Medvedev Inks New START Ratification Text

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev today announced he had inked his country's ratification document for a new nuclear arms control treaty with the United States, Russia Today reported...
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U.S. Pushes to Advance Fissile Material Talks

Critics of a potential fissile material cutoff treaty would wield greater influence over the terms of an eventual pact by allowing negotiations to proceed at the international Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland, a top U.S. arms control official said yesterday...
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Russia Demands NATO Investigation of Stuxnet Worm

The "Stuxnet" computer worm that infiltrated Iranian atomic facilities merits a formal investigation by NATO, Russia's ambassador to the military alliance said yesterday, adding the malware could have caused a radiological material release on par with the 1986 Chernobyl disaster...
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Disarmament Deadlock Risks Proliferation, U.N. Chief Warns

Nuclear weapons are becoming more vulnerable to proliferation and acquisition by extremists due to a lingering stalemate at the international Conference on Disarmament in Geneva, Switzerland, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said yesterday...
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Chu plugs R&D to hit Obama's clean-energy target

Can a country that gets nearly half of its electricity from burning coal really get 80 percent of its electricity from "clean-energy sources" in less than 25 years? According to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, the answer is yes if the U.S. cranks up its "innovation machine."...
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Nuclear power poised to help meet demands of climate change legislation

A host of recent analyses has concluded that the nation’s use of nuclear energy must increase in the coming decades to meet rising electricity demand while reducing greenhouse gas emissions...
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Measure Seen Threatening Funds for U.S. Nuclear Labs

A one-sentence resolution passed yesterday by the U.S. House of Representatives sets the stage for U.S. nuclear weapons complex funding to be slashed to fiscal 2008 levels for the remainder of this budget year, according to Representative Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.)...
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Areva seeks to put lead-212 in hospital

Areva has permission to conduct early stage tests on a new cancer treatment using lead-212, which can be extracted from industrial activities including the reprocessing of used nuclear fuel...
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NASA’s Hansen Presses Obama for a Carbon Cost and Nuclear Push

A host of thinkers and doers focused on energy and climate have contributed statements they’d give if President Obama used his State of the Union message to announce a listening tour on how to shape a sustained American energy quest...
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Oil giant Saudi Arabia looks to alternative energy

With vast oil reserves that are far from exhausted, Saudi Arabia, facing rising domestic energy demand that could cut into its oil exports, has decided to explore nuclear and renewable energy, Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi has said...
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U.S.-China Statement a Turning Point on North Korea

China's acknowledgment of a newly unveiled North Korean uranium enrichment facility marked an important turning point in Beijing's relationship with the United States and could lead to further cooperation as the two nations contend with the Stalinist state's nuclear program, foreign affairs experts say...
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Onsite used fuel storage period extended

US nuclear power utilities will now be able to store used fuel onsite for up to 60 years after plant shutdown under revisions to regulations which came into effect today. This period had previously been limited to 30 years...
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China and Exelon deepen ties

Subsidiaries of Exelon and China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) have signed a memorandum of cooperation, effectively making Exelon the preferred nuclear service provider for the Chinese nuclear giant...
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Energy Sector to Parse Obama Speech for Clarity on Regulation

In two previous big speeches on Capitol Hill, President Barack Obama planted global warming and energy near the top of his agenda, prodding lawmakers to get moving despite reservations about the sour economy...
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Palo Verde Brings Electricity and $1.8B to Arizona Economy

Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station makes more than electricity for a big portion of the Southwest. The power plant also brings about $1.8 billion annually to the Arizona economy, operator Arizona Public Service Co. said...
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French Company Designs Underwater Nuclear Plant

Nuclear power plants could be located underwater, as one of France's biggest shipbuilders is working with a large builder of nuclear plants to develop a reactor that could be placed up to 100 meters (328 feet) below the surface...
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Obama Ups Pressure on China to Deal With North Korea

U.S. President Obama told his Chinese counterpart again this week that if Beijing did not take a harder line toward North Korea, the United States would shift troops in Asia to safeguard itself against a possible missile attack from the North, the New York Times reported yesterday...
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Iran Nuclear Deadlock Persists at Meeting

An Iranian diplomat signaled initial optimism about the direction multilateral negotiations were taking today in Istanbul, Turkey, but another participant said the sides had made no movement toward resolving a long-running nuclear standoff, the Associated Press reported...
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NuScale scales back spending

NuScale Power, a Corvallis-based nuclear energy startup company, is suspending some of its operations as it scrambles to find a replacement for its principal source of funding, an East Coast hedge fund adviser who is the target of a lawsuit by the federal government...
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NRC panel: new reactor can withstand plane crash

The finding by the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards means regulators could decide this year whether to give final approval to the company's AP1000 reactor, which utility companies have picked to power new plants in the Southeast...
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China and the U.S. sign energy deals

China and the United States signed $13 billion worth of energy deals on Tuesday, coinciding with Chinese President Hu Jintao's state visit to the United States.
The deals were announced at the Second China-US Strategic Forum on Clean Energy Cooperation in Washington, a gathering of government leaders, business executives and experts from both countries. The first meeting took place in Beijing in 2009.
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Iran Talks to Focus on Fuel Swap, Nuclear Monitoring

Global powers are set at multilateral talks with Iran this week to pursue the resuscitation of a uranium exchange proposal as well as broader authority for the International Atomic Energy Agency to audit Iranian nuclear facilities, the Wall Street Journal reported today...
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North Korean Actions Needed to Resume Talks: U.S.-China Statement

U.S. President Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao yesterday voiced their "concern" with North Korea's uranium enrichment operations and urged the Stalinist state to take the "steps" that would permit a return to long-stalled six-nation nuclear talks, according to a White House release...
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U.S., China Agree to Expand Nuclear Security Ties

The United States and China yesterday inked an agreement to set up a collaborative nuclear security center inside the Asian power that would seek to spread best practices on the safeguarding and accounting of nuclear materials, the Associated Press reported...
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NRC Should Perform Non-Proliferation Assessment of Laser Enrichment Technology

There is clear private benefit to laser enrichment: If GE-Hitachi successfully commercializes SILEX, it stands to make hundreds of millions of dollars a year. A more challenging question is whether there is a net public benefit. To evaluate the public benefit, we consider three separate issues: technical, economic, and legal...
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Westinghouse trails forthcoming small reactor

Westinghouse's development of a small modular reactor has been confirmed via an advertisement in its monthly magazine...
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Nuclear power a leader in safety

American oil and gas companies should bring in a self-regulation regime akin to that in nuclear power if they are to prevent safety lapses like the Deepwater Horizon blowout, said a Presidential report...
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Maintain nuclear perspective, China told

China should 'keep a clear head' on nuclear power, concentrate more on Generation-III reactors and keep its new build ambitions for 2020 to around 100 GWe, said a state body yesterday...
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GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy teaming up with suppliers

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy believes it will be another three to five years before the world economy supports nuclear power plant orders, senior vice president of nuclear plant projects Danny Roderick said.Meanwhile, the Castle Hayne-based company is working to re-establish a nuclear infrastructure in the U.S. Over the next couple of weeks, Roderick said, the company will announce agreements with several large U.S. companies establishing a nationwide network of nuclear power component plants.
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Nuclear fear-mongers hinder America's energy future

''Surely, we can be as bold as the French." That plea by Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, was delivered to a federal panel on nuclear waste disposal. The punch line is a reminder that the Obama administration's nuclear energy policy is a bad joke. The French are better known for their fine food and wine than their courage, but the land of foie gras and frog legs is a leader when it comes to nuclear power. France generates more than 80 percent of its electricity from nukes, more than any other nation. In contrast, the United States, held back by anti-nuclear doomsayers for 30 years, barely cracks the 20 percent mark.
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NRC: Arizona’s nuke plant OK for license renewal

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission sees no apparent safety issues that would keep Arizona's nuclear power plant from getting its license renewed for another 20 years of operation...
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Iran's nuclear sites tour proposal flounders

Iran's proposal for a tour of its nuclear sites floundered on Thursday after China effectively rejected the invitation and Russia cautioned such a trip could never replace U.N. inspections or talks between Tehran and world powers...
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New International Nuclear-Fuel Bank Likely To Find Few Customers

When Russia’s quasi-commercial, quasi-strategic nuclear monopoly Rosatom announced the opening of a nuclear fuel bank in remote Siberia last December, it was a milestone in the nuclear age. The goal of the fuel bank is to offer a nuclear fuel supply of last resort to a country denied access to nuclear fuel...
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