obama administration’s nomination of a pro-Yucca Mountain nuclear industry insider to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. On Oct. 9, President Barack Obama nominated Bill Magwood to the commission, which is charged with regulating and licensing all civilian use of nuclear materials, including the stalled nuclear waste dump proposed for 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas...
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Chu Supports Nuclear for Climate Effect

The United States should get its own carbon-emitting house in order before looking to slap tariffs on energy-intensive goods from developing countries like China and India, U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said on Tuesday...
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Obama: Climate + Nuclear = "Effective"

President Obama gave a nod yesterday to a budding bipartisan Senate effort on energy and climate legislation during a New Orleans town hall meeting where he also pledged to push for the bill's passage once Congress finishes its work on health care...
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Iran's Openness to Nuclear Compromise Debated

The dramatic expansion of Iran's uranium enrichment program over the last decade has led some analysts to speculate that Tehran could accept measures aimed at preventing it from building bombs in exchange for greater international acceptance of its nuclear work, the New York Times reported today...
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CPS Energy Board Approves STP Expansion

The board of trustees of CPS Energy on Tuesday voted unanimously to proceed with the planned expansion of the South Texas Project...
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Site studies begin for Aqaba nuclear plant (Jordan)

The Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) on Tuesday launched environmental and feasibility studies for the location of the Kingdom’s first nuclear power plant...
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U.S., Russia must lead on arms control

The United States faces the urgent challenge of using the year ahead to limit the risks of nuclear proliferation and to lower the level of nuclear weapons in the world. Achieving these goals is crucial to a peaceful century...
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 NRC approves Constellation-EDF nuclear deal

US regulators have approved a plan for French-based EDF to take a stake in Constellation Energy Group, clearing a key hurdle for a new nuclear power plant in Maryland, the companies said Friday...
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Independent regulator to monitor UAE nuclear power

When the UAE breaks ground on its first nuclear power plant, independent regulators will be there every step of the way, with the clout to halt work, approve construction materials, and decide whether it is ever switched on...
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Greenpeace changes the politics

The latest manifesto from Greenpeace UK is the first ever with no explicit anti-nuclear policies. It was launched with the tagline "Change the politics. Save the climate."
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Belgium postpones nuclear phase-out

The Belgian government has put back its plans to phase out nuclear power by ten years - but the country's nuclear energy producers will have to pay for the privilege of continued operation...
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Call for two more UK nuclear plants

The U.K. needs to build two nuclear power plants by 2020 to achieve its carbon-emissions targets, the government's climate-change committee said...
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Avoid problem of carbon dioxide by building more nuclear plants

Lawmakers who believe that technology for capturing and storing carbon can aid in reducing greenhouse-gas emissions from coal power facilities are "being unrealistic," writes Carolyn Heising in this opinion article...
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Nuclear Plants Cautiously Phase Out Dial-Up Modems

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has requested the operators of the country's nuclear power facilities to voluntarily upgrade their Emergency Response Data Systems by replacing their telephone dial-up modems with VPN appliances...
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Danger to Pakistan Nuclear Weapons

Islamic extremists took scores of hostages and killed 14 people in an attack on Pakistan's army headquarters Saturday, heightening international concerns that the nation's nuclear-weapon facilities might be vulnerable to militant incursion, the Associated Press reported yesterday...
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"Substantial" Progress in START Negotiations

Russia and the United States have moved significantly closer to agreement on a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, Moscow indicated today...
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Washington Caps drafted to promote nuclear power

In a move that has already rankled climate critics, the Washington Capitals skated into the global debate over clean energy with an unprecedented endorsement of nuclear power...
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Land being excavated for new Vogtle reactors

Workers at Plant Vogtle are toiling 20 hours a day to accelerate progress on what is likely to become the nation's first new commercial reactor project in decades...
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U.S. Sea-Based Missiles Seen as "Core" Nukes, Maybe at ICBM Expense

The U.S. Navy's nuclear-armed missiles are likely to remain the "core" of the nation's deterrent force when the results of a major review are unveiled at year's end, a senior Defense Department official said in an interview...
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Iran, U.N. Powers Discuss Nuclear Issues at Meeting

Negotiators from Iran and the United States spoke directly today on the sidelines of a multilateral meeting that Western powers hope will lead Tehran to suspend its disputed nuclear activities, the Associated Press reported...
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U.S.-UAE nuclear pact edges toward implementation

A U.S. nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates is expected to go into force within the next month, despite concerns raised by some members of Congress about the moderate Gulf state's ties with Iran, congressional and industry sources said on Tuesday...
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North Korea Scorns Nuclear "Grand Bargain"

North Korea suggested today it would not accept a "grand bargain" offered by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak in hopes of persuading Pyongyang to give up its nuclear-weapon operations, Reuters reported...
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Iran Rules Out Discussion of Second Enrichment Site

Iran indicated yesterday that it did not intend in talks with six world powers to discuss the recently disclosed construction of a second uranium enrichment facility, Reuters reported...
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U.N. Powers Weigh Iran Sanctions Ahead of Talks

Iran could face new economic penalties if it fails to move toward resolving disputes over its nuclear activities during multilateral talks Thursday with world powers, the United States warned yesterday...
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Thorium Power becomes Lightbridge

Thorium Power of the USA, which is developing thorium fuel technology for use in nuclear power plants, has decided to change its name to Lightbridge...
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AREVA Moves Nuclear Fuel Operations to Washington State

Areva plans to move its nuclear fuel operation in Lynchburg to a plant in Richland, Wash., affecting about 150 employees at its Mount Athos Road facility, the company said Tuesday. The transition to consolidate the fuel assembly manufacturing process into operations at a Richland plant will begin in spring 2010 and take about 18 months, Areva officials said...
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Republicans Call for More Nuclear Energy in Senate Climate Bill

A climate change bill circulating in the Senate on Tuesday is slightly more ambitious than one passed in the House of Representatives, but still has many details to be worked out on how to encourage companies to reduce their emissions of greenhouse gases.Republicans take issue with the lack of support for nuclear power...
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Election Brings Hope for German Nuclear

Angela Merkel has been returned as Chancellor of Germany to form a pro-nuclear coalition and give nuclear power a future in the country. Once the rules are changed Germany will cease to be the most prominent country with anti-nuclear policies, leaving Spain, Australia and Belgium to fight for that title...
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Iran Said Testing New Centrifuge Design

A top Iranian nuclear official announced that his nation has begun tests of a re-engineered, higher-speed uranium enrichment centrifuge, Reuters reported today...
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Hopes for CTBT Conference are Modest

Participation this week by the United States in a conference intended to promote entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty is a positive development but does not guarantee the summit will result in substantial gains for the pact, observers and those involved with the effort said...
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Plans for Next Generation Nuclear

Design and planning work worth up to up to $40 million is being offered towards the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP), which aims to use an advanced reactor to produce heat for industry...
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USA, South Africa Sign Nuclear R&D Agreement

South Africa's Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR) and the USA's Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP) have been identified as a potential area for cooperation between the two countries after they signed a new nuclear energy research and cooperation agreement. ..
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 Poll: STP nuclear expansion gains strong support in San Antonio

Results from a poll commissioned by Secure Energy & Economy for San Antonio (SEE SA) show that a slight majority of local residents support CPS Energy’s proposal to double capacity at the South Texas Project...
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NRC Resets Discussion on License-Renewal Process

Bowing to local pressure, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agreed to reschedule a hearing to take public comment on generic rules governing the renewal of nuclear power plant licenses...
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Nuclear Regulator May Double Waste-Storage Period to 40 Years

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing to double the period that nuclear power plants can store spent fuel on site to 40 years, as plans to build a permanent federal repository stall...
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Energy leaders to debate nuke issue in S.A.

Prominent energy experts from across the country will convene for a lunchtime forum toWednesday to debate CPS Energy’s proposed $5.2 billion nuclear expansion. The event, hosted by the San Antonio Clean Technology Forum at the Pearl Stables, was sold out but will be streamed live and archived for later viewing at NOWcastSA.org. The program is scheduled to start at 11:30 a.m....
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Stopping WMD Proliferation Remains Key, U.S. Intel Plan Says

Preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery technology remains a key objective of the U.S. intelligence community, according to a strategy document issued yesterday...
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Clinton to Lead U.S. Team at CTBT Conference

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is set to lead the U.S. delegation at a conference aimed at promoting entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, the White House announced yesterday...
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NNSA Agrees to Emergency Operations Cooperation with Morocco and Iceland at IAEA General Conference

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) signed agreements with the Kingdom of Morocco and Iceland to cooperate to improve efforts to counter nuclear and radiological terrorism and promote international nuclear and environmental safety and security...
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Energy Secretary 'Optimistic' But Cautious

Steven Chu is an optimist. The secretary of energy, who won a Nobel Prize for Physics in 1997, believes science can solve many of the nation's energy challenges.Chu knows cleaner coal, new nuclear power plants, more renewable energy — will take time. In a conversation with NPR's Steve Inskeep, he lays out ambitious plans for the country's energy future, including...
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Three Mile Island nears license renewal

The Three Mile Island nuclear power plant passed its last milestone on its way to a 20-year license renewal Thursday following a meeting with the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, an advisory group to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission...
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NNSA Outlines Threat Reduction Activities

NNSA works with over 100 countries to fight against nuclear proliferation and terrorism, and has successfully completed the following projects aimed at reducing the threat of nuclear terror...
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Russia Questions North Korea's Uranium Enrichment Claim

Russia yesterday questioned North Korea's assertion that it has nearly acquired the capability to enrich uranium, the Xinhua News Agency reported...
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Tensions Persist in U.S. Over START Replacement

While U.S. President Barack Obama remains committed to replacing the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, some administration officials as well as military officials, lawmakers and weapons scientists have differing opinions on making major cuts to the nation's nuclear arsenal, the New York Times reported yesterday...
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Nuclear-free world ultimate aim of new cross-party pressure group

A cross-party group of UK ex-ministers and former generals will be launched next month to push for global nuclear disarmament. The group, chaired by a former defence secretary, Des Browne, will seek to rally European support for a US-led initiative to work towards the abolition of nuclear weapons through radical, co-ordinated cuts in the arsenals of existing nuclear states, in an effort to persuade emerging powers to forgo such weapons...
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Seize nuclear or miss targets, investment: IAEA

Some countries that fail to invest in nuclear power for political or financial reasons will be unlikely to meet emissions targets and could miss out on investment as companies build abroad, an IAEA expert said...
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Arab states race for nuclear power

Amid the gathering storm over Iran's controversial nuclear ambitions, the race is on among Arab states to build nuclear power plants of their own, opening up immense trade opportunities for the industrialized world as well as the specter of proliferation...
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Nuclear power poised to help meet demands of climate change legislation

Nuclear energy and other clean energy technologies can help jumpstart our economy and make America a world leader in low-carbon energy. American manufacturers will benefit because construction of new nuclear power plants will create demand for thousands of components and commodities like concrete and steel...
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North Korea Says Close to Uranium Enrichment Capability

“Experimental uranium enrichment has successfully been conducted to enter into completion phase,” Pyongyang's delegation at the United Nations reportedly stated in a letter to the head of the U.N. Security Council...
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Pakistan Seeks Additional Nuclear-Weapon Capabilities, Analysts Assert

Pakistan is seeking to build better nuclear weapons and developing new missiles suitable for carrying nuclear warheads, Robert Norris of the Natural Resources Defense Council and Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists wrote in the latest edition of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists....
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GE Hitachi advances new nuclear reactor design

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy said on Wednesday it has submitted the revised design documents for its Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission...
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Energy Solutions: We're in talks with state on nuke waste issue

EnergySolutions Inc. said Friday it is in settlement talks with Utah aimed at getting the state to drop its objections to importing foreign nuclear waste for disposal in the state. . .



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Nuclear Energy Becomes Part of China-U.S. Talks, Official Says

Talks between the U.S. and China, the biggest producers of greenhouse gases, are evolving to include sharing expertise in nuclear-energy technology...
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Reactor opponents challenge law funding work

A group opposed to reactors on environmental grounds is using a legal challenge to the financing mechanism granted to Georgia Power during the past legislative session as a way to prevent what it considers to be an ecological mistake...
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Manufacturing community supports CPS Energy’s expansion of nuclear power

The San Antonio Manufacturers Association is strongly supporting CPS Energy’s plans to expand the South Texas Project nuclear power plant...
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More Indian Nuke Tests Possible, Expert Says

One U.S. expert expressed no surprise at an Indian scientist's call for his nation to conduct further nuclear tests, the Times of India reported today...
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Nuclear Agency Plans Recruitment Drive

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration said yesterday it plans to roll out an initiative over the next half-year aimed at promoting interest in nuclear security careers...
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South Africa Gets Nuclear Safety Deal

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the National Nuclear Regulator (NNR) of South Africa have agreed to work together on a nuclear accident programme, the US embassy said on Thursday...
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NRC: Information on Reactor's Design is Needed for Licensing Process

The process of licensing new reactors for Plant Vogtle and similar nuclear projects could be delayed because of the absence of data needed to certify the new reactor's design, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission...
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Climate change bill to boost nuclear plants

Nearly half of the nation's nuclear power plants stand to earn a windfall if the climate-change bill passed by the House becomes law...
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South Texas Project Expansion

San Antonians should have a much better idea by the end of the year about what the expansion of the nuclear South Texas Project will cost, NRG Energy CEO David Crane said...
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Univ Michigan Gets Research Funds to Study Aging of Reactors

The study of potentially dangerous cracks inside nuclear reactors is getting a $2.4 million boost under grants to the University of Michigan...
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South Korean nuclear export drive

Korea Electric Power Company is emerging as a reactor vendor and its units could perhaps be built in India after a set of agreements signed off yesterday in Mumbai...
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Non-Proliferation Homework in the Works

Leading powers are to meet in Frankfurt, Germany tomorrow to discuss non-proliferation and the status of the Iranian and Syrian nuclear programs ahead of the IAEA general conference....
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One-year setback for Nine Mile Point 3

Regulators will not begin work on an application to build a new reactor at Nine Mile Point for another year after Unistar Nuclear Energy concluded a 'sequence optimization' of the project...
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Sen. Bennett Backs Nuclear Power

While nuclear energy may not be a central campaign issue for Sen. Bob Bennett as he seeks re-election in 2010, the three-term Republican lit up a group of university professors Friday when he voiced support for nuclear power development...
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IAEA Tracks Illicit Possession of Nuclear Materials

The International Atomic Energy Agency last year received reports of 15 cases of illicit nuclear material possession or related incidents and 16 cases involving the theft or loss of sensitive substances, the organization announced last week in its annual report for 2008...
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Pakistan Could Face Internal Threat to Nuclear Weapons

A U.S. analyst has said that terrorists are not likely to acquire a ready-to-use nuclear bomb in Pakistan, but that does not rule out the potentially devastating intersection of extremism and sensitive materials in the South Asian nation, Rediff.com reported last week...
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Austin and San Antonio Look at Nuclear Differently

On Monday, Austin Energy is due to deliver a much-anticipated report on the city's long-term energy priorities. The report follows a series of town hall-style meetings that focused mainly on reducing Austin's dependence on fossil fuels in favor of cleaner sources such as wind and solar power...
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Nuke Energy Buyers for STP

NRG Energy, CPS Energy's partner in a plan to expand the South Texas Project nuclear plant, has obtained signed, tentative agreements with buyers for more than half the power that would come from an expansion of the facility, a key official with the project said Wednesday...
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Wash. college seeks money from nuclear industry

A local college was poised to step in and educate new workers, but state lawmakers declined to provide money for the program during the economic downturn. Now the college is scrounging for cash from companies that stand to benefit most when the program gets off the ground...
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Indian Point to Operate for 20 More Years

Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York state has no safety issues that preclude extending operations for 20 years, the staff of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said...
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OPINION: Keeping track of radioactive material

In a positive development, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is taking steps to tighten its oversight of radioactive devices that contain potentially dangerous isotopes...
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Nuclear Responsibility

A senior US official acknowledged on Wednesday that the growing demand for atomic energy in response to climate change was adding to the challenges of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons...
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Financial Snags at STP?

While NRG Energy can work with a reduced investment by CPS Energy in an expansion of the South Texas Project nuclear plant, delays by CPS could hurt the progress of the project, a key official of an NRG subsidiary said Tuesday during a meeting with the Express-News editorial board...
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Energy bill requires doubling nuke use

To satisfy House Democrats' low-cost solution to global warming, Americans would have to double their reliance on nuclear energy by 2030...
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MOX provides good news for nuclear energy field

Aug. 1 marked the second anniversary of the beginning of construction of the mixed oxide (MOX) fuel plant at the Savannah River Site. It seems everyone knows the role that SRS played in winning the cold war by producing prodigious quantities of plutonium and tritium, but not everyone knows the role that SRS continues to play in our nation's nuclear posture...
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Shutdown of nuclear reactors a risk to cancer and heart disease patients

Nuclear reactors save lives, according to the thinking of some doctors. Anti-nuke activists might not see it that way, but when two aging facilities in Canada and the Netherlands recently shut down, a number of healthcare professionals and their patients became concerned, the Los Angeles Times reported yesterday...
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DOE Grants $67M in Nuclear Research

The US Department of Energy has awarded $377m of grants for energy-related basic research to US university laboratories, national laboratories and other institutions...
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Thorium Power Reports Second Quarter 2009 Financial Results

Thorium Power, Ltd., the leading developer of non-proliferative nuclear fuel technology and provider of comprehensive advisory services for civil nuclear energy programs, today announced financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2009...
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Editorial: So where's the nuclear power?

America is paying a hefty price for more than a generation of "no nukes," not the least of which is a painful attempt to wean itself from the dirtier energy sources that contribute to climate change, threaten economic growth and sometimes dangerously influence foreign policy...
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My Plan to Drop the Bomb

The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 marked an end and a beginning. The close of World War II ushered in the Cold War, with a precarious peace based on the threat of mutually assured destruction. Today, the world is at another turning point. The assumption that nuclear weapons are indispensable to keeping the peace is crumbling....
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NRC says plant records falsified

A contract foreman with Columbia’s Westinghouse nuclear fuel plant has been fired and the company cited by federal regulators after inspectors found that the foreman falsified safety records at the Bluff Road facility...
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U.S. Broadening Counterproliferation Focus

The U.S. intelligence community is increasing its focus on spotting "over-the-horizon" WMD threats and assessing the internal workings of potential proliferators, the head of the U.S. National Counterproliferation Center said last week...
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Harry Reid Completes Two-Decade Battle to Block Nevada Dump Site

U.S. Senator Harry Reid has finally stopped the so-called "Screw Nevada" legislation that has plagued my old home state for the last 22 years. Last week, the Senate Majority leader used his hard-won "juice" to negotiate an agreement with the White House and Energy Secretary Steven Chu, dealing a death blow to the Yucca Mountain project ...
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San Antonio Mayor tells CPS to rethink nuke options

CPS Energy officials said Wednesday the utility will explore options shy of a 40 percent investment in two new nuclear reactors after Mayor Julián Castro expressed strong reservations with that option...
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NRC wants to tighten oversight of often-lost radioactive devices

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is proposing to apply stronger oversight to frequently lost radioactive devices -- items a Scripps Media investigation found have been recycled into metal used to manufacture consumer and other products. For years, the metal industry has asked the government to do a better job regulating items containing radioactive isotopes, such as X-ray machines, industrial sensors and gauges...
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Obama to chair UN nuclear non-proliferation meeting

US President Barack Obama will chair a high-level meeting of the UN Security Council on nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament next month, the US ambassador to the UN said Tuesday...
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Why Nuclear Power Is Part of Our Future

America is falling behind in the race to develop green energy technologies. As John Doerr, a partner at the venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, recently told a U.S. Senate energy panel, “The United States led the world in the electronics revolution, and we led in biotechnology and the Internet. But we are letting the energy technology revolution speed by us.”...
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EPRI Study: U.S. Should Build 45 New Nuclear Power Plants

The results indicate that the full portfolio could reduce the cost to the U.S. economy of reducing emissions by more than $1 trillion by 2050. Deployment of the full portfolio could result in an 80 percent increase in the real wholesale cost of electricity by 2050 relative to current costs, compared with a projected increase of more than 210 percent with a limited portfolio...
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All Technologies Vital for Optimum Electricity Future

Can the USA curb CO2 emissions, satisfy growing electricity demand and limit electricity costs all at the same time? Yes it can - but only if it uses a full portfolio of power technologies. That's the message from updated analyses released by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)...
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Resources for IAEA

A US-led push for increases in the budget of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) resulted only in a 2.7% boost after a difficult period of negotiation by its board of governors...
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U.S. Senate Approves $6.47 Billion for NNSA

The U.S. Senate last week passed legislation that would provide $6.47 billion for the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the nation's nuclear arsenal and conducts nonproliferation efforts around the globe, according to a release from Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.)...
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Iran Can Build Nuclear Warhead, Intelligence Sources Believe

Western intelligence sources believe Iran has achieved the technical capacity to construct and set off a nuclear warhead within one year of an order by its supreme religious leader, the London Times reported today...
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Thorium Like "Unleaded Gas"?

Cars that once took leaded gasoline now run on a newer, less toxic and environmentally more benign gas: unleaded. The same concept holds true for the 104 nuclear power plants that supply 20 percent of this country's electricity, Seth Grae says, as well as for the dozens of new reactors expected to come online worldwide in the next few decades...
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U.S. Urged to Move Quickly on Energy Technology Demonstrations

The United States must accelerate its development and deployment of new energy technologies and of "evolutionary" nuclear plants to secure a future of clean, domestic power, the National Research Council says in a report released today...
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USEC Scraps Plans for Enrichment Plant

USEC Inc said on Tuesday it would scrap plans to build a new uranium enrichment plant and may now seek a partner or buyer after the U.S. Department of Energy denied its request for a loan guarantee, sending its stock plummeting...
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U.S. Defense Official Skeptical of Revising Nuclear Deterrence Strategy

David Ochmanek, the deputy assistant defense secretary for forces transformation and resources, said nuclear weapons continue to be useful beyond simply deterring an adversary's nuclear strike against the United States or its allies, despite views to the contrary. Rather, he said, the nation should continue to view nuclear deterrence as broadly capable of preventing both conventional and unconventional conflict...
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Enrichment Plant Denied Loan Guarantee

US enrichment company USEC is preparing to 'demobilise' - or cancel - its partially built uranium enrichment plant after the US Department of Energy (DoE) denied its application for a loan guarantee...
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Application for Florida reactors

Florida Power & Light (FPL) has applied to build two Westinghouse AP1000s at Turkey Point. The sixth and seventh power units at the site could operate from the ends of 2017 and 2019...
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Energy focus of Tri-Cities Discussions

Washington State House Speaker Frank Chopp told a Tri-City audience Thursday that he thinks hydropower ought to be considered renewable and that nuclear energy will be part of the solution to the nation's dependence on foreign oil -- but only after the public perception is changed...
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San Antonio on center stage in nuclear power debate

With its recent recommendation to move forward with construction of two new nuclear power units in South Texas, the staff of CPS Energy has placed San Antonio at the forefront of a national debate that has been raging for more than two dozen years...
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New Nuclear Countries

Some 60 countries are considering the use of nuclear power, in addition to the 30 that already do so. One of these is Chile, which commissioned Finnish experts for advice...
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US nuclear utilities beat emissions goals

Two of the three companies recognized by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for reducing their greenhouse gas emissions under its Climate Leaders program are nuclear utilities...
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Thorium for EPR?

The potential use of thorium nuclear fuel in Areva's pressurized water reactors will be investigated...
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North Korea is Out of Allies and Options, Clinton Says

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton today warned North Korea it has "no friends left" that can help the isolated nation cling to its nuclear-weapon program, Reuters reported...
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Russia to test its nuclear deterrent with supercomputers

Russia's Security Council will discuss a series of projects on the development of supercomputers to test the effectiveness of the country's nuclear deterrent, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Wednesday...
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Constellation, Maryland Governor at Odds Over Deal

The standoff between Constellation Energy Group and the state of Maryland remains at a stalemate and the hostility between the two sides appears to be widening...
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Permanent Nuclear-Waste Site Isn’t Urgent, U.S. Regulator Says

Finding a permanent site for spent nuclear fuel in the U.S. isn’t “an urgent problem,” the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said. Gregory Jaczko, who took over as chairman of the agency in May, said in an interview that the material can continue to be stored safely for the time being at nuclear power plants...
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U.S. Worried by Possible North Korea-Myanmar Nuclear Link

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said today that the United States is troubled by the possibility of nuclear ties between North Korea and Myanmar, the New York Times reported...
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Congress Must Do More to Protect Grid from Cyber, Nuclear Attacks, Expert Says

Congress should pass measures to protect the nation's electric grid against electromagnetic pulses emitted after a nuclear blast, witnesses told a hearing on Tuesday...
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New Fuel Source: Nuclear Waste?

There is a tantalizing amount of energy in all that nuclear waste that was slated to sit in Yucca Mountain for eons. Now that it won't be sitting there, some think it should be used...
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Experts Warn NPT Conference Will Test Obama’s Nonproliferation Goals

If the May 2010 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference at the United Nations is a "debacle," there is a "real danger in the American political psyche that people will say 'It's not worth it,'" analyst Lewis Dunn said Thursday during a panel discussion at the Henry L. Stimson Center....
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Exelon gives up on NRG takeover

Exelon announced that it is terminating its pending offer to acquire all of the outstanding shares of NRG Energy after NRG's shareholders voted today against the offer...
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U.S. and India Agree to Nuclear Deals

The United States struck deals here Monday to pave the way for billions of dollars in exports of civilian nuclear reactors and military hardware to India, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said...
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Iran Needs Six Months for Nuclear-Weapon Test, Diplomats Say

Iran's uranium enrichment program could generate nuclear-weapon material quickly enough for the Middle Eastern nation to test bomb within six months, diplomats told the Associated Press last week...
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India, U.S. to Hold Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Talks

Indian and U.S. officials are set tomorrow to discuss arrangements under which New Delhi could reprocess nuclear fuel purchased from the United States, the Indo-Asian News Service reported...
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U.S. Energy Use Drops in 2008

Americans used more solar, nuclear, biomass and wind energy in 2008 than they did in 2007, according to the most recent energy flow charts released by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. The nation used less coal and petroleum during the same time frame and only slightly increased its natural gas consumption. Geothermal energy use remained the same...
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US House Votes Against Eliminating Yucca Mountain Funding

House Republicans Friday failed in a bid to force the Obama administration's hand on nuclear policy. The U.S. House of Representatives voted down a measure to eliminate funding for a nuclear-waste repository at Yucca Mountain in Nevada...
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Nuclear Title May Not Be Enough to Push Senate Climate Bill Over the Top

While supporters of nuclear energy ardently proclaim the power source is necessary to combat climate change, incentives for nuclear power may not be the silver bullet sponsors need to pass climate legislation in the Senate this year...
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Atom-splitting number-crunchers

The Linux cluster JAEA has ordered from Fujitsu will comprise some 2157 nodes and boast a theoretical peak performance of 200 teraflops (trillion floating point operations per second), making it the fastest supercomputer system in Japan and far faster than JAEA's current computers: a shared system (theoretical peak performance of 13 teraflops) and a system for use in its fast reactor project (2.4 teraflops)...
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U.S. Lawmakers Press for Monitoring UAE Nuclear Activities

Some U.S. lawmakers want to see a key U.N. agency more closely monitor nuclear activities in the United Arab Emirates as part of a deal in which Washington assists the Persian Gulf nation with its civil power needs...
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U.S. lawmakers debate climate bills' economic impact

U.S. lawmakers on Thursday clashed over what impact climate change legislation would have on U.S. employment and American consumers. With the economy struggling, Democratic lawmakers have touted legislation establishing a system to cap greenhouse gas emissions as a way to bolster the economy...
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Gone With The Wind

A year ago, Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens was ready to shift the focus of the nation's energy industry from oil to wind. Now it seems the billionaire was tilting at windmills in his crusade to free America from dependence on foreign oil...
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To Get "Greener and Cleaner"

In a recent piece for the Chronicle's Outlook page (“Attack carbon emissions using gas, nuclear power,” Page B9, Thursday, July 9), Kinder offered nuts-and-bolts wisdom for lowering carbon emissions and dealing with the global warming issue. Much as many Americans would like to believe otherwise, he says, wind and solar alone won't do the job, at least for the foreseeable future. To get greener and cleaner, we'll need to expand our use of natural gas and nuclear power...
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British PM Demands Global Nonproliferation Strategy

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown today urged the international community to develop a "coherent global strategy" for managing the expansion of civilian nuclear energy capabilities around the world without encouraging nuclear-weapon proliferation...
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Pentagon Looks to Finish Nuclear Security Plan by September

The U.S. Defense Department intends by September to finish its plan for helping to achieve President Barack Obama's goal of securing the world's loose nuclear materials within the next four years, a Pentagon official said yesterday on Capitol Hill...
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Top Lawmakers Endorse UAE-U.S. Nuclear Trade Deal

U.S. lawmakers introduced resolutions this week that would explicitly endorse a pending civilian nuclear cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates, Environment and Energy Daily reported...
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Nuclear Threats Seen Shaping Obama's Foreign Policy

Current and former U.S. officials believe that nuclear arms control has become a central force in President Barack Obama's international strategy, most notably in his policies on Iran, North Korea and Russia, the Wall Street Journal reported today...
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Mitsubishi Eyes Lithuania

Japan's Mitsubishi, among the world's leading manufacturers of nuclear reactors, is interested in working on Lithuania's planned nuclear energy plant, the Baltic nation's prime minister said Tuesday...
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TVA May Use Mixed Oxide Fuel

The Tennessee Valley Authority may use the mixed-oxide nuclear fuel, which contains plutonium from nuclear warheads, that Duke Energy tested at its Catawba plant on Lake Wylie.For several years, Duke was the only U.S. utility to tentatively agree to use the fuel in its nuclear plants. It's part of a government program to dispose of 34 metric tons of surplus plutonium...
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GE Hitachi Gets Advantage from Recession

The recession may prove to be a blessing for GE Hitachi’s most advanced reactor design, providing more time for the technology to be approved by regulators.Now making its way through the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) design certification process, the Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) is described by GE Hitachi as technology that offers a simplified reactor design and even higher safety margins than the already deployed U.S. fleet of 104 operating reactors, including two reactors at Progress Energy’s Brunswick Nuclear Plant in Southport.ESBWR was considered by Exelon, then set aside in 2008 as not ready for construction at the utility holding company’s Victoria, Texas, plant site. But ESBWR may get another look...
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Iran to Negotiate on Nuclear Stance?

Iran appears to be readying a plan that could open the door to new talks on its nuclear program, the Wall Street Journal reported today...
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NNSA Nuclear Weapons Budget Safe...Sort Of

The U.S. Congress does not appear likely to make any sizable additions or subtractions in the next budget year to spending on management of the country's nuclear arsenal, the Albuquerque Journal reported Friday...
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EXELON Holding on to Guadalupe Water

Exelon Energy's plans to build two nuclear reactors near Victoria may be on hold, but it hasn't stopped the power company from reserving the rights to 75,000 acre-feet of precious Guadalupe River water for another year — and maybe longer...
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Sen Inhofe Speaks Up for Nuclear Energy

Listen carefully in Washington, and almost everyone agrees that nuclear energy must be a part of our future domestic energy mix, and for good reason: Nuclear energy is the world’s largest source of carbon-free energy, generating over 70 percent of our emission-free electricity here in the U.S. Nuclear energy is a clean, safe, reliable and domestic source of affordable energy that has created 15,000 new jobs in the last year...
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Laser-Based Enrichment License Sought

Global Laser Enrichment has completed its application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a license to build the world's first commercial laser-based uranium enrichment facility...
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Nuclear Security Summit- Obama

The Obama administration yesterday formally announced its intention to host a top-level Global Nuclear Security Summit next March...
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Stop Paying into Waste Fund

NEI, in a letter, has asked Energy Secretary Steven Chu to waive the $769 million that consumers are expected to pay this year into a federal waste-repository fund because the Obama administration has abandoned its plans for the Yucca Mountain site without making alternative plans...
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UAE Nuclear Plans

The U.S. has agreed to help the United Arab Emirates develop a civilian nuclear power industry, but it may cancel those plans if the Arab country violates the deal, an Obama administration official said Wednesday. Undersecretary of State Ellen Tauscher told lawmakers the UAE is a trustworthy ally...
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Climate Goals and Nuclear Power

Speaking to groups in San Antonio on Wednesday, former EPA Administrator Christine Todd Whitman said that the U.S. cannot achieve its climate goals and meet the increasing need for electricity without constructing more nuclear power plants. Nuclear energy offers the only alternative that can reliably generate enough power cleanly, she said...
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U.S.-Russia Joint Understanding to Replace 1991 START Agreement

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today signed a "joint understanding" on the broad goals of negotiations aimed at replacing the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the Washington Post reported...
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New Leader for IAEA

The governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency voted to choose Japan's Yukiya Amano to head the sensitive United Nations watchdog, in another step toward the end of a months-long selection process...
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Nuclear Plants on Barges??

Sustainable nuclear energy growth may need a different approach, along the lines of what a Lynchburg company, Babcock and Wilcox, is developing -- but instead of designing small nuclear units to be placed on land, put them on floating energy platforms...
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Exelon Raises Bid for NRG

Exelon Corp. on Thursday sweetened its hostile takeover bid for NRG Energy Inc. by 12 percent to $8 billion in stock, citing newly identified cost savings along with NRG's recent deal for Reliant Energy's Texas retail business...
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Nuclear Weapon Reductions after START

The United States and Russia plan to pursue additional reductions to their strategic and tactical nuclear arsenals after completing a deal to replace the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the Wall Street Journal reported today...
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Exelon Delays Texas Plant

Power generator Exelon Corp. said Tuesday it has called off plans for now to build a new nuclear plant in Texas because of worries over the economy and the limited availability of federal loan guarantees...
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Laser Enrichment Plant

Global Laser Enrichment, a business venture of General Electric Co., Hitachi Ltd. and Cameco Corp., said Tuesday it completed its license application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to build the world's first commercial uranium enrichment facility to use laser technology...
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Nuclear Part of Climate Bill

Duke Energy Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jim Rogers said Congress is likely to send the president in the first quarter of next year a climate bill that encourages the construction of nuclear plants...
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Global Zero Proposes Arms Cuts

Proponents of a plan to rid the world of nuclear weapons proposed yesterday that Russia and the United States agree to an interim step in which they each cut their arsenals to 1,000 strategic warheads by 2018...
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UK To Consider Deterrent Alternatives

Faced with a looming budget cut, the British Defense Ministry is considering alternatives to the $33 billion plan to replace the nation's nuclear deterrent within 15 years, the London Telegraph reported Saturday...
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Senate to Consider Climate Bill

President Barack Obama, fresh from his first legislative victory on climate policy, expressed confidence on Monday that new greenhouse gas emission limits would become law with help from the U.S. Senate...
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Nulcear Facility Dead

The U.S. Energy Department made official Monday its plan to scrap a Bush administration initiative that could have brought a major nuclear fuel reprocessing facility to South Carolina...
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New Nuclear Units at STP

After three years of study, CPS Energy has recommended the expansion of the South Texas Project (STP) nuclear power plant as part of a diversified plan to meet San Antonio’s long-term electricity needs...
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GNEP Gets Another Fatal Blow

The US Department of Energy is cancelling the wide-ranging environmental analysis of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) project. Its decision follows a change in government policy on commercial reprocessing...
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Carbon Cap-and-Trade Passes House

The American Clean Energy and Security Act was passed by Congress on 26 June and now goes to the Senate after which President Barack Obama could sign it into law. The bill contains a slew of incentives and targets concerning carbon capture and storage, electric cars and the smart grid. The most significant however is the specification of a series of milestone emission caps...
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Reactor Vessel Head Traveling to Texas

The massive component, five metres across, ten metres high and weighing 100 tonnes, was manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) at its Kobe shipyard for use at the first reactor at the South Texas Project nuclear power plant...
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Anti-Nukes in Texas

When NRG Energy submitted its application to the federal government to build two new nuclear power plants in this coastal town, it didn't account for the possibility the plant could be rammed by a large passenger jet...
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US Nuclear Appeal to Iran

The Obama administration last month addressed the continued nuclear standoff with Iran in a letter to that nation's supreme leader, the Washington Times reported today...
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Replacement Warhead as Life Extension

The United States should consider a three-pronged strategy -- including warhead replacement -- to successfully maintain its aging nuclear arsenal, a senior U.S. nuclear complex official last week...
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Iranian Protests to Influence Nuclear Policy?

U.S. officials and experts disagreed on whether the large-scale protests ripping through Iran could encourage the nation to negotiate a halt to its disputed nuclear activities, the Washington Times reported today...
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Third Round of START Talks

U.S. and Russian diplomats this week launched a third round of talks aimed at negotiating a replacement for the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, Agence France-Presse reported...
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NRG Lawsuit Dismissed

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit filed by NRG Energy Inc. against Exelon Corp., saying NRG failed to prove Exelon made false statements in its continuing offer for the merchant power generator...
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100 Reactors?

Sen. Bob Bennett says the path to a clean energy future isn't by capping and trading carbon emissions, but by building, building, building...
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GE-Hitachi Nuclear Fuel Center

Research that GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy is conducting here offers a timely solution to growing stocks of used nuclear fuel stored at nuclear power plants, a company executive told Congress this week...
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Major Exelon Upgrades

Exelon Corp. plans to add the generating capacity of a new nuclear reactor without building a nuclear reactor...
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Al-Qaeda With Nukes?

A senior Al-Qaeda operative said the terrorist organization would use Pakistan's nuclear weapons to strike the United States if it had the chance to do so, Reuters reported today...
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New U.S. Nuclear Detectors Show Same Weakness as Older Technology

U.S. congressional auditors today said the Homeland Security Department's new nuclear-detection technology does not improve much upon its predecessor in at least one critical fashion, the Associated Press reported...
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IAEA Intelligence Capabilities?

A former U.S. official's concept for expanding intelligence functions at the International Atomic Energy Agency is garnering some interest but appears unlikely to be implemented anytime soon, according to several nonproliferation experts...
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Duke to Build Nuclear Plant in Ohio

Duke Energy Corp is considering the construction of a new nuclear power reactor in Ohio to generate carbon free electricity and meet the region's growing energy needs, said Jim Rogers, Duke chief executive officer, at a conference in Piketon, Ohio on Thursday...
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Pakistan Won't Support CTBT

Pakistan yesterday said it did not intend to sign the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, Kyodo News reported...
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Nuke Power in Ohio

A new alliance of energy companies officially kicked off a plan yesterday to build a nuclear power plant in southern Ohio, saying it's the right approach for the nation's energy needs at the right location...
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ITER Milestone

An experimental reactor that could harness nuclear fusion, the power that fuels the Sun, will begin operation in southern France in 2018, the project's governing body announced Thursday.
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Fuel Bank Not Universally Embraced

A uranium fuel supply plan hailed by U.S. President Barack Obama as a way to stem the spread of nuclear arms stalled in talks at the U.N. atomic watchdog on Thursday after resistance from developing nations...
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Senate Panel Approves Energy Bill

A Senate committee on Wednesday approved an energy bill that would open large tracts of the Gulf of Mexico to oil and gas drilling and provide federal loan guarantees for a gas pipeline project in Alaska...
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New Nuclear Plant in Ohio

An impressive lineup of energy-company executives and politicians will converge on the southern Ohio village of Piketon today to announce plans for a multibillion-dollar nuclear power plant there...
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Duke Power High on Nuclear

The construction of new nuclear power plants would be the only viable way for Duke Energy to meet increasing electricity demand should carbon emission taxes be introduced...
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Secretary Chu Sees Nuclear in the Mix

Solar, wind, geothermal, hydro and carbon-dioxide capture rank high on President Barack Obama's priority list for developing "renewable" energy. But so does nuclear power."Nuclear has to be part of the mix," Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Monday. "It's clean, base-load energy."...
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Nuclear Terror- The Day After

If a terrorist nuclear bomb destroyed the heart of a great city, how would we know who did it, with what? Mideast fanatics with a device improvised from stolen uranium? A weapon smuggled in by a rogue regime? A hijacked U.S. bomb?...Read Article.

Boost in Nonproliferation Funds

A key U.S. House of Representatives committee unanimously endorsed legislation yesterday that would authorize up to $433 million in additional fiscal 2010 funding for nonproliferation programs at the Defense and Energy departments...
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No HEU Medical Isotope Production

Medical and nonproliferation experts yesterday urged U.S. lawmakers to fund facilities for production of crucial medical isotopes that would not employ weapon-usable highly enriched uranium...
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Congress Support for Homeland Security Technology

House appropriators have approved most of what the Obama administration requested for Homeland Security technology programs and even gave it credit for "some hard decisions" not to seek money for certain efforts...
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U.S. to Award $9M for Nuclear Education

Secretary Steven Chu announced nearly $9 million in awards to support the next generation of American nuclear energy development...
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Four Utilities to Revive Nuclear Industry

Four power companies are expected to split $18.5 billion in federal financing to build the next generation of nuclear reactors -- the biggest step in three decades to revive the U.S. nuclear industry ...
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Sanctions Would Be Declaration of War

North Korea's government-operated newspaper yesterday said the reclusive nation would treat any U.N. sanctions as a declaration of war and "take due corresponding self-defense measures," the Associated Press reported ...
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Indonesia Will Ratify CTBT, but...

Indonesia yesterday pledged to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty once the United States does so, Agence France-Presse reported ...
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Nuclear Graduates on the Rise!

The number of US students earning nuclear engineering degrees has increased for the fifth year in a row...
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Nuclear Power Inches Back

Utilities are poised to build a new generation of nuclear plants 30 years after the Three Mile Island accident, whose anniversary was Saturday, halted new reactor applications. The momentum is being driven by growing public acceptance of relatively clean nuclear energy to combat global warming...
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AREVA Plant Expansion on Hold

Nearly one year after Areva NP officially announced it would bring 500 new jobs to Lynchburg and spend $25 million to expand its local headquarters, the company is waiting for a clear signal that the hoped-for construction of new nuclear reactors will come...
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Nuclear Science Studies Back in Vogue?

After decades of declining enrollments, nuclear science and engineering may be poised for academic resurgence in the nation’s universities...
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Captain Atom he ain't

CONCURRENT with President Obama's release of federal funds for embryonic stem-cell research a couple of weeks ago, the White House published a memorandum stating that, with the action, the administration was "restoring scientific integrity to government decision-making." . . .
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Reinventing Nuclear Power

A fusion-fission hybrid reactor could produce clean electricity and remove dangerous nuclear waste from the planet. If it ever works.
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