Iranian Nuclear Program Plagued by Technical Difficulties

Iran recently was forced to stop operating thousands of uranium enrichment centrifuges for a limited period of time due to an unspecified technical issue, diplomatic sources told the Associated Press yesterday ...
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Pentagon Calls Talk of Deploying Nukes to South Korea "Premature"

The U.S. Defense Department yesterday said it was too early to discuss redeploying tactical nuclear arms to South Korea amid rapidly escalating tensions on the Korean Peninsula, Agence France-Presse reported...
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Report says Texas nuke commission needs funding change

A state advisory commission is recommending that Texas lawmakers clarify the funding mechanism for a commission that oversees the disposal of low-level radioactive waste disposal in Texas...
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Pressure Builds for New START Approval

President Obama and other top officials from the United States and its partners this weekend urged the U.S. Senate to act on the New START nuclear arms control treaty, news agencies reported...
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South Korea Might Seek Return of U.S. Nukes

South Korea might request to again host U.S. tactical nuclear weapons, the Financial Times reported today...
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White House Escalates Showdown with Kyl over New START Agreement

The White House late last week significantly ramped up an effort to challenge a key Republican senator who has sought to delay a floor vote on ratifying a U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control agreement signed last April...
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Engineer: US needs long-term policy for used-fuel management

The question of how to dispose of nuclear waste in the United States remains unanswered half a century after the first power reactor opened. As the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada remains controversial and slowed by legal issues, President Barrack Obama has appointed a commission to make recommendations on how to dispose and store nuclear waste from energy to defense uses...
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More private firms want partnerships at SRS

Although two private firms have announced intentions to develop and test a new line of small, modular nuclear power reactors at Savannah River Site, at least two more companies are exploring similar efforts...
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Opinion: End the NRC stalling on Yucca Mountain decision

Four Nuclear Regulatory Commission members cast their votes months ago on the question of whether the Obama administration can unilaterally cancel the nation's deep geological nuclear-waste repository. But the votes have been kept secret apparently for political reasons...
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White House Aide: Kyl Agreed to Nuclear Funds Before Tripping Up Arms Treaty

In informal talks with Vice President Joseph Biden and others in the executive branch, the Senate's No. 2 Republican actually concurred with White House plans to spend $85 billion over the next decade to modernize nuclear research and production facilities and maintain an aging stockpile, according to Gary Samore, the National Security Council coordinator for arms control and nonproliferation...
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Obama Faces Major Test With New START

Failure to push through a new U.S.-Russia nuclear arms control treaty could have significant consequences for President Obama, the New York Times reported yesterday ...
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Worm in Iran

Experts dissecting the computer worm suspected of being aimed at Iran’s nuclear program have determined that it was precisely calibrated in a way that could send nuclear centrifuges wildly out of control...
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NRC Considers Changes to Radioactive Iodine Rules

The U.S. Nuclear Regulator Commission is considering tighter strictures on the permitted movements of people receiving radioactive iodine treatments, following concerns that patients were exposing the public to radiation and setting off security detectors, the Associated Press reported yesterday...
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Islamic Nations Demand Israeli Atomic Transparency

The 57-nation Organization of the Islamic Conference yesterday called for U.N. inspections of Israel's nuclear arsenal, Iran's Press TV reported ...
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North Korea Reported to be Readying New Nuke Test

A U.S. satellite has reportedly spotted heightened operations at a nuclear weapons test location in North Korea, possibly indicating the Stalinist state is readying for a third nuclear test blast, Reuters reported today...
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Iran Claims To Have Produced 30 Kilograms Of Enriched Uranium

Iran, slammed with a fifth round of UN sanctions for not stopping uranium enrichment, has already produced 30 kilograms of the potential nuclear-bomb-making material, according to the nation's atomic chief...
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Renewed TVA projects could spark business for Areva, B&W

The recession may have slowed the power industry’s “nuclear renaissance” in the U.S., including some of the projects that promised hundreds of jobs to Lynchburg...
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Constellation rejects loan guarantee terms

Development of a new nuclear power plant in Maryland suffered a major setback last week with the disclosure that Constellation Energy Group has withdrawn from the federal loan guarantee program. Without those guarantees, it would appear unlikely that Calvert Cliffs 3 will be developed by Constellation and its partner in the project, Electricite de France...
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New Fuel Form Identified at Los Alamos

Scientists from the Los Alamos National Laboratory have created a long-sought molecule known as uranium nitride. Besides offering cheaper and safer nuclear fuel, the new molecule could extract more energy from fossil fuels, making cars more fuel-efficient, and could also lead to cheaper drugs...
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Constellation rejects loan guarantee terms

In a blow to Calvert Cliffs that puts a dark cloud over US new build plans, Constellation has revealed that the DoE would charge fees of 11.6% of the loan amount - in its case some $880 million. The charge would come in addition to interest on loans and, Wallace said, "would clearly destroy the project's economics, or the economics of any nuclear project for that matter."...
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Obama Deputies to Debate Nuclear Trade Terms

Senior Obama administration officials are set next week to formally debate whether Jordan and Vietnam should be required to forgo their nuclear fuel production rights as a condition of entering civilian atomic cooperation agreements with the United States, Foreign Policy reported...
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Obama Administration Pursues Landslide "New START" Vote

The Obama administration believes senators could vote by a significant margin in favor of ratifying a new U.S.-Russian nuclear arms control treaty, Assistant Secretary of State Rose Gottemoeller said yesterday...
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Fusion "Ignition" Test Conducted at Livermore Lab

The United States has completed its first test in a new line of experiments aimed at achieving nuclear fusion "ignition" using a giant laser array at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California, the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration announced yesterday...
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Images Show Building Progress at Pakistani Nuke Site

Month-old satellite images of Pakistan's Khushab nuclear complex reveal significant building progress on the installation's third heavy-water reactor, with construction on a series of cooling towers apparently completed, the Institute for Science and International Security said yesterday...
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GE Chief Slams U.S. on Energy

General Electric Chief Executive Officer Jeff Immelt warned that the lack of a comprehensive U.S. energy policy and the "stupid" current structure of the industry are causing America to fall behind in new energy fields...
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Meeting Unlikely to Break Disarmament Impasse, Diplomats Say

A meeting set for Friday of Cabinet-level delegates from U.N. member nations has little chance breaking a stalemate at the international Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland, diplomats told Reuters yesterday...
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Scientist, Wife Busted in Nuclear Spy Sting

U.S. authorities on Friday detained two married former nuclear weapons laboratory employees accused of providing classified bomb data to an FBI operative posing as a Venezuelan spy, the New York Times reported...
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Obama Pushes for Arms Treaty Ratification

U.S. President Barack Obama last week commended Senate Foreign Relations Committee lawmakers for endorsing a resolution to ratify a new nuclear arms control treaty with Russia. He urged the full Senate to promptly follow suit in approving the document, the White House said...
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Nuclear power is the solution

Sen. Voinovich of Ohio calls for a “Second Declaration of Independence” from foreign sources of energy. He has pushed hard for the development of a comprehensive national energy policy...
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South Texas Project sees accomplishments in 2010, waits for loan guarantees

South Texas Project, one of the nation's largest nuclear power plants, saw several significant milestones this year. Its most recent milestone was in June as the nuclear power plant began preparations for addition of units 3 and 4.
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U.S. generation from renewables, coal up in June, nuclear drops

Net generation in the United States rose 8 percent from June 2009 to June 2010, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and the Federal Reserve reported that industrial production was 8.2 percent higher in June 2010 than it was in June 2009, the sixth consecutive month that industrial production was higher than it had been in the same month the year before...
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MIT finds plentiful uranium for nuclear power plants

Plenty of uranium exists for nuclear power plants for decades, but more research is needed to develop a better way to dispose of the spent fuel, says a new report by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology...
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New nuclear technology 'could benefit developing countries'

In a study published in Science this month (12 August) British researchers outlined a vision for flexible and more user-friendly nuclear technologies, as worries over the climate change, energy supply security, and depletion of fossil fuels, are overturning decades of hesitancy over the safety of nuclear power plants...
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National oil spill commission using nuclear power industry as model

The national oil spill commission is looking to the nuclear power industry as a model in developing some of its recommendations of how the oil industry and government agencies should move forward after the BP oil well blowout in the Gulf, commission co-chairman Sen. Bob Graham said Tuesday...
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Nation's nuclear power plants prepare for cyberattacks

The threat to digital systems at the country's nuclear power plants is considerable, but the sector is better prepared to defend against potentially devastating cyberattacks than most other utilities, according to government and industry officials and experts...
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Recycling a viable option, US commission told

There could be "significant benefits" in the implementation of reprocessing and recycling technology under a new waste management strategy, industry executives have told the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future...
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Angela Merkel risks Germans' ire with fresh commitment to nuclear energy

German chancellor Angela Merkel has announced an extension to the nation's nuclear power plant operations for up to 15 years beyond a scheduled phase-out, in a move critics fear might signal that atomic power is here to stay...
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Industry Seeks New Approach to Buying Nuclear Plants

A standardized design approach for new nuclear reactors could help power companies get through the approval process, according to this analysis. Every existing U.S. commercial reactor is unique, and experts say this is the reason behind lags in construction and regulatory approvals. The situation has prompted industry officials to ask the government to choose several reactor designs for companies to select from...
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GE Hitachi Can Safely Reprocess Nuclear Waste

Jack Fuller, chairman of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, told the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future that technological advancements can help reprocess nuclear waste safely without the dangers of generating separated plutonium. The company is ready to unveil these technologies worldwide, but "as is often the case in the nuclear industry, government policy is the key to success," he said...
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Nation’s Nuclear Power Plants Prepare for Cyber Attacks

The threat to digital systems at the country's nuclear power plants is considerable, but the sector is better prepared to defend against potentially devastating cyber attacks than most other utilities, according to government and industry officials and experts...
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Baltic Site for New Nuclear Plant

Ground preparations for the Baltic nuclear power plant in Russia's Kaliningrad exclave are seen well underway, ahead of a planned date in April 2011 for first concrete...
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India's Nuclear Plan Advances

The Indian parliament's lower chamber has cleared a civilian nuclear energy bill after the government agreed to triple accident-liability coverage to $321.5 million. The bill, which is expected to win approval from the upper chamber, is expected to ease implementation of a 2008 U.S.-India nuclear-cooperation deal that would provide India's scientists access to U.S. technology...
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Editorial: No spin: Windmills fail

Wind energy isn't competitive with other forms of energy, writes the Orange County Register editorial board. Windmills are expensive and operate at no more than 40% of their maximum production levels, while nuclear plants reach 95%, the editorial points out...
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Idaho National Lab facility up for $1B makeover

The Department of Energy announced plans to upgrade equipment and refurbish buildings at the Idaho National Laboratory's Naval Reactor Facility, a project expected to cost about $1 billion. Wear and tear at the site, which has been used to store used nuclear fuel from reactors in U.S. Navy ships, could hamper its refueling and de-fueling capabilities, the department said...
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Luminant cheers decision on Comanche Peak plans

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has made a preliminary finding that "there are no environmental impacts that would preclude" issuing combined construction and operating licenses for a proposed expansion of the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant 45 miles southwest of Fort Worth...
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Israel Convinced of Longer Iranian Nuclear Time Line, Officials Say

U.S. officials believe the Obama administration has convinced Israel that Iran would need a year or more to finish what would be a highly public "dash" to convert its low-enriched uranium into nuclear bomb material, possibly lessening the likelihood of Israeli military action against its Middle Eastern rival in the next 12 months, the New York Times reported...
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Authorities Drill at MIT for "Dirty Bomb" Material Theft

Federal, state and local agencies yesterday responded to a simulated attempt by extremists to seize radioactive cobalt from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for use in a radiological "dirty bomb," the Boston Globe reported...
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Auditors question $175 million in unresolved Yucca Mountain costs

As the Department of Energy seeks to close its books on the Yucca Mountain program, auditors on Monday said they identified more than $175 million in unresolved charges claimed by contractors...
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NRG Energy Cuts Capital Spending On Texas Nuclear Power Project

NRG Energy Inc. (NRG) is slashing spending on two new reactors planned at an existing power plant in Texas as it awaits a decision on a loan guarantee for the multibillion-dollar project. The Princeton, N.J., independent power producer is the second nuclear developer to cut spending on a nuclear project in the last week. Constellation Energy Group Inc. (CEG) announced Wednesday it would reduce spending on a new nuclear reactor in Maryland and could completely shut it down by the end of the year if it hadn't received a federal guarantee...
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Mullen Affirms U.S. Blueprint for Iran Strike

The United States has a blueprint in place for military action aimed at preventing Iran from building nuclear weapons, the chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday...
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"Forgotten" Radioactive Material Turns Up in Georgian Lab

A plutonium-beryllium cache was apparently "forgotten" for 42 years before turning up recently at a research facility in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, Bloomberg reported today...
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New Enrichment Technology Offers Detectable "Signatures," Advocate Says

A new laser-based technology for enriching uranium offers a number of features that could facilitate detection by international nuclear watchdogs, should the process be utilized for illicit atomic programs, according to a key U.S. industry advocate...
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U.S. Nuclear Projects Tied Up Awaiting Federal Loan Guarantees

The so-called nuclear renaissance that was supposed to boost U.S. capacity to generate emissions- free power may stall as developers await decisions from the Obama administration on federal aid. The Energy Department in Washington needs to review proposed loan guarantees “thoroughly,” and a decision on at least one of three pending projects on its short list may be announced by the end of this year, spokeswoman Ebony Meeks said...
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NRC Aims to Complete AP1000 Review by Sept 2011

A new era for nuclear power is taking shape as third-generation reactors, designed to be simpler and safer, inch through the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) design certification process. Much of nuclear's revival hinges on the ability of new reactors to outshine those of yore in terms of safety, economics, construction time and life span...
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Finland to Provide Nonproliferation Funds

Finland has pledged to provide $308,000 in support of U.S. efforts to counter nuclear smuggling in Kyrgyzstan, the National Nuclear Security Administration said yesterday...
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Homeland Security Still Failing on WMD Screening Plan, Lawmaker Says

The U.S. Homeland Security Department has for years failed to heed calls to develop a strategic plan for preventing nuclear or radiological materials from being smuggled into the country across one of its borders, a ranking Republican senator said this week...
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Agency Forgoes Proliferation Review of New Nuclear Technology, Despite Worries

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is standing by a decision not to conduct an assessment of potential proliferation risks associated with licensing a new technology for uranium enrichment, despite the concerns of several leading physicists and issue experts...
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Lamar Alexander: Nuclear Energy Is Cheap and Reliable

Forty years ago, at the time of the first Earth Day, Americans became deeply worried about air and water pollution and a population explosion that threatened to overrun the planet’s resources. Nuclear power was seen as a savior to these environmental dilemmas. It could produce large amounts of low-cost, reliable clean energy. Unlike oil, nuclear power did not need to be hauled in leaking tankers from countries that didn’t like us. Unlike coal, it didn’t spew tons of pollution out of smokestacks...
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Southern Co. elects former NRC chair to board

Southern Co. said Monday it elected Dr. Dale E. Klein to its board of directors...
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U.S. Remains Cool to Nuclear Trade With Pakistan

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested yesterday the Obama administration was still not prepared to open nuclear trade with Pakistan, the New York Times reported...
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MI5 Thought Hussein Would Launch WMD as Last Resort

The United Kingdom's national intelligence service thought former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein would only launch weapons of mass destruction against Western nations in a last-ditch attempt to save his regime, the former head of MI5 testified today...
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House bill guarantees loans for nuclear reactors

House lawmakers approved a spending bill Thursday that includes $25 billion in loan guarantees for new nuclear reactors, an amount that could enable the expansion of North Texas' Comanche Peak plant. Dallas-based Luminant, which owns the plant, said the additional amount "would be sufficient" to allow funding for its plan to build two reactors. Luminant said it was "the first alternate" last year when the U.S. Department of Energy selected four nuclear projects to further consider for loan guarantees...
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Hamilton Supports Long-Term Waste Management Plan

The future of nuclear energy in the U.S. depends on whether this country can figure out how to treat and dispose of the waste that is created, a leader of a commission charged with reviewing U.S. nuclear waste policies said Thursday...
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DOE plans hearings on mixed oxide fuel use at TVA nuclear plants

The Tennessee Valley Authority, which has produced a key component for nuclear bombs at its newest reactor for more than a decade, could use its two other nuclear plants to dispose of materials from abandoned nuclear weapons...
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Nuclear reactors to use advance technology

Ten of China's proposed nuclear power reactors will use Westinghouse's AP1000 advanced technology considered safer, a Chinese energy official said...
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Lawmakers seek to halt Yucca shutdown

A group of 91 federal lawmakers Tuesday called for the Obama administration to halt the termination of the Yucca Mountain repository until legal questions about the shutdown are resolved....
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GOP energy bill focuses on nuclear power

Republican Sens. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Richard Burr of North Carolina have introduced energy legislation focused on expanding the nation's use of natural gas and nuclear power.The Republican senators' measure steers clear of proposals backed by many Democrats for a cap-and-trade provision that would cap carbon emissions and fine companies that go over set limits...
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NRDC Data Points to Nuclear Energy as Cleanest

Power companies using a lot of nuclear energy have been shown as among America's cleanest by the Natural Resources Defence Council (NRDC) in recently published data...
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Iranian Official Sees Penalties Slowing Nuclear Work

A senior Iranian official today suggested that penalties adopted by other countries last month might "slow down" the progress of his nation's atomic efforts, Agence France-Presse reported...
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Calvert Cliffs first in line for nuclear loan guarantee

Constellation Energy's joint venture with a French company to build a nuclear reactor at Calvert Cliffs is now "first in line" for a federal loan guarantee, according to an influential lawmaker from Maryland...
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Yucca Action Blasted by ASLB

The people of the Northwest and supporters of the nuclear industry everywhere should cheer a decision preventing the Obama administration from abandoning the Yucca Mountain repository and walking away from two decades and $10 billion spent developing the nation's first long-term nuclear waste dump...
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2 Nuclear Power Plants Approved by Finland

The Finnish Parliament approved the construction of two nuclear power plants on Thursday, the latest victory for proponents of atomic energy in Europe...
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Japanese reactor cleared for extended operation

Japanese utility Kansai Electric Power Co (Kepco) has received regulatory approval to operate unit 1 of its Mihama nuclear power plant beyond its originally planned 40-year lifespan. The company also said that it will begin considering replacing the reactor with a new one...
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MOX Delivered to Japan

A consignment of mixed oxide (MOX) fuel that set sail from Europe in April has been delivered to its Japanese destinations...
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Debate Persists Over Nuking Oil Well

Following numerous failed attempts to seal off the BP drill site gushing massive amounts of oil into the Gulf of Mexico, debate has persisted over the possibility of closing the leak with a nuclear explosion, Reuters reported today...
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Potential Nuclear Detector Could See Through Shielding

Scientists have performed their first successful test of an experimental technology intended to spot potentially illicit nuclear materials obscured by heavy shielding, Wired magazine reported yesterday...
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New Nuclear Sanctions on Iran

The new law bars foreign firms dealing with Iran's Revolutionary Guard, the nation's energy sector or select Iranian banks from also doing business with the U.S. banking sector. In addition, it seeks to penalize firms selling gasoline to Iran through restrictions on their U.S. bank transactions, property transfers and foreign exchange in the United States...
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Panic over oil disaster will do far more harm than the spill itself

If you're searching for yet another reason to hate BP and distrust Washington, here it is. No, I'm not talking about the dead birds, befouled beaches or zillions of dollars in damage inflicted on millions of Americans by the incompetents at BP (enabled by clueless federal regulators). Rather, I'm talking about the way our nation will overreact to the Deepwater Horizon disaster. That overreaction will cause us far greater damage than the disaster itself, because we'll import more oil than we otherwise would and produce less of our own...
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Roadmap shows the way for nuclear future

Nuclear power could become the world's single biggest source of electricity, said a roadmap revealed today by intergovernmental agencies. Industry says the projections are not ambitious enough...
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Georgia Power accepts Vogtle loan guarantee

Southern Company subsidiary Georgia Power has formally agreed to accept a conditional federal loan guarantee for the construction of two new nuclear units at its Vogtle site....
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Russian Lawmakers Rule Out Prompt START Ratification

The lower house of Russia's parliament is not expected to take up ratification of a new nuclear arms control treaty with the United States until later this year at the earliest, ITAR-Tass reported today...
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US wants China to clarify Pakistan atomic reactor deal

The United States said Tuesday it had sought clarification from China on the sale of two civilian nuclear reactors to Pakistan, saying the deal must be approved by the Nuclear Suppliers Group...
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U.S. Official Backs Mix-and-Match Approach for Updating Warheads

A senior U.S. defense official last week voiced confidence in a newly defined "reuse" approach to modernizing nuclear warheads that some scientists have called into doubt...
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Iran to Construct Additional Medical Reactors

Iran today announced plans to design and construct multiple next-generation nuclear reactors capable of generating isotopes for medical use, Agence France-Presse reported ...
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Unity Could be Elusive For Future U.N. Proliferation Sanctions

A fourth round of sanctions aimed at curtailing Iran’s nuclear development passed the U.N. Security Council last week, but U.S. lawmakers and experts said the fight to secure support for the vote illustrated the difficulty of cracking down on suspected proliferation...
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Build Safety Culture Before Plants!

Vietnam must start now to implement safety measures including public oversight for its first nuclear power plant, which is scheduled to begin operations in 10 years, experts said Thursday.The energy-hungry communist country is making preparations to start construction in 2014 of its first atomic power facility. Initial plans call for four reactors, with a total capacity of 4,000 megawatts, at least one of which should be operational from 2020...
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Nuclear Energy Industry Continued To Set Safety Standard

The nation’s nuclear power plants in 2009 had one of the safest industrial working environments and fell just shy of setting a record for reactor efficiency—two factors that further bolster the role of nuclear energy as the nation’s most reliable electricity source. These and other annual performance indicators are compiled by the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO), which measures several aspects of nuclear power plant operations...
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Gulf spill a reminder of the value of redundant safety systems

Airliners can lose one engine and keep flying. Nuclear power plants have two cooling systems, in case one fails. In an explosion, coal mines must allow miners two paths to escape...
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Washington objects to China-Pakistan nuclear deal

The Obama administration has decided to object to a lucrative deal in which a state-owned Chinese companies would supply Pakistan with two nuclear reactors, U.S. officials said...
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Exclusive: Bill Gates-backed nuclear startup raises $35 million

TerraPower, a nuclear energy startup backed by Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, has raised $35 million in a new round of funding to aid the development of a reactor fueled by nuclear waste...
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Nuclear wasteland

AFTER MORE than 20 years, four administrations and billions of dollars spent, Yucca Mountain is the one place in America that a new Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future cannot look to put this country's nuclear waste. Created by the Obama administration after it jettisoned the Nevada project, the commission, which will meet for the third time in July, is to make its recommendations two years from now -- rendering any action unlikely until after the 2012 elections...
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U.S. Lab Reveals Nuclear Response Capabilities

A laboratory at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada last month hosted visitors China, Russia and more than 20 other nations as part of a U.S. effort to establish a shared international capability for dealing with a nuclear or radiological incident, the Associated Press reported...
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U.N. Security Council Adopts Additional Iran Penalties

The U.N. Security Council today adopted a fourth sanctions resolution against Iran, prompting the nation to announce its withdrawal from talks on its nuclear activities that could support weapons development, the Wall Street Journal reported...
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LANL helps create ‘virtual’ nuclear reactor

Los Alamos National Laboratory is participating in a five-year, $122 million project to create a virtual nuclear reactor that could lead to a new generation of safer, longer-lasting and less-expensive nuclear power plants...
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N.Y. Senator Sees Energy Bill as Promoting Nuclear Power

A Senate proposal setting up a cap-and-trade program to curtail greenhouse gas emissions likely will be offered on the floor later this summer as an amendment to a smaller, energy-only approach, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said today...
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Steps to bolster isotope production

While Petten in the Netherlands was recently announced as the site for a new research reactor for the production radioisotopes, the Canadian government has called for project proposals to produce medical isotopes without using reactor-based technology...
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NPT review concludes in New York

The month-long conference on the Nuclear non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has ended by confirming the treaty's importance to the use of nuclear energy and placing pressure on Israel and North Korea....
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Contract for Texan ABWR pressure vessel

Japanese engineering company IHI Corporation has been awarded a contract by Toshiba to produce the reactor pressure vessel for the first Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) to be built in the USA....
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Cornyn to Kerry: Try hitting some singles instead of home-run energy legislation

A Republican senator on Sunday said he would work with Democrats on limited energy proposals but warned against a comprehensive energy and climate bill that congressional leaders want to push this summer...
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Americans are exposed to increased levels of radiation

The average American receives 620 millirems of background radiation every year, as opposed to the 360 millirems as is often stated in the press. The number has crept up in the last two decades, from 180 millirems to 300 millirems, then to 360 millirems and most recently, in 2006, to 620 millirems...
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Nuclear power group contributes to energy-assistance fund

Nuclear Innovation North America LLC has donated $2.5 million to the Residential Energy Assistance Partnership to help low-income, elderly or disabled residents pay their utility bills.Nuclear Innovation North America (NINA) is the nuclear development company jointly owned by NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG) and Toshiba Corp. The company is making the donation as part of its Feb. 17 $1 billion settlement with CPS Energy — which cleared the path for the development of two new reactors at the South Texas Project in Bay City, Texas...
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Atomic Waste Gets 'Temporary' Home

Three months after the U.S. cancelled a plan to build a vast nuclear-waste repository in Nevada, the country's ad hoc atomic-storage policy is becoming clear in places like Wiscasset, Maine. Wiscasset doesn't even have a nuclear-energy plant anymore. The Maine Yankee facility was shuttered back in 1996 after developing problems too costly to fix, and the reactor was dismantled early this decade. What's left is a bare field of 167 acres cleared and ready for development—except for one thing...
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Hitachi reviews nuclear power partnership with GE

Japan's largest electronics maker, said on Tuesday that it is reviewing the structure of its nuclear power partnership with General Electric Co (GE.N), as it seeks to win more deals globally. A Hitachi spokesman did not rule out the possibility of Hitachi and GE changing their investments in their joint ventures as part of an overhaul of Hitachi's global sales network, but said nothing concrete had been discussed or decided...
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Terrorists in Former Soviet States Pursuing Nuke Materials, Official Says

Extremists operating out of former Soviet states are seeking to acquire nuclear or other WMD materials to use in terrorist attacks, the head of Russia's security service said today...
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Iran Holds More Than 12 Pounds of Refined Uranium, IAEA Says

Iran's fissile material stockpile in early April included no less than 12.5 pounds of uranium enriched to the 20 percent level, the International Atomic Energy Agency said in a report issued this week on the Middle Eastern nation's nuclear program...
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Programmers Create Nuke Simulator Debugging Tool

Specialists at Purdue University in Indiana and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California have developed a computer program for automatically tracking down bugs in supercomputer codes used to evaluate the reliability of the U.S. nuclear arsenal, the university announced yesterday...
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Nuclear regulation offers a model for oil controls

This situation is eerily similar to that of nuclear energy in the 1970s, which led to the creation of an independent Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Back then, the Atomic Energy Commission's regulation of nuclear power plants had come under such strong criticism that Congress decided to sever the promotion and regulation function so that the AEC could have no influence over what the regulators would require. The NRC began operation in 1975. ..
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Iran Informs IAEA of Uranium Exchange Plan

The three-nation agreement calls for Iran to send 1,200 kilograms of low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for nuclear material refined by other countries for use at a medical research reactor in Tehran...
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Texas may get nuclear waste from dozens of states

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...
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GOP House candidate Bill Flores backtracks on loans for nuclear power plants

Republican congressional candidate Bill Flores backtracked Friday from disavowing the federal government's responsibility in guaranteeing loans for nuclear power plant construction. The policy change came after getting snared in a contradiction by his Democratic foe, Rep. Chet Edwards. The Flores camp said he supports using federal loan guarantees for some nuclear power plant projects, and the Republican reiterated that nuclear power needs to be expanded as part of a national energy plan...
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New Nuclear Energy Grapples With Costs

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...
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Nulcear Reactors At Risk Due to Global Warming

As climate change throws Earth's water cycle off-kilter, the world's energy infrastructure may end up in hot water, experts say. From hydropower installations in the Himalaya to nuclear power plants in Western Europe, energy resources are already being impacted by flooding, heat waves, drought, and more...
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China in Talks With Russia, France on 4G Reactors

China National Nuclear Corp. may cooperate with France on research, with Russia on engineering and construction and with Japan on safety technology, Xu Mi, chief engineer at the China Institute of Atomic Energy, spoke to Bloomberg in an interview in Beijing. China wants to build its own brand of atomic technology for export, Xu Yuming, vice secretary general of China Nuclear Energy Association, said today...
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The nuclear option is back on the table in Europe

For 30 years Sweden stood proudly at the forefront of the world's antinuclear movement. Now, in one of the clearest signs of a nuclear-power renaissance sweeping the globe, it's striving to lift a decades-old ban on new reactors...
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Nuclear fuel recycling could take 20-30 years: US DOE official

The US would be able to implement a nuclear fuel recycling program in the
next 20 to 30 years if it committed to such a program now, Warren Miller, the
Department of Energy's assistant secretary for nuclear energy, said Wednesday...
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Repairs progress at isotope reactors

Major repairs to the National Research Unit (NRU) reactor at Chalk River in Canada and the High Flux Reactor (HFR) in the Netherlands are progressing well, according to the latest updates from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) and NRG...
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NPT Proposal Scrubbed of Disarmament Dates

Nations at the 2010 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference yesterday issued a revised draft agreement that includes none of the dates contained in the initial proposal for convening nuclear disarmament talks...
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Senate's Climate Bill Encourages Development of Nuclear Power

The 987-page Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, introduced to the Senate by John Kerry and Joe Lieberman on 12 May, leads with issues of nuclear power under the heading Encouraging Domestic Nuclear Power Generation. It is the most significant update to policy since the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which specified support for nuclear that has yet to really materialise....
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House Panel Approves $15 Billion for DOE Nuclear Operations

That dollar figure includes $7 billion for "nuclear weapons activities," a 10-percent increase from the present budget, according to House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chairman James Langevin (D-R.I.), whose panel has the first input on the president's requested nuclear budget. Those efforts ensure the safety and performance of the nation's nuclear arsenal....
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Senate's Climate Bill will Include $54B in Nuclear Loan Guarantees

Two U.S. senators will introduce climate-change legislation tomorrow that gives coastal states a share of revenue from expanded offshore oil and natural-gas drilling in a bid to win support for greenhouse gas limits...
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Record drop in US energy-related emissions

Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in the USA dropped by 7% in 2009, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This represents the largest fall since the EIA records began in 1949...
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Experts turn climate policy on its head

A new report says that greenhouse gas emissions reductions can only be achieved if they are the consequence of policies designed to improve quality of life...
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Constellation hoping feds back its new nuclear project

Federal energy officials say they can only afford to help finance one of three proposals to build new nuclear reactors in the U.S., and Constellation Energy Group Inc. executives are counting on it being theirs...
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Obama resubmits US-Russia nuclear energy deal

President Barack Obama planned to resubmit to Congress on Tuesday a nuclear power pact with Russia that his predecessor angrily canceled two years ago after Russia invaded neighboring Georgia...
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U.N. Chief Demands Test Ban Treaty Deadline

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is pressing the international community to set a goal date for bringing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty into force, the Associated Press reported Saturday...
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Negotiations Begin at NPT Review Conference

The monthlong session began May 3 at the United Nations in New York with several days of speeches by senior officials from many of the 189 treaty states, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The aim by the end of May is to issue a consensus document that would assess the standing of the nuclear nonproliferation regime and offer strategies for strengthening the system...
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White House says time right for climate bill

The White House said on Friday the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico showed the need for climate change and energy legislation, dismissing calls from a Republican backer of the bill to hold off...
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Dominion selects APWR for North Anna

Dominion has selected Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' (MHI's) Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor (APWR) for the potential third unit at its North Anna nuclear power plant in Virginia. The company had previously been considering building a GE Hitachi Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) there....
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Tepco buys into STP expansion project

Japanese utility Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has agreed to take a 9% stake in the project to construct two new reactors at the South Texas Project (STP), with an option to later increase this stake to some 18%....
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U.S. needs nuclear waste recycling

If you are a consumer of electricity in Michigan or elsewhere in the country, you might wonder what in the world is going on. After 27 years and $10 billion spent on scientific research, preparation of a site for the repository and actual construction of a tunnel beneath the Nevada desert, your government has decided this might have been the wrong solution...
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UAE nuclear effort a model says Sheikh Abdullah

In an address during the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review meeting, Sheikh Abdullah told delegates that the UAE was “taking further tangible steps to support the non-proliferation efforts of the international community” by building nuclear reactors under the supervision of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog...
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DOE cancels plutonium level change for SRS waste

"The Office of Environmental Management has decided not to move forward at this time with its February decision to direct contractors to start planning for higher concentrations of plutonium in waste canisters at the Savannah River Site," said Jen Stutsman, a spokeswoman at the department's Washington headquarters....
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Clinton, Ahmadinejad Trade Jabs at Nonproliferation Treaty Conference

The president of Iran and Washington’s top diplomat squared off yesterday over their nations’ respective nuclear programs at the outset of a monthlong conference in New York...
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U.S. launches fund drive for peaceful nuclear uses

The United States on Monday announced a drive to raise $100 million over the next five years to help the International Atomic Energy Agency broaden access to peaceful uses of nuclear energy...
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What Drillers Need to Learn from Nukes

Nobody died at Three Mile Island, and the nuclear power industry made smart changes. Deepwater Horizon is a turning point for the drillers...
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NRC decision on Yucca Mountain application soon

The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will decide in the next few weeks whether the Department of Energy (DoE) can withdraw its application to construct a national spent fuel and high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada...
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Fuel loading starts at new Chinese reactor

The first fuel assembly was loaded into the reactor of the new CPR-1000 unit on 21 April after state approval for the operation to begin, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Company (CGNPC) announced. A total of 157 fuel assemblies will be loaded into the reactor core in an operation expected to take five days to complete. The unit is scheduled to begin commercial operation by the end of 2010...
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Two out of three for Finland

Finnish leaders have made favourable decisions for two of the three nuclear projects put before them, meaning up to 4300 MWe in nuclear capacity could potentially come from private investment...
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Fairbanks Morse Engine to Supply Emergency Diesel Generator Sets for Planned Nuclear Reactors in Texas

Fairbanks Morse Engine, an EnPro Industries (NYSE: NPO) company, announced today that it has been awarded a contract to supply six safety related Fairbanks Morse Colt-Pielstick PC2.6B Emergency Diesel Generator sets (EDGs) to Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corp. (TANE) for installation at Units 3 & 4 of the STP Nuclear Operating Company in Matagorda County, Texas...
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1,200 nuclear plants projected worldwide by 2030

President Barack Obama's pledge that nuclear power will play a major role in clean energy came after decades of industry efforts to improve safety and efficiency, said Gary Gates, an industry expert and the president and CEO of the Omaha Public Power District...
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Construction of floating NPP goes as planned

Russia is continuing work on its first floating nuclear power plant, which will supply electricity to remote regions of the Arctic. The facility is being protected against hull corrosion, according to Motorship's website. Such a plant can run for 40 years and need refueling only once every decade...
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New Book on Nuclear Power vs Wind

Sen. Lamar Alexander took the opportunity of this week’s 40th anniversary celebration of Earth Day to highlight his ongoing promotion of expanding nuclear power as a better alternative to reduce carbon emissions that wind power...
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GE Hitachi’s Fuller to Seek Nuclear Recycling (Correct)

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy is pushing the Obama administration to support new recycling technology that the company says would reduce the risk of proliferation and the storage needed for radioactive waste...
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US needs nuclear storage, fuel options-regulator

As the United States works to expand its nuclear fleet for the first time in three decades and extend the life of current reactors, thorny questions remain to be answered about the life cycle of nuclear fuel, a former nuclear regulator said on Wednesday...
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U.S. Keeps First-Strike Strategy

The Obama administration will release a new national nuclear-weapons strategy Tuesday that makes only modest changes to U.S. nuclear forces, leaving intact the longstanding U.S. threat to use nuclear weapons first, even against non-nuclear nations...
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Scientific Collaboration Key to Eliminating Nuclear Arsenals

Leading British and U.S. science organizations are calling for a stepped-up campaign of scientific cooperation to help lay the groundwork for global nuclear disarmament...
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Urenco Expects US Facility To Begin Operations In One Month

Urenco Group, the uranium-enrichment company part-owned by the U.K. and Dutch governments, Thursday said that its new plant in the U.S. is expected to enter commercial production within the next month. Chief Financial Officer Bart Le Blanc said: "The plant is ready to operate and awaiting a green light from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to be able to start commercial operations. We are confident that will happen in the next month or so."
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Energy Department to appeal over Yucca Mountain

The Department of Energy served notice Thursday it will appeal a move by federal regulators to delay decisions on terminating the Yucca Mountain project...
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Tactical, Reserve Nuke Cuts Seen on U.S. Agenda

The United States plans to seek negotiations with Russia on limiting battlefield nuclear weapons following ratification of a recently completed treaty governing deployments of larger, longer-range nuclear armaments, the Associated Press reported yesterday...
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Obama Curbs U.S. Nuclear Weapons Development, Usage Policy

The Obama administration today issued its Nuclear Posture Review, swearing off creation of new nuclear weapons and significantly limiting the circumstances under which such armaments could be used, according to news reports...
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74% in US Support Nuclear Power

Public support for nuclear energy in the USA has reached a record high, with 74% of people saying they are in favour of nuclear energy, according to the results of a new poll...
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New START Seen Facing Political, Technical Challenges in Russia

The successor agreement to a landmark U.S.-Soviet nuclear arms control treaty faces a number of political and technical challenges to its chances for ratification in Russia, a leading foreign policy expert said yesterday...
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NNSA Awards Contract For Nuke Labs Supercomputer

The U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration said yesterday that it had selected Seattle-based Cray Inc. to produce a new high-tech supercomputer system to be used at the three NNSA nuclear weapons laboratories...
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U.S. Ratification of CTBT Faces Additional Challenges

The extended amount of time it took for the United States to negotiate a new nuclear arms control treaty with Russia is thought to have hurt the chances for U.S. Senate ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty this year, the Associated Press reported today...
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Isotope producers under repair

Status updates from NRG and AECL explained the difficulties in conducting major repairs on the world's two biggest medical isotope production reactors...
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ESP application for new Texan plant

Exelon has submitted an application to the US nuclear regulator for an early site permit (ESP) for the construction of a new nuclear power plant in Victoria County, Texas. It has also formally withdrawn its application for a combined construction and operating licence (COL) for the proposed plant...
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South Korea Seeks Right to Reprocess Nuclear Material

Arguing that it is running out of space to store spent nuclear fuel rods, South Korea has called for the right to reprocess used material in spite of U.S. concerns about the effect of such work on the security situation on the Korean Peninsula, the Christian Science Monitor reported yesterday...
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New U.S.-Russian Arms Control Deal Set for Signing

U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today approved the terms of a new nuclear arms control agreement, paving the way for the leaders to sign the deal in the Czech capital of Prague next month, the Wall Street Journal reported...
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Texas Nuclear Expansion on Track

The South Texas Project nuclear expansion made another big step forward last week.And that is good news for San Antonio. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff revealed that it intends to recommend that the commission give the project a positive finding on environmental impact, the Houston Chronicle reported...
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USEC reaches American Centrifuge milestone

USEC is operating a cascade of AC100 centrifuge machines in a commercial-plant configuration at its Piketon, Ohio, plant. The company hopes that reaching the milestone will improve its chances of receiving a loan guarantee for its American Centrifuge Plant...
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Utility Regulators Want Yucca Open

An organization of state utility regulators on Tuesday joined a number of states in challenging the Department of Energy's plan to drop a site at Yucca Mountain, Nev., from consideration as a repository for high-level radioactive waste...
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EnergySolutions: N-power revival is right policy

Energy development and energy independence are enormous issues our nation must continue to address aggressively. The economy will recover, growth will resume and energy deficiencies will, once again, be front and center as topics of major concern...
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US hopeful of future N-deals with the UAE

Richard Olson, the US Ambassador to the UAE, said his country was optimistic that American companies would be able to get more opportunities in the future nuclear programmes of the UAE, which awarded the construction contracts for its first batch of reactors to a Korean 
consortium...
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Illinois Senate votes to overturn nuclear ban

The Illinois state Senate has voted overwhelmingly to remove a 23-year-old moratorium on the construction of new nuclear power plants in the state. However, the bill stills need to be approved by the House....
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Nuclear 'roadmap' in latest Russia-India accords

New agreements between Russia and India cover cooperation in nuclear power and a roadmap for this year's work by the two countries. Meanwhile, the Indian government has deferred a bill that could be vital to opening nuclear trade with the USA....
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High-level waste returned to Japan

The first consignment of solid high-level waste belonging to Sellafield's Japanese customers has safely arrived in Japan from the UK following a journey by ship of over six weeks. The waste arose from the reprocessing of those customers' used nuclear fuel at Sellafield....
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U.S. Carefully Considers Future of Nukes in Europe

The Obama administration is proceeding with caution as it considers pulling all U.S. nuclear weapons from Europe, the Associated Press reported today. While certain officials from Germany and other European nations are calling for removal of an estimated 200 Cold War-era nuclear arms from the continent, an imminent decision is not expected from Washington...
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Head of Nuclear Regulatory Commission calls Obama's action 'unfortunate'

A departing leader of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week criticized President Barack Obama's handling of the Yucca Mountain shutdown, saying it has damaged the government's credibility on nuclear matters...
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Next loan guarantee could go to Bay City nuke plant

The head of the group planning to add two nuclear reactors to the South Texas Project power plant near Bay City said Friday he believes it could be next to receive a federal loan guarantee...
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State support key to U.S. nuclear revival

Full support from state regulators is viewed as critical to keep the U.S. nuclear revival moving forward, utility executives said this week at the IHS CERA energy conference in Houston...
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Gulf Nations Urged to Press China on Iran Penalties

Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates must exert greater pressure on China to back a fourth U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution against Iran over its disputed nuclear activities, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said yesterday...
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Nuclear Smugglers Still at Work, Expert Says

Iran admits building a secret uranium enrichment facility in the religious hub of Qum. Pakistan's High Court releases nuclear black marketer Abdul Qadeer Khan from house arrest. Spy satellites reveal North Korea boring another tunnel in a remote mountainside. Israeli warplanes bomb a suspicious facility in the Syrian desert...
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Nat Gas To Change US Supply, But Nuclear Also Needed

North America's bounty of unconventional gas will likely transform the continent's energy supply picture, but it won't radically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a report released Wednesday by IHS Cambridge Energy Research Associates said. Replacing coal-fired generation units with relatively cleaner-burning natural gas power plants alone won't cut greenhouse gas emissions by 80% in 2050, an oft-discussed target. The deployment of nuclear and renewable energy facilities as well as carbon capture and storage will be needed to meet that goal, IHS CERA says...
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NRC Commissioner Takes a Stand on Obama’s Yucca Decision

Dale Klein, Commissioner and former chair of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) challenged the premise on which President Obama based his move to withdraw the application to permit the geologic repository at Yucca Mountain. At a conference in Bethesda, Maryland yesterday Commissioner Klein emphasized that it was politics, not science, which led to this decision...
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Science, Technology Crucial to Nuclear Disarmament, Report Says

A new report from the American Physical Society urges the Obama administration to take steps that would enable science and technology to better support the U.S. goals of nonproliferation and nuclear disarmament...
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Obama Presses Senators to Revive Climate Bill

President Barack Obama renewed his push to get a climate and energy bill through Congress in the coming weeks, meeting at the White House Tuesday with cabinet officials and senior Democratic and Republican senators working on the issue...
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EDF, Rosatom may extend nuclear partnership

French power group EDF (EDF.PA) and Russian rival Rosatom are looking at extending a nuclear partnership to offer new reactors outside their domestic base, Les Echos newspaper said on Tuesday...
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It Will Take Years For US to Get off Fossil Fuels: Chu

It will take the US years to get away from using fossil fuels, Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu told CNBC Tuesday.As for nuclear energy, Chu said the US is working on a long term plan over several decades to develop safe nuclear technologies...
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Teams Compete for NGNP Design

The USA has asked for more reactor design work from two technology teams led by General Atomics and Westinghouse. One of the designs could be picked for construction as the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP)...
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Syria, Israel Unveil Plans For Nuclear Energy

Syria and Israel both announced their intentions today to pursue atomic energy capabilities, which for Jerusalem could lead to more international scrutiny on its widely assumed but always undeclared nuclear weapons program, the Associated Press reported...
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Virginia Researchers Prepare Helicopter for Assessing Nuke Damage

Researchers at Virginia Tech University are working on a self-operating helicopter that could be used to assess the effects of a nuclear strike on an urban area in the United States, Asian News International reported today...
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Senators Expect Rough Battle on Ratifying New START Pact

It remained unclear this week whether U.S. senators would ultimately vote to ratify a new nuclear arms control treaty the Obama administration is negotiating with Russia, Foreign Policy magazine's The Cable reported Tuesday...
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YUCCA MOUNTAIN: DOE asks to halt Yucca Mountain Agency submits paperwork to put repository down

The Department of Energy moved Wednesday to end almost 30 years of trying to bury nuclear waste in Nevada.DOE attorneys filed paperwork to withdraw a license application to build a repository at Yucca Mountain and to make it difficult if not impossible for the project to be resurrected. "The Secretary of Energy has decided that a geologic repository at Yucca Mountain is not a workable option for long-term disposition of these materials," the department said in a 10-page motion submitted to an arm of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Town Finds Good Neighbor in Nuclear Plant

Vermont would lose the source of one-third of its electricity, but residents say the move would forever change Vernon, the small town on the Connecticut River that has been the reactor’s home for 38 years...
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End of the line for Yucca Mountain

The withdrawal of its licence application yesterday marked the official end of the Yucca Mountain repository project...
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Computing boost for Japanese research

The fastest supercomputer in Japan has been put to use for nuclear energy research by the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA). The new system has a performance over 12 times greater than its previous systems...
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Homeland Security Scales Back Development of New Radiation Monitors

The U.S. Homeland Security Department is curtailing its efforts on a new generation of radiation monitors that were at one point intended to replace the current line of sensors that screen cargo containers coming into the United States for material that could be used in a nuclear attack, a Senate committee announced yesterday...
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Lieberman: ‘detailed narrative’ of climate bill en route

The Senate trio trying to salvage climate legislation this year plans to begin circulating details of their long-awaited proposal very soon, said Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.), one of the architects of the measure...
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Support, worries over nuclear plants

Many Americans are in favor of increasing the nation's nuclear power capabilities, but large numbers worry about the potential consequences, a poll indicates...
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India moves on U.S. nuclear deal with new law

India's parliament will debate over the next month a new law to limit nuclear firms' liability in the case of industrial accidents, a move crucial for U.S. firms to tap into India's estimated $150 billion nuclear market...
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British Army Officials Skeptical of Need for Nuclear Deterrent

High-level British army officials yesterday played down the importance of the United Kingdom's submarine-based nuclear arsenal, the London Guardian reported ...
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Radiation Errors Reported in Missouri

A hospital in Missouri said Wednesday that it had overradiated 76 patients, the vast majority with brain cancer, during a five-year period because powerful new radiation equipment had been set up incorrectly even with a representative of the manufacturer watching as it was done...
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Obama Sees the Light on Nuclear Power

The president announced $8.3 billion in loan guarantees for two nuclear power plants in Georgia that Southern Co. is proposing to build. The earliest they could be operational would be 2016 and 2017...
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Vermont Senate opposes plant licence renewal

The Vermont Senate has voted against the extension of the operating licence of the US state's only nuclear power plant - Entergy's Vermont Yankee plant - for a further 20 years beyond 2012...
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Uranium in South Texas

Newly released resource figures for the Palangana in situ recovery (ISR) uranium project in South Texas show the deposit has "very substantial potential", while a major study on uranium mining in Virginia is about to proceed...
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Loan guarantees pave way for first new U.S. nuclear reactors in years

President Obama announced $8.3 billion in loan guarantees Tuesday for two nuclear reactors to be built in Burke County, Georgia. A new nuclear power plant has not been built in the United States in three decades...
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Lithuania is Decommissioning

The closure of the last functioning reactor at Lithuania's Ignalina nuclear power plant on 31 December 2009 has laid focus on the daunting decommissioning process currently underway with the help of several international agencies...
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Jordan and U.S. Move Closer to Nuclear Pact

Jordan is in advanced talks with the Obama administration to conclude a civilian nuclear-cooperation agreement with the U.S., according to Jordanian and U.S. officials. Successful completion of the negotiations would make Jordan the second Arab state in less than a year, following the United Arab Emirates, to secure nuclear assistance from Washington. Any pact would constitute an international treaty and need the approval of Congress...
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Ohio, Duke considering nuclear plant

President Barack Obama's call for a new generation of nuclear power plants could weigh on decisions about a possible new nuclear facility at the former uranium processing reservation in Piketon...
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Emerging nuclear countries share perspective

Representatives from countries thinking about using nuclear power are working on the thorny problem of developing a national nuclear infrastructure with the help of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)...
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MidAmerican pushes for legislation to help build nuclear power plants

MidAmerican Energy is pushing for new legislation that could result in new nuclear power plants in Iowa. There is currently one nuclear power plant in the state, the Duane Arnold Energy Plant at Palo, near Cedar Rapids. A recent federal study ranked Iowa last in nuclear capacity among the 31 states which have nuclear power plants...
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NRC nominees won't stand in way of Yucca Mountain shutdown

Three officials nominated to fill seats on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission indicated this week that they would not stand in the way of a shutdown of the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste program.But one suggested that because it now looks as if radioactive spent fuel will remain at power plants for the foreseeable future, their steel-and-concrete storage canisters should be checked for safety...
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Yucca's death spiral might hit NEI snag

The nuclear industry's trade group is signaling it might not go along with the Obama administration's plan to withdraw from Yucca Mountain and make it difficult if not impossible to revive the proposed nuclear waste repository ever again...
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Lithuania to sign nuclear plant deal at end 2010

Lithuania plans to sign a shareholders agreement to build a new nuclear power plant at the end of this year, the country's energy minister said on Wednesday...
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Comanche Peak could benefit from Obama's push on federal loan guarantees

A proposed two-reactor expansion of the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant could get a big push as a result of President Barack Obama's call to nearly triple federal loan guarantees for new nuclear reactors to $54.5 billion...
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Iran Hints at Accepting Bulk Uranium Transfer

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad yesterday said his country was willing to ship much of its low-enriched uranium to other countries for further refinement, a key principle of a U.N. proposal aimed at easing international concerns that the Middle Eastern state could produce material for a nuclear weapon, Reuters reported...
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NPT Review Conference Workshop Held in Philippines

A two-day workshop focused on global nuclear disarmament efforts was conducted this week in the Philippines in preparation for the upcoming Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference, Kyodo News reported...
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Deal Set "In Principle" on START Successor, U.S. Officials Say

The United States and Russia have made an "agreement in principle" on a successor to the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the Wall Street Journal reported today...
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China to Build 6 Nuclear Facilities Near Mt. Baekdu

A total of six nuclear power plants are expected to be built near Mt. Baekdu, which is regarded as a mystic mountain for Koreans, in 2012, according to the Korea Energy Economics Institute (KEEI)...
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Time to Embrace the Nuclear Option (Oleg Deripaksa)

It is 50 years since the first commercial nuclear power plants began to generate electricity. Even in the dark days of the Cold War, these reactors, in France and the U.S., were seen as vital to the world's future. They were expected to mark the beginning of a new peaceful atomic age that would help meet our energy needs...
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Areva wins U.S. approval for nuclear safety system

Areva (CEPFi.PA) has won U.S. approval to upgrade a nuclear safety system at a plant in the country, a move that could help ease concerns over the security systems of a new generation of French nuclear power reactors...
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The Administration Puts Its Own Stamp on a Possible Nuclear Revival

The Obama administration's 2011 budget proposal gives its distinctive endorsement to a revival of American nuclear power.As reported last week, the administration wants to triple the size of the Energy Department's loan guarantee program to $54 billion, which could support the construction of seven to 10 new reactors, Chu said, if their designs are approved and the developers raise their share of the capital...
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Pentagon to Augment Anti-WMD Capabilities

The U.S. Defense Department said today in the 2010 Quadrennial Defense Review that it intends to enhance its capabilities to prevent the spread and use of weapons of mass destruction...
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NRG Might Exit Nuclear Project

NRG Energy Inc. said it might be forced to take a $400 million charge and pull the plug on its nuclear-development efforts in Texas if it is unable to settle a dispute with its partner, a city-owned utility company in San Antonio...
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Federal panel to examine nuclear waste storage

The Obama administration continued its march away from Yucca Mountain on Friday with the naming of a 15-member panel of experts to chart new paths to manage highly radioactive nuclear waste...
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Khan Placed Under Restrictions Again

Pakistan has once again curtailed the movements of former chief nuclear scientist and black-market proliferator Abdul Qadeer Khan, Asian News International reported today...
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U.K. Must Not Rush to Replace Nuclear Deterrent, Ex-Official Says

The former leader of the British armed forces yesterday urged the United Kingdom to postpone for as long as possible a final determination on whether to replace the country's Trident nuclear deterrent, the Press Association reported...
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Lithuanians positive on nuclear safety

Nearly three-quarters of Lithuanians believe that it is possible to operate nuclear power plants in safety, a survey carried out on behalf of the state nuclear regulatory authority has found...
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Nuclear lawsuit stays in state court

A federal judge has sent a $32 billion nuclear lawsuit filed by CPS Energy back to state court in Bexar County. U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez ruled Thursday that a citizens group that is trying to intervene did not have standing to get the case moved to federal court...
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Chu Defends Deliberative Approach to Nuclear Waste

Supporters of expanded nuclear are growing impatient with Chu about the time it is taking to appoint members to a planned blue-ribbon commission to study nuclear waste fuel policy options. But he has given no firm dates...
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Trouble in Texas for STP

A federal court judge Wednesday ordered a stop to all activity in the $32 billion nuclear lawsuit while he decides if the case belongs under federal jurisdiction.The constitutional violation, the coalition argues, stems from CPS not being honest with the public during its presentations on the project, which “denied their First Amendment right to have an informed dialogue and a decision by their elected representatives”...
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Close to Pouring Concrete for "First" Reactor

Plant Vogtle's parent company wants the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to allow additional construction activities as it awaits permits for two new reactors.Southern Nuclear received an Early Site Permit and Limited Work Authorization last year allowing grading and other preliminary work at its Burke County site...
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Graham, U.S. Chamber to meet on climate and energy bill

Graham – who is working with Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) – wants to merge expanded oil and nuclear power production with some kind of limits on greenhouse gas emissions...
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GE's PRISM Reactor Concept

One of the most vexing issues facing the nuclear power industry today is what to do with the spent nuclear fuel after it has been used in a nuclear reactor. Currently, used fuel is safely stored in pools of water or in dry casks at the nuclear plant site. But as for a long-term solution, there is no consensus as to disposing of, or permanently storing, the spent nuclear fuel...
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Pakistan Moves to Limit Khan's Permitted Activities

The Pakistani leadership wants to limit the permitted activities of former top nuclear scientist and proliferator Abdul Qadeer Khan out of fears that he constitutes a threat to the country's security interests, United Press International reported today...
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How to Protect Our Nuclear Deterrent

The four of us have come together, now joined by many others, to support a global effort to reduce reliance on nuclear weapons, to prevent their spread into potentially dangerous hands, and ultimately to end them as a threat to the world. We do so in recognition of a clear and threatening development...
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Obama at One Year: “A” for Transforming Nuclear Policy, “Incomplete” For Execution

The Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, one of the nation's major arms control organizations, gave President Barack Obama a grade of "A" for transforming United States nuclear weapons policy during his first year in office and an "Incomplete" for completing the new policy initiatives he has launched...
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Clinton nuclear plant chosen for radioisotope pilot project

The Clinton Power Station will host a pilot project that will produce much needed additional supplies of a radioisotope used in cancer treatment and food sterilization...
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Toshiba out of $32 billion nuclear suit

CPS Energy dropped Toshiba Inc. from its $32 billion nuclear lawsuit to keep the case from being permanently shifted to federal court...
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Iranian Nuke Research Continues, U.S. Intel Agencies to Assert

The U.S. intelligence community is preparing to reverse its conclusion that Iran in 2003 suspended research aimed specifically at producing a nuclear bomb, Newsweek reported Friday...
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Nuclear Bomb Update Effort Slowed by Posture Review, Science Studies

The Obama administration has slowed an effort to modernize a key U.S. nuclear weapon, following congressional action to scale back its budget...
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Fusion projects building for the future

Work is set to begin on the first building to be constructed at the Iter platform in France after a contract for the Coil Winding Facility was signed. Meanwhile, test facilities to help prepare for the next stages in the international pursuit of nuclear fusion are progressing...
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Areva Stops Nuclear Recycling For EDF Pending New Deal

French nuclear engineering group Areva SA (CEI.FR) has ceased recycling and transporting spent nuclear fuel for utility giant Electricite de France's power plants pending the signing of a new contract...
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Critics rap Alexander's nuke proposal

A plan by U.S. Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., to build 100 nuclear plants over the next 20 years is fraught with problems, critics say...
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Lawmaker Seeks Review of Nuclear Security Program

The head of a U.S. House of Representatives committee requested Wednesday a thorough review of the Megaports Initiative over concerns that the program was not sufficiently effective in its mission to block the smuggling of nuclear materials and weapons...
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Iran Not Committed to Building Nuclear Bomb, Pentagon Intel Chief Says

The conclusion -- originally reached in a comprehensive 2007 intelligence assessment of Iran's nuclear program -- remains valid despite uncertainties about the goals and stability of the nation's government, U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency Chief Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess said...
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Iran Not Committed to Building Nuclear Bomb, Pentagon Intel Chief Says

The conclusion -- originally reached in a comprehensive 2007 intelligence assessment of Iran's nuclear program -- remains valid despite uncertainties about the goals and stability of the nation's government, U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency Chief Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess said...
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Ukrainian Nuclear Politics

As Ukraine's presidential election approaches, hopeful candidate Yulia Tymoshenko has embarked on a remarkable pro-nuclear campaigning spree...
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Turkey Point nuclear suspension

Florida Power and Light has suspended work on two new reactors at Turkey Point in an angry reaction to a decision by state regulators...
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Talks Hit "Sweet Spot" for Landing New START Agreement

A new arms control treaty between the United States and Russia appears nearly within reach, despite continued tensions over verification provisions, a senior U.S. official said this morning...
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IAEA to Pursue Nuclear Fuel Bank in Kazakhstan

The International Atomic Energy Agency intends this year to flesh out plans for an international nuclear fuel repository at an isolated metallurgical site in Kazakhstan, the BBC reported Friday...
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U.N. Chief Sees "Window of Opportunity" on Nuclear Disarmament

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon vowed Friday to throw his full weight behind nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation initiatives following a Security Council summit last September that addressed the issues...
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China's Latest Reactor

A ceremony last week saw the official start of work on Ningde 3, the 21st nuclear project underway in China.The reactor joined two others at Ningde as officially under construction on 8 January, while approval for unit 4 as the last of Phase I build was signed off by officials at the same time...
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EU Nations Streamline Nuclear Monitoring

Three undisclosed European Union nations formally accepted streamlined procedures for monitoring nonmilitary nuclear programs at the beginning of 2010, making the "integrated safeguards" regime universal in all European nations that are not declared nuclear-weapon states, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced today...
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Shaw eyes US reactor uprate market

More U.S. companies are electing to uprate their nuclear reactors, creating a market worth $25 billion, the Shaw Group said. ...
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Nuclear options: Nuclear power may be a ‘green’ solution worth using

NASA climatologist James Hansen's research into global warming has brought him fame — and put him in the big fat middle of controversy on more than one occasion. The intellectual journey that first led Hansen to warn against the imminent perils to our planet of continuing to burn fossil fuels, particularly coal, began in the 1980s. Over the years it has also led him to another, somewhat surprising conclusion: Nuclear power could offer an environmentally acceptable way out of the problems caused by heavy reliance on coal...
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