May 2013

May 16: Nye County official blasts Sen. Reid's "hypocrisy" on nuclear waste disposal - Sen. Harry Reid's stance that it's alright to bury a ton of uranium-tainted waste from Oak Ridge National Laboratory at the Nevada National Security Site is hypocritical, a Nye County commissioner says.

May 12: SMUD wins $34.6 million nuclear waste suit, but won't see the money soon - A federal court has awarded more than $34.7 million to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District in connection with the federal government's failure to provide a permanent storage site for nuclear waste from the utility's long-dormant Rancho Seco plant.

May 10: Reid, Ensign determined to kill Yucca Mountain plan - Despite the fact that one of the biggest opponents of the Yucca Mountain project is in the hot seat, state leaders are still saying the nuclear waste dump is dead.

May 6: The greening of spent nuclear waste - Despite decades of discussion, the issue of nuclear waste has not seen a viable solution. Most recently in 2010, federal authorities scrapped a plan to create a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada to store the nationwide spent nuclear fuel capacity that now stands at 65,000 tons.

May 5: Probe Says U.S. Nuclear Boss Misled Colleagues - The chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission was unprofessional and "wrong" as he repeatedly misled fellow commissioners about his efforts to stop work on a disputed dump for high-level radioactive waste, an agency watchdog said Tuesday.

May 1: Nuclear waste expert to speak at UI Main Page Content Rodney Ewing helped scuttle plans for nuclear waste storage at Yucca Mountain - Rodney Ewing, an academic and longtime campaigner for a cautious, science-based approach to nuclear waste disposal, will speak at the University of Iowa at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2.

April 2013

April 28: Wyden calls for new federal agency for nuclear waste - A discussion draft of legislation to address the storage and disposal of used nuclear fuel and waste -- including Hanford waste -- has been released by U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., working with three other Democratic and Republican senators.

April 26: Yucca Mountain Casts a Long Shadow Over Nuclear-Waste Bill Introduced in the Senate - The decades-long fight over Yucca Mountain looms large over draft legislation released Thursday by a bipartisan group of senators seeking to find a solution to the nation's nuclear-waste-disposal problem.

April 26: Commentary: Enviro-policy shows it damaging bias - While preparing a speech on nuclear energy, I gave at the 75th annual Conference of the International Technology and Engineering Educators Association, I stumbled into an aspect of our nuclear energy history seldom discussed—environmental racism.

April 25: Yucca Mountain Casts a Long Shadow Over Nuclear-Waste Bill Introduced in the Senate - The decades-long fight over Yucca Mountain looms large over draft legislation released Thursday by a bipartisan group of senators seeking to find a solution to the nation's nuclear-waste-disposal problem.

April 25: New Nuclear Waste Proposal Creates Agency, Restarts Yucca Mountain Debate - A bipartisan group of four senators released their plan to deal with the nation's nuclear waste Thursday, making good on promises by Senate Energy and Natural Resource Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., for progress on the long-delayed issue.

April 25: U.S. Senators Seek Comments on Plan to Store Nuclear Waste - In a bid to restart discussion of what to do with the nation's nuclear waste, four U.S. senators today unveiled a draft plan to create a federal agency that would oversee short- and long-term storage of the highly radioactive materials produced primarily by commercial power reactors. The effort follows the Obama administration's decision to abandon a planned centralized waste repository under Yucca Mountain, Nevada, which led to recommendations from a blue ribbon panel assembled by the White House on what to do next.

April 24: Senators float nuclear waste storage draft bill - A bipartisan quartet of senators dropped a draft of a long-awaited bill Thursday that would change how the United States stores nuclear waste.

April 17: Nuclear Energy Radiating on Capitol Hill - Nuclear energy is back in the hot seat. U.S. lawmakers want to know more about the emergency response plans in place if a nuclear accident were to occur as well as what the game plan is to find radioactive nuclear fuel a permanent home.

April 16: New York Nuke Waste in Limbo as Concerns Rise - NEW YORK, Apr 16 (IPS) - Over one million kgs of nuclear waste sit in limbo on the banks of the Hudson River, in dry cask storage units and spent fuel pools just 60 kms north of New York City, according to environmental organisations.

The original plan was to bury the nuclear waste in a national repository deep beneath Yucca Mountain, in the southwestern deserts of the U.S. But that plan fell through when President Barack Obama's administration defunded the project.

April 13: Washington: Observations on the Key Attributes and Challenges of Storage and Disposal Options - The US Government Accountability Office has issued the following news release:
In November 2009, GAO reported on the attributes and challenges of a Yucca Mountain repository. A key attribute identified was that the Department of Energy (DOE) had spent significant resources to carry out design, engineering, and testing activities on the Yucca Mountain site and had completed a license application and submitted it to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has regulatory authority over the construction, operation, and closure of a repository. If the repository had been built as planned, GAO concluded that it would have provided a permanent solution for the nation's commercial nuclear fuel and other nuclear waste and minimized the uncertainty of future waste safety. Constructing the repository also could have helped address issues including federal liabilities resulting from industry lawsuits against DOE related to continued storage of spent nuclear fuel at reactor sites. However, not having the support of the administration and the state of Nevada proved a key challenge. As GAO reported in April 2011, DOE officials did not cite technical or safety issues with the Yucca Mountain repository project when the project's termination was announced but instead stated that other solutions could achieve broader support.

April 12: How Should We Deal With Nuclear Waste? - High-level nuclear waste has been piling up in the U.S. for decades, and we still have no permanent home for it.

April 9: 10 Questions for DOE Nominee Ernest Moniz - Dr. Ernest Moniz, if confirmed by the Senate as next Secretary of Energy, will be taking over a Department wrought with controversy from the past four years. During a time when energy development should be driving the economy forward, pernicious subsidy policies, missing leadership on nuclear waste disposal, and unnecessary limits on conventional fuel development on federal lands have created pointless hurdles to growth.

April 4: Op Ed: San Onofre's other problem - The safe, long-term disposal of radioactive byproducts is our problem, but we're shifting the b

urden to our descendants.

April 1: Nuclear Waste Disposal Sites Still Rare After All These Years - Nuclear power generation is well established, but efforts worldwide to develop permanent disposal sites for highly radioactive waste remain nascent at best. If this were a horse race, you'd have to say the smaller horses are winning.

March 2013

March 19: Opinion - Yucca Mountain replacement facility in northern Minnesota is an opportunity worth our consideration

February 2013

Feb 28: Aiken group fears SRS could become nation's nuclear dump - some believe SRS could be a top candidate for interim storage.

Feb 27: Sen. Wyden expects draft nuclear waste bill 'shortly'

Feb 24: Nuclear Waste in the Age of Climate Change - Concerns about global warming are giving a boost to nuclear power. And that's bringing new focus — and a possible solution -- to the problem of radioactive waste.

Feb 23: 6 underground tanks holding radioactive waste leaking in Washington state - YAKIMA, Wash. – Six underground tanks holding a mix of radioactive and toxic waste are leaking at America's most contaminated nuclear site in Washington, federal and state officials say, posing an eventual risk to groundwater and rivers.

Feb 18: Former Yucca Mountain Chief Questions Nuclear Waste Effort - In the 1980s, Oak Ridge, Tenn. agreed to host an interim facility, Alley notes. In the 90s, the Skull Valley Band Of The Goshute Nation volunteered sovereign land in Utah. And recently Nevada's Nye County wrote to Energy Sec. Steven Chu offering its consent, hoping to revive the abandoned Yucca Mountain site. In all three cases, statewide opposition trumped local consent.

Feb 18: Nuclear waste: too hot to handle? THERE are 437 nuclear power reactors in 31 countries around the world. The number of repositories for high-level radioactive waste? Zero. The typical lifespan of a nuclear power plant is 60 years. The waste from nuclear power is dangerous for up to one million years. Clearly, the waste problem is not going to go away any time soon.

Feb 6: Yucca Must Be Part of Nuclear-Waste Bill, Shimkus Says - Legislation for U.S. disposal of nuclear waste must provide for storage at Yucca Mountain, the head of a House panel overseeing environmental issues said, renewing the debate over the abandoned Nevada site.

Feb 5: Decades-long Yucca Mountain battle could flare up - Nevada's decades-long effort to stop high-level nuclear waste from being stored at Yucca Mountain is nearing a pivotal juncture as it heads toward all-but-certain victory, according to a state official who said Tuesday it was still too soon to declare the fight won.

Feb 1: DOE Secretary Chu, who battled Yucca project, resigns - WASHINGTON - Energy Secretary Steven Chu, who carried out the Obama administration's plan to shut down the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project and oversaw the distribution of billions of dollars in loans to boost renewable energy, said he will step down from the Cabinet post he's held for four years.

January - 2013

Jan 30: America's Nuclear Dumpsters After Yucca Mountain, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is stocking up on guns and ammo.

Jan 22: U.S. Launches 35-Year Quest For A New Yucca Mountain - In what critics are calling a stall tactic, the U.S. Department of Energy revealed late last week it will search for a new permanent depository for the country’s growing stockpile of spent nuclear fuel, with a target opening date of 2048.

Jan 21: EDITORIAL: Boondoggling in Never-Never Land - Energy Secretary Steven Chu issued his report Jan. 11, rubber-stamping the final recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future. This was not surprising since he selected the panel members and imposed restrictions on its purview. Most important was his order that the commission not examine the viability of the nuclear repository already constructed and virtually ready for use: Yucca Mountain.

Jan 11: DOE sets new nuclear waste target date - The Department of Energy set a new 2048 target to open a burial site for nuclear waste - a deadline 50 years later than originally planned.

STRATEGY FOR THE MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSAL OF USED NUCLEAR FUEL AND HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE

Jan 7: Deadline advances Yucca lawsuit - Aiken County, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the State of Nevada all agree on two facts related to Yucca Mountain: There is no new money for it, and it is not mentioned in the latest budget. However, the lack of specifically appropriated funds is being taken by both sides of the lawsuit in support of their opposing cases.

Jan 5: NRC pleads lack of funds in Yucca licensing battle - NRC Senior Attorney Charles Mullins said in court papers submitted January 4, in a federal appeals case that the NRC does not have enough money left to proceed toward a license for the planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

 

December 2012

December 16: NUKE MATTERS: Radioactive waste storage at Pilgrim: why it is a concern - Nuclear energy's long-term legacy is well known: radioactive waste that needs to be safely stored for thousands of years. At Entergy's Pilgrim nuclear reactor in Plymouth, operating since 1972, spent nuclear fuel is being stored on site – a solution that is not what was intended when the reactor was built and that is potentially dangerous.

December 15: Scientization Of Politics: The Reason Yucca Mountain Was Cancelled - ....Years earlier, Senate Minority Whip Harry Reid, of Nevada, who was against nuclear waste in any desolate, safe, wasteland in the Nevada desert - classic Not In My Back Yard-ism - held up all of President Bush's executive branch nominations until Bush agreed to put his former aide Gregory Jaczko on the NRC. Why would anyone agree to do that? Well, the media climate was different then. When Republicans hold things up now, we get doomsday prophecies about a fiscal cliff and claims that they're doing it because they don't care about Kwanzaa. But when Democrats did it to Republicans, it was smart politics and completely justified, so Harry Reid was not called anti-science despite the fact that he denied decades of research by scientists to rationalize his personal belief.

December 15: Ruling in Yucca Mountain case pushed into new year: - A federal court decision whether to resume license hearings for a Nevada nuclear waste site has been pushed into next year. An appeals court panel agreed to give the Nuclear Regulatory Commission more time to submit paperwork in the case, setting a new deadline of Jan. 4.

December 15: Why Disposing Of Nuclear Fuel Is Not A "Subsidy": Opinion: One thing that tends to raise my hackles without fail is when the inevitable game of "Name the Energy Subsidy!" comes up, somehow the issue of spent nuclear fuel disposition gets lumped in. Namely because spent fuel management is pretty much the opposite of what is typically thought of as a "subsidy."

December 12: Future of SRS will be discussed at presentation today: -Being a site for storage and possibly recycling of the nation's spent nuclear fuel could be in the future of the Savannah River Site, and a presentation Thursday may offer a blueprint. The Governor's Nuclear Advisory Council is scheduled to hear a presentation from Areva Federal Services Technology Director Paul Murray on "Interim Storage and Recycling of UNF (Used Nuclear Fuel)." SRS is one of many sites with some level of interest in temporary storage facilities being constructed. The permanent home of the nation's spent fuel has been in limbo since President Barack Obama euthanized the Yucca Mountain repository in his first term.

December 5: Yucca Mountain is Dead. Long Live Yucca Mountain! Last October, during the Republican primaries, I made a prediction regarding the future of Yucca Mountain - namely, don't bet on it. Not, of course, because it's particularly deficient on a technical level (it's not perfect, but you can judge the science that went into it for yourself.) But rather, the battle for Yucca mountain left its opponents holding the political high ground - particularly when even none of the Republican hopefuls would defend the site at risk of angering Nevada voters.

November 2012

Nov 26: Is there a future in nuclear waste? The decision to back away from Yucca Mountain as a long-term nuclear waste storage site is one of the first-term policies of President Barack Obama that is now solidified after his re-election.

That means Congress is going to have to address the long-term future examined by the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. The commission recommended developing an interim storage plan for the 70,000 tons of high-level spent nuclear fuel now sitting next to nuclear reactors in states that consent to take it.

Nov 12: NV opposition to Yucca Mountain strong as ever- The Obama administration and Reid were instrumental in shutting down the nuclear waste repository site beginning in 2009. Obama's budgets since then have zeroed out funding, and Reid has blocked efforts in Congress to restore money to the project.

A three-judge federal appeals court panel is expected to rule by the end of the year on a lawsuit that would force the Obama administration to resume Yucca Mountain license hearings that were shut down at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Nov 11:Election hasn't changed Yucca Mountain's future — WASHINGTON - The election brought no dramatic shifts to the nuclear waste landscape, allowing Nevada leaders to shelve fears that big changes might have allowed the Yucca Mountain program to be resurrected — Stephens Washington Bureau

Nov 9: NUCLEAR PLANT POWERED BY SPENT FUEL — Reactors could use existing stockpiles of nuclear waste to produce electricity for the world through 2083 — Discovery.com

Nov 1: Senate Bill on Nuclear Waste The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee held a hearing to review legislation that may serve as the framework for the storage and later permanent disposal of the nation’s civilian and defense nuclear waste. Meeting to receive testimony on S. 3469, The Nuclear Waste Administration Act of 2012, the committee received generally positive reviews of this bill introduced by committee chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM).

October 2012

Oct 30: Finland Builts Nuclear Waste Dump at Island, while Obama and Merkel lag - Olkiluoto is different from other idyllic islands off Finland’s west coast. Instead of summer cottages where Finns sunbathe and enjoy saunas under tall birch and pine trees, this is where the nation will store its most toxic nuclear waste for the next 100,000 years.

Oct 30: Editorial: Obama, Romney pander on U.S. nuclear waste- Exposure to nuclear waste is dangerous. Exposure to hypocrisy over nuclear waste should also be avoided.

Oct 12: Prairie Island Indian Community Granted Federal Hearing in Fight against 40 Year Extension of Nuclear Waste Storage - n a filing with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) this week, the Prairie Island Indian Community (PIIC) previewed issues it hopes to raise during an early November hearing with the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board – when the tribe will continue its fight against a 40-year extension of onsite nuclear waste storage on Prairie Island. Xcel Energy's initial Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) license expires on Oct. 19, 2013, and in the ongoing absence of a national waste repository like Yucca Mountain, the utility company has applied to extend onsite storage until 2053 – a move PIIC argues could put Minnesotans at considerable risk.

Oct 8: High Level Waste and Legal Wrangles at Vermont Yankee -

Oct 10: Status of Court of Appeals’ Yucca MountainRelated Cases and Standard Contract Litigation — Western Interstate Energy Board Denver, CO

Oct 14: Sierra Club opposes turning Nevada into a nuclear dumping ground — This is Reno

Oct 1: Yucca nuclear waste site proponents push for final court decision — WASHINGTON - Groups that have sued to force the Obama administration to restart the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project are asking federal judges to finalize a decision — Stephens Washington Bureau

Oct 1: Yucca nuclear waste site proponents push for final court decision - WASHINGTON - Groups that have sued to force the Obama administration to restart the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project are asking federal judges to finalize a decision.

September 2012

Sept 29: Entergy Sues Feds Over Nuclear Waste Forbes - The waste was to have gone to a waste depository, eventually identifeed as the storage site at Yucca Mountain, Nev. But the federal government defunded the Yucca Mountain project in 2011, fulfilling a promise of Obama's 2008 campaign.

Sept 24: Spent Nuclear Fuel a Growing Concern, GAO Reports - Since the proposed Yucca Mountain National Nuclear Waste Repository in Nevada became a memory in 2009, America's commercial nuclear reactors have accumulated nearly 70,000 metric tons of radioactive nuclear waste. Sooner-than-later, the lack of a place to dispose of it will become a real problem, says the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

Sept 13: How the candidates for president stand on Yucca Mountain: Obama -

Yucca Mountain nuclear repository

Obama decreed in 2009 that he won’t let nuclear waste be stored at Yucca Mountain, rejecting the project after 20 years of planning at a cost of at least $9 billion. Nevada opponents and environmental groups had filed lawsuits seeking to block the storage project on grounds that Yucca Mountain could be subject to earthquakes and that transporting waste across 43 states would create a hazard and a potential target for terrorists. Under Obama’s budget plan, the administration will devise a new strategy on waste. Spending on Yucca Mountain will be limited.

Romney -

Yucca Mountain nuclear repository

Romney’s position on the Yucca Mountain site calls for the people of Nevada to decide whether they want the nuclear waste and to determine what they should get if they do want it. “The idea that 49 states can tell Nevada, ‘We want to give you our nuclear waste,’ doesn’t make a lot of sense,” Romney said.

Sept 13: Separate Hanford, commerical waste, Cantwell tells U.S. Commission - Hanford and other nuclear weapons waste should be considered separately as the nation wrestles with the issue of waste disposal, said Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., on Tuesday.

Sept 13: UT scientists patent technology to cope with heat buildup in nuclear fusion - A team of University of Texas physicists has patented a technology that could solve a major drawback of nuclear power — radioactive waste.

Sept 7: Green groups oppose shipping hot waste to SR - The federal government has been trying to decide what to do with spent fuel created by the nation’s 104 atomic energy plants since President Barack Obama chose in 2009 to abandon the Yucca Mountain, Nev., disposal site.

August 2012

August 22: Nuclear Cover-Up Threatens Great Lakes Region

August 21: Most of last jobs at Yucca Mountain project expire next month - Sources close to the beleaguered Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project said Tuesday that jobs will expire in September for the last two dozen workers who transferred to another Department of Energy program amid hundreds of layoffs in 2010.

August 20: Hanford's 'safe' storage tanks: Leaking again? A 3-foot piece of highly radioactive gunk may or may not have just leaked out of Hanford's supposedly solid, double-walled storage tanks.

August 20: Restart the Yucca project - Nuclear plants in South Carolina and Georgia were given the go-ahead by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission early in 2012 - the first approved for construction in 34 years.

August 13: Nuclear Power Schizophrenia - It should come as no surprise that environmentalists oppose the use of nuclear energy in the same way they oppose coal or the fracking technology that is unlocking huge new reserves of natural gas. Currently nuclear energy provides about twenty percent of the electricity used in the U.S. Their attack on coal—led by the Obama administration—has driven its use down from just over fifty percent a few years ago to about 47% today.

August 10: Obama, Reid block solution to nuke-waste issue - Here’s an area in which President Obama and his fellow Democrats, led by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, have allowed local partisan politics to override the clear national interest.

August 10: Waste Issue Halts U.S. Nuclear Reactor Licensing - ATLANTA, Georgia, Aug 9 2012 (IPS) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees commercial nuclear power enterprises, has halted the issuance of all new nuclear reactor licensing decisions after a court ruling citing the failure of industry and government to identify an acceptable solution for the long-term storage of nuclear waste. Nineteen final reactor licensing decisions are affected, including nine Construction and Operating Licenses (COLS), eight license renewals, one operating license, and one early site permit.

August 9: An Uncertain Phase for Nuclear Power Licenses - In a rare action, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has acceded to a petition filed by anti-nuclear groups that it halt some licensing activities until the agency can sort out its troubled policy on nuclear waste. The groups, two dozen of them, are sounding triumphant, as if they have brought the industry to its knees.

August 9: Mitt Romney Tries to Neutralize Yucca Mountain Issue in Quest for Nevada - "I think the people of Nevada ought to have the final say as to whether they want that, and my guess is that for them to say yes to something like that, someone's going to have to offer them a pretty good deal, as opposed to having the federal government jam it down their throat."

August 9: Nuclear Waste Storage Rules Thrown Out by U.S. Court - The federal government has decided to hold off on any further final re-licensing of any nuclear power plants, including the one in Limerick, until it resolves the court decision ruling that the storage of spent nuclear fuel at those plants can no longer be considered “temporary.”

August 8: NRC suspends nuclear plant licensing for lack of nuclear waste disposal - Following a petition filed by 24 environmental groups on June 18 2012, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) suspended, yesterday, decisions on at least 19 nuclear reactor licensing decisions. The halt affects nine construction & operating licenses (COLS), eight license renewals, one operating license, and one early site permit. The decision came in response to the landmark Waste Confidence Rule decision of June 8(th) by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

August 8: Yucca Mountain gets potential nudge - A federal court, in response to a lawsuit filed by Aiken County and the states of South Carolina and Washington, has indicated that it might force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to continue its work to determine if Yucca Mountain is suitable as a site for a national nuclear waste repository. The decision — which hints at an official ruling sometime after mid-December — gives Congress an opportunity to move forward on the waste site that has long been authorized by federal law to hold the nation’s spent nuclear fuel.

August 7: Yucca Mountain Ruling will have to Wait - Court Considers Budget Issues ....A divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has decided to wait a few months before deciding whether to order the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to restart license review of the Department of Energy (DOE) application to develop a nuclear waste repository at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain.

August 7: Yucca Mountain Ruling will have to Wait - Court Considers Budget Issues ....A divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has decided to wait a few months before deciding whether to order the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to restart license review of the Department of Energy (DOE) application to develop a nuclear waste repository at Nevada’s Yucca Mountain.

August 6: Yucca Mountain court case on hold - US appeal court judges have ruled that a case seeking a resumption of licensing work for a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain will be put on hold, despite agreeing that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) cannot legally give up work on the application.

August 5: - COURT DECISION ON YUCCA PROCEEDINGS 'DELAYS"THE INEVITABLE,' NARUC SAYS - National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) issued the following statement - "At first blush, todays decision seems to delay for a few months the inevitable that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will be required to continue its review of the Yucca Mountain license application. This is a small victory for consumers of nuclear utilities who have paid more than $30 billion over the past 30 years into this stalled program. Todays decision puts the burden on Congress to follow up on the law it passed in 1982 and ensure the NRC has the funding it needs so its review can continue. While we would have preferred that the court act now instead of waiting on Congress, it seems clear that the majority of the judges favor our request that the agency be ordered back to work."

August 5: Wilson Hopeful For Progress with Yucca Mountain- Joe Wilson, SC Congressman - "Today's decision by the United States District of Columbia's Court of Appeals regarding Aiken County's petition to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is a tremendous victory for South Carolina, as well as the rest of the nation. Although action should be taken before December 14, the Court sent a very clear message to Congress and the Obama Administration: Continue the licensing review to open Yucca Mountain or we will issue a writ of mandamus and require immediate action. Congress has already taken the proper steps by appropriating funding for Yucca Mountain. Over the past twenty-nine years, South Carolina taxpayers have paid over $1.3 billion for this project, making our state the third highest contributor. By delaying action on the Yucca licensing application, the Obama Administration and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid are clearly placing politics over sound energy policy. It is my hope that the Commission will do the right thing and approve Yucca's application process prior to the December 14th decision."

August 4: Court Weighs an Order on Nuclear Waste Site in Nevada — A federal appeals court indicated Friday that it would issue an order for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to resume an evaluation of a possible nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, a volcanic ridge in the Nevada desert, unless ... See all stories on this topic » Appeals court puts off ruling on Yucca Mountain The Associated Press Appeals court puts off ruling on Yucca Mountain.

August 4: An appeals court has put off deciding whether to force the government to act on a license for a proposed nuclear waste dump in Nevada.

August 3: Post-Yucca Mountain bill still a work in progress - A new plan to manage thousands of tons of the nation's nuclear waste was unveiled this week by a senator who conceded it is very much a work in progress.

August 2: Senator's bill may usher in more congenial era of nuclear waste policy -How the conversation proceeds next Congress, however, will be drastically affected by what transpires in the elections this November. While both presidential candidates have endorsed a consultative approach to siting nuclear waste disposal facilities, Republicans in Congress have already pledged to use their power to restart activity at Yucca Mountain through appropriations if they are able to win the majority of both houses of Congress.

July 2012

July 30: Someone needs to talk Harry Reid down from the ledge - In an interview with The Huffington Post Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Dramatic-Nev.) spewed a thick, smelly stream of hate at Bill Magwood, a Democratic member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

July 30: Bill Magwood, NRC Democrat, Is 'Treacherous, Miserable Liar' And 'First-Class Rat,' Says Harry Reid -In June, Magwood's internal wrangling against Jaczko culminated in the chairman's resignation. Magwood was immediately floated as a replacement chairman, but the Obama administration, aware of Reid's opinion of Magwood, passed him over. The term of the new chair, Allison Macfarlane, ends in 2013.

July 30: Duncan's energy bill wins Conservative support
Workers at the Yucca Mountain Project, Nev., begin their day at the tunnel's entrance, in this May 9, 2000 file photo. A federal appeals court on Friday, July 9, 2004 rejected Nevada's arguments against a building a nuclear waste site in the state, but ...

July 28: Limerick nuclear power plant has 1143 metric tons of uranium spent fuel on site- “Limerick has 1,143 metric tons of uranium spent fuel on site. At Limerick, the waste is stored above the ground in pools and in casks. It is 20 feet above the groundwater, and it is on the Schuylkill River, which is 40 miles from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. That is where we currently store high-level nuclear waste.”

July 26: Citizens Advisory Board hopes Savannah River Site will not become interim spent fuel site - The fate of more than 75,000 tons spent fuel stored at the nation's 104 operating commercial power reactors is in limbo because the government's planned nuclear waste repository at Nevada's Yucca Mountain was halted.

July 25: NRC chief seeks distance from Yucca criticism - The new chairwoman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission distanced herself Tuesday from earlier criticism of Yucca Mountain, telling lawmakers she will have an "open mind" on the project still lingering at the agency.

July 25: OVERNIGHT ENERGY: House moves on 'No More Solyndras' bill

July 24: The week ahead: House Energy Committee set to tackle Yucca Mountain, Solyndra federal loan program

July 11: New US NRC chairman taps DOE official to be chief of staff - The head of a US Department of Energy working group reviewing recommendations for a new national strategy on nuclear waste will be the chief of staff for US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Allison Macfarlane.

July 6: Hope Is Not Enough: The Path to Waste Confidence - From Yucca Mountain to reactor design certifications and post-Fukushima reforms, incoming Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) chair Allison Macfarlane has a multitude of issues before her. One of the most critical and least understood is the “waste confidence” mess caused by the Obama Administration’s nuclear waste policies.

July 3: Senate confirms new Nuclear Regulatory chief - The Senate on Friday followed through on a bipartisan agreement and confirmed geologist Allison MacFarlane to lead the troubled Nuclear Regulatory Commission, also approving the reappointment of Kristine Svinicki for another five-year term.

July 2: Nuclear waste on the back burner?- slow caravan passing through Seabrook, N.H., this week carrying enormous "dry casks" for storing spent nuclear rods is a visible reminder that our nation still desperately needs to find a solution to its nuclear waste problem.

June 2012

June 30: Senate confirms Yucca critic as NRC chairman - The Senate on Friday confirmed a nuclear waste expert and Yucca Mountain critic to become chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Allison Macfarlane, a geologist and environmental science professor at George Mason University, was the choice of Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. She was approved without dissent. Also approved was Kristine Svinicki, a Republican who will serve a second five-year term on the board of the agency, which regulates nuclear power plants and the handling of nuclear materials.

June 30: State leaders want Nevada nuclear waste option back on table

June 29: Court's Waste Confidence Ruling - Two recent decisions by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia show just how much time, money, and political capital have been wasted on developing a rational solution to the political problem of managing the nation’s spent fuel.

June 25: SRS awaits Energy Department nuclear waste strategy - The fate of Savannah River Site’s high-level nuclear waste could become clearer by the end of July, when U.S. Energy Department officials brief Congress on a new national disposal strategy.

June 25: Court: Nuclear Waste Fee Review Due - A federal court has denounced as "farfetched" Energy Secretary Steven Chu's reason for refusing to reevaluate annual fees for the long-delayed storage of nuclear waste. Nuclear utilities, which pay the fees, sought the reassessment following termination of the Yucca Mountain repository project.

June 2012

June 25: SRS awaits Energy Department nuclear waste strategy - The fate of Savannah River Site’s high-level nuclear waste could become clearer by the end of July, when U.S. Energy Department officials brief Congress on a new national disposal strategy.

June 25: Court: Nuclear Waste Fee Review Due - A federal court has denounced as "farfetched" Energy Secretary Steven Chu's reason for refusing to reevaluate annual fees for the long-delayed storage of nuclear waste. Nuclear utilities, which pay the fees, sought the reassessment following termination of the Yucca Mountain repository project.

June 20: Is Hanford stuck with the hot waste? Yucca Mountain, rejected by the Obama adminstration, was the only option for taking away the glass logs supposed to seal the radioactive waste. Few but Rob McKenna and Jay Inslee seem to think Yucca Mountain remains viable.

June 20: Solution to nuclear waste remains in limbo - Nearly four decades later, a permanent solution to America's commercial nuclear waste problem remains so distant on the political horizon that politicians, bureaucrats and scientists are now staking out new political territory.

June 20: Nuclear waste: why environmentalists are pressing NRC on reactor licenses- After a US appeals court ruled the NRC had not adequately evaluated nuclear waste provisions when licensing reactors, the groups are seeking to ensure the public has input on the process.

June 19: A Federal Court May Have Finally Ended The Nuclear Waste Storage Fight- The New York Times' Matt Wald reports a federal appeals court has ruled the country's Nuclear Regulatory Commission must recognize that nuclear waste will now almost certainly end up staying on premises.

June 19: Nuclear Waste Must be Considered in Plant Relicensing- A June 8 decision from the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. could impact the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision on re-licensing California's two nuclear plants, as well as dozens of others across the nation.

June 14: Wasteland: the 50-year battle to entomb our toxic nuclear remains- In the desert and in Washington DC, a war still rages to find the one place in America that no one cares about

June 14: Two Nuclear Nominees Get a Hearing - President Obama's nominee to lead the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said at a Senate confirmation hearing on Wednesday that the nuclear industry's share of American electricity production, steady at 20 percent for the last decade, could decline in coming years. Nonetheless, a diverse electricity supply requires continued use of nuclear power, she said.

June 14: NRC Nominees Closer to Confirmation After U.S. Senate Hearing -

June 14: Europe makes big bets on nuclear waste burial - EURAJOKI, Finland/BURE, France, - On a small Finnish island and deep in remote rural France, far from the debates and doubts that followed Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster, the ground work is underway for a commitment to atomic power for the long term - the very long term.

June 13: New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced that he has won a landmark victory in a suit against the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) challenging a Commission finding that the long-term storage of radioactive waste at the nation's nuclear power plants is safe and has no adverse environmental impacts. This decision means that the NRC cannot license or re-license any nuclear power plant, including the Indian Point facility in Westchester County, until it examines the dangers and consequences of long-term on-site storage of nuclear waste. PressZoom

June 12: Questions the Senate Should Ask NRC Nominee Allison Macfarlane -The Foundry - The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a hearing tomorrow on the nomination of Allison Macfarlane and the re-nomination of Kristine Svinicki to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Though questioning of both nominees is important, Svinicki has already gone through one confirmation hearing and numerous other oversight hearings and has ably served one term as a commissioner. By any reasonable standard, she meets the qualifications to serve another term.

Much less is known about Macfarlane.......

June 11: Political dynamics heighten interest in review of NRC nominees - Former Harry Reid aide Gregory Jaczko’s tenure at the top of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission comes one step closer to its end Wednesday, when a Senate committee convenes to review a pair of nominees — one the Obama administration’s pick to replace him.

The Senate Environment and Public Works committee will grill Kristine Svinicki, a Republican commissioner, and Allison Macfarlane, a Democratic nominee, about where they stand on a host of issues concerning the NRC, not the least of which is Yucca Mountain.

 

June 11: Court Issues NRC Another Rebuke on Spent Fuel Policies - A court ruling Friday will force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to reevaluate the environmental impact of storing spent fuel at nuclear plants around the country in the absence of a waste repository at Yucca Mountain or one like it.

June 11: Confronting America's Nuclear-Waste Dilemma - The seemingly never-ending quandary of how to handle radioactive waste from the country's 104 nuclear reactors has been top of mind among Washington's policymakers. Last week, House Republicans again included at least $35 million in their FY13 appropriations bill for the Energy Department that would pay for resuming the Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensing review process and other work at Yucca Mountain, the nuclear waste repository site in Nevada that President Obama nixed in 2009. - National Journal

June 11: Atomic 'Agnostic' Named for U.S. NRC Ties Industry Growth to Aid - Bloomberg President Barack Obama’s pick to head the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said atomic power can’t grow without government subsidies, criticized an industry-supported plan to dispose of spent fuel in Nevada, and said she was drawn to nuclear research because she got bored with geology.

June 11: Court decision heightens pressure for US nuclear waste solution - Press TV
A national plan adopted in the 1990s called for a permanent geologic storage facility to be built at Yucca Mountain, near the former nuclear weapons test site in Nevada, but that plan ran into sharp local opposition, fueled in part by scientific ...

June 10 — N.R.C. Nomination Shines Spotlight on Waste-Disposal Issue — WASHINGTON — When the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee meets on Wednesday to consider President Obama’s choice to head the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, three themes are likely to dominate the questioning: waste, waste and earthquakes — NyTimes.com

June 08 — Ruling reopens debate on Yucca Mountain —WASHINGTON - Federal judges on Friday tossed out a regulation that allowed nuclear waste to be stored at reactors for 100 years or more and that cleared a way for the Obama administration to scrap the Yucca Mountain repository — Stephens Washington Bureau [More Coverage — msnbc.com

June 08 — Moving From Square One on Nuclear Waste — The idea that the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada is dead has not gone down well in Congress, where some Republicans are trying to allocate new money to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission so it can revive its evaluation of the site’s suitability. NyTimes.com

June 08 — US bucks global trend of closing down nuclear power stations — ENN

June 06 — House backs revival of Yucca repository WASHINGTON - The House voted by a wide margin Wednesday to restore a slice of funding for the Yucca Mountain repository, signaling it remains unhappy with President Barack Obama's decision to terminate the nuclear waste project — STEPHENS WASHINGTON BUREAU

June 2: Yucca Mountain once again looked at to store nuclear waste - The question of where to store nuclear waste has congress again looking at Yucca Mountain. Two years ago federal regulators began moving away from a plan to store spent nuclear fuel at the site. They were concerned about the safety of shipping ...

June 2: U.S. Given Six Months to Justify Nuclear-Waste Fees- The US Energy Department must justify the $750 million it collects annually from the atomic power industry for waste disposal given that it no longer plans to develop a depository at Yucca Mountain. A three judge panel of the US Court of Appeals in....

June 2: U.S. Given Six Months to Justify Nuclear-Waste Fees- The US Energy Department must justify the $750 million it collects annually from the atomic power industry for waste disposal given that it no longer plans to develop a depository at Yucca Mountain. A three judge panel of the US Court of Appeals in....

June 1: Scientist Nominated To Lead NRC Has Livermore Connections - Livermore Independent-One news article suggested that during the nomination process, she will face tough questions from Republicans who want to revive the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste disposal program in Nevada. MacFarlane has studied the Yucca Mountain program in detail ...

June 1: House members slam Obama on Yucca Mountain policy The Hill- Republicans and Democrats in the House slammed the Obama administration's plan to close the nuclear waste disposal site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, as both praised a bill that would keep that site open, ...

June 1: Judge Losing Patience with Government on Nuclear Waste Fees Although there are no plans on the horizon for a new nuclear waste repository to replace Yucca Mountain, the Department of Energy can continue collecting fees from energy producers to pay for it - at least for now. But in a sharply-worded opinion ...

June 1: Appeals courts criticizes Energy Department over billions paid into nuclear ... Washington Post The Obama administration has moved to close a nuclear dump planned at Nevada's Yucca Mountain. A spokeswoman said the Energy Department will comply with the order. Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

June 1: Appeals Court Hits DOE Over Nuclear Waste Fee ABC News The money has sat idle for decades amid disputes about how to dispose of the waste. The Obama administration has moved to close a nuclear dump planned at Nevada's Yucca Mountain. A spokeswoman said the Energy Department will comply with the order.

May

May 31: New federal grant bolsters UNLV research on nuclear waste storage - its isotopes have wide-ranging applications that are just beginning to be discovered, most notably in the field of nuclear medicine, but for a team of UNLV researchers toiling in the long shadow of Yucca Mountain, perhaps the most important question is ...To further that goal, two UNLV research teams recently received a $1.6 million U.S. Department of Energy grant to fund three more years of research into new storage methods that will neutralize the radioactive element and make it safe for long-term storage.

May 31: New Nuclear Chief Can Act Fast on Yucca, Fukushima Fixes Bloomberg Allison Macfarlane, an associate professor of environmental science and policy at George Mason University and President Barack Obama's choice to succeed Jaczko, is an expert on the subject of atomic waste who has argued that Yucca Mountain is unfit for ...

May 31: Japan: Scientists have found radioactive materials in tuna fish Guardian Express With our proximity to the Nevada Test Site and Yucca Mountain, many Nevadans have spent a greater amount of time considering the environmental and health impacts of radioactive contamination than residents in many other states.

May 29: Flap clarifies Idaho's nuclear waste stand The Idaho Statesman Cecil Andrus disagreed with that decision, saying it was the first sign that the federal government was looking for interim storage for the 70000 tons of waste that had been planned for final storage at Yucca

May 29: There's More to the Story on Obama's Pick for America's Top Nuclear Regulator Heritage.org (blog) She is a vocal opponent of Yucca Mountain. Harry Reid, check. She is on board with many of the post-Fukushima safety reforms. EPW Chair Barbara Boxer, check. And she is pro-nuclear, Senate Republicans, check. Tying this all nicely together is that fact ...

May 28: There's More to the Story on Obama's Pick for America's Top Nuclear Regulator

May 26: House Republicans respond to nomination of Macfarlane for NRC Chair

May 25: Obama names Yucca Mountain critic Allison Macfarlane to lead Nuclear Regulatory Commission - Moving quickly to stem a controversy, President Barack Obama on Thursday nominated an expert on nuclear waste to lead the federal agency that regulates the nation's nuclear power plants.

May 22: Nuclear Commission Gregory Jaczko Calls It Quits - Jaczko will remain in office until his replacement is appointed by the White House and confirmed by the Senate, likely later this fall. Many industry cynics see reason to believe the Obama administration will leave the decision of a replacement to Reid, who is likely to support another opponent of the Yucca project. Yet Jaczko’s resignation still illustrates the influence of the nuclear industry. Last year, the U.S. government approved two new nuclear power plants—the first in nearly 35 years. Sites for more are currently under consideration.

May 21: Group seeks funding for nuclear energy research park - Directors of a Reno group that wants to establish a nuclear energy research park at the Nevada National Security Site were knocking on doors in Washington last week in an attempt to nurture the idea. May 21: NRC Chairman Jaczko resigns- Gregory Jaczko, whose leadership of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission became increasingly rocky after he ordered the agency to halt studies on Yucca Mountain, announced Monday that he is resigning as chairman. May 21: Gregory Jaczko Resigns: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Steps Down - Under a withering assault from the industry, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko is stepping down, effective upon the confirmation of his successor, according to a statement from Jaczko. May 18: Deciding Where Nuclear Waste Goes - opinion

May 21: NRC Chairman Jaczko resigns- Gregory Jaczko, whose leadership of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission became increasingly rocky after he ordered the agency to halt studies on Yucca Mountain, announced Monday that he is resigning as chairman.

May 21: Gregory Jaczko Resigns: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Steps Down - Under a withering assault from the industry, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko is stepping down, effective upon the confirmation of his successor, according to a statement from Jaczko.

May 17: Nuclear officials should proceed with Yucca Mountain review

May 14: Finland's brilliant plan for dealing with nuclear waste: pulling a Keyser Söze - After decades of planning and $12 billions of investment, the United States grand plan to dispose of the nation's nuclear waste in Nevada's remote Yucca Mountain melted down in political rancor like... well, kind of like a nuclear plant melting down. The Obama Administration pulled the plug on funding the project without specifying any technical problems, leaving the Government Accountability Office to conclude it was done for purely political reasons.

May 14: The Thing That Couldn't Die: Yucca Battle Continues in Congress and in the Courts - As Republican members of Congress try to exert pressure on Reid and Senator Barbara Boxer (whose committee has jurisdiction over the NRC) to quickly confirm Svinicki, two states with heaping helpings of nuclear waste have gone to court to make sure that the Yucca repository is kept, if not on track, at least on life support.

May 13: Opinion - Licensure process must continue for Yucca nuclear waste site

May 13: Debate continues over proposed nuclear waste facility- The debate on what to do with America's spent nuclear fuel and other contaminated waste products is a hot topic. Recently, the Republican-controlled Arizona State Legislature endorsed the state to become home to the nation's first permanent nuclear recycling and waste storage site, and there's a possibility it could be placed in the Gila Valley's back yard.

May 13: Nuclear story was disappointing, disservice to community- The line continues to be blurred between fact and opinion in today's media, and Sunday's Courier served another example with a misleading and fear-inducing "news" article ("State Legislature endorses Arizona as dumping ground for nuclear waste").

May 12: TVA nuclear waste storage pact has hot history - The nuclear disaster in Japan and the abandonment of a spent fuel repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., have prompted TVA to consider a $298 million contract for giant concrete and steel casks to store nuclear waste outside its operating plants.

May 10: Opinion - Uncle Sam, derelict nuclear-waste disposer - Enter the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste repository. The debate over Yucca Mountain has gone on for decades. But this week, a federal appeals court heard arguments that could result in a court order forcing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to complete its long-overdue review of the Yucca proposal.

May 10: Site fight - In arguments before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Washington, D.C., circuit, states and municipalities seeking to dump their nuclear waste in Nevada made their case for a court ruling to re-start the Yucca Mountain suitability process, shut down after Congress failed to fund it.

May 7: Dry cask storage to house spent fuel locally - Spent fuel at Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station units 1 and 2 in Scriba will be transported to storage sites on the grounds surrounding the power plants this summer, according to officials of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, owner of the two units.

May 7: Nuclear Energy Won't Die - Some thought that nuclear energy may get buried after the Japanese Fukushima deluge. But the rumblings in this country are suggesting that it won't die.

May 7: Dry cask storage to house spent fuel locally - Spent fuel at Nine Mile Point Nuclear Station units 1 and 2 in Scriba will be transported to storage sites on the grounds surrounding the power plants this summer, according to officials of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group, owner of the two units.

May 6: What if Yucca Mountain becomes a repository for data? - When Congress gets back to town this week, two items will be up for discussion that, as we reported last week, will heavily interest Nevada: cybersecurity and Yucca Mountain.

May 6: Politics, the law and Yucca Mountain

May 5: State Legislature endorses Arizona as dumping ground for nuclear waste: Safford area one of five potential locations -if the Republican-controlled Arizona State Legislature has its way, the state could become the nation's dumping ground for nuclear waste.

May 5: South Carolina suing federal goverment over $1.4 billion state paid for nuclear storage

May 5: Is Yucca Mountain Still Dead? - New York Times

May 4: Spokesman changes his tune on Yucca Mountain — because he must Greg Lemon spinning the opposite direction with Joe Heck's team after stint with congressman who advocated for the nuclear waste site

May 4: Fuel for the Fire -

May 4:Yucca Mountain May Get Second Life Courts looking into this - The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit could rule within the next few months on whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) should be forced to reopen its license case for the Yucca Mountain spent fuel repository in Nevada, even though the Obama administration has no interest in developing the much-debated nuclear waste site.

May 4: Yucca backers pressing issue - upporters of a proposed nuclear waste dump in Nevada urged a federal appeals court Wednesday to force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to move forward on a licensing plan for the long-delayed project.

May 2: Funding issues behind decision to end Yucca licensing: US NRC attorney- A US Nuclear Regulatory Commission attorney told a federal appeals court Wednesday that the agency ended its review of the Yucca Mountain repository license application last year because it was apparent Congress would not fund the work.

May 2: SC may sue Obama administration again if Aiken Co. lawsuit fails

May 2: Federal appeals court hears arguments on Yucca Mountain project - It may seem like the sort of question best reserved for psychics’ studios and self-help literature, but it’s also likely to determine how the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia rules in the case that several states and Nye County have brought against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regarding Yucca Mountain

May 2: Appeals court hears arguments over Yucca Mountain- Supporters of a proposed nuclear waste dump in Nevada urged a federal appeals court Wednesday to force the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to move forward on a licensing plan for the long-delayed project.

April

April 30: States seek court action on Yucca nuclear-waste dump

April 30: South Carolina seek court action over N-waste dump An appeals-court panel will hear arguments Wednesday, May 2, 2012 in a lawsuit filed by South Carolina and Washington state seeking an end to a political stalemate over the Yucca Mountain nuclear-waste repository.

WASHINGTON — Federal judges are again being asked to solve a difficult problem that lawmakers can't fix: the decades-old morass of how to handle tons of nuclear waste in temporary storage around the country.

April 30: NRC Commish's Stunning Lack of Candor Should Make President Rethink Renomination

April 30: Congress Goes Nuclear - The short version is this bill is consent-based, meaning the Feds can’t just pick a site and force it down a State’s throat, but have to wait for someone to bid for it and requires approval of the Governor, any affected Tribes, and the local representatives of that State.

April 30: Protecting South Carolina's interests at Yucca Mountain - The message is now very clear: Abide by the law, or pay the price.

April 27: Nuclear power waste and storage facility proposed for Ariz. - Could Arizona become the next dumping ground for nuclear waste? That's exactly what one Arizona lawmaker is proposing.

April 26: BILL ALLOTS $25 MIL FOR YUCCA MOUNTAIN Republicans and Democrats on the committee did agree that the Obama administration's decision to terminate the long-planned Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada was misguided and "counter to the law." The committee bill attempts to fix that by providing DOE with $25 million to work on a solution to storing commercial nuclear waste, but only if it is directed at Yucca Mountain. Also, the bill would bar DOE from spending any funds to eliminate the option of Yucca Mountain as a waste site. Those measures could face opposition in the Senate, however, where Senator Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat and majority leader, has vowed the Yucca Mountain repository will never be built. In fact, an appropriations bill passed by the Senate Appropriations Energy and Water Development Subcommittee on Tuesday provided no funds for Yucca Mountain. It did, however, include a provision that would create a DOE pilot program for siting and developing an interim consolidated storage site for commercial spent nuclear waste. The Senate Appropriations Committee is set to take up its own version of the energy and water development appropriations bill on Thursday. That bill would provide DOE with $27.1 billion in 2013, an increase of $1.38 billion above fiscal 2012. That is $1 billion above the $26.1 billion provided by the House committee.

April 25: Senate Panel Advances Bill for Temporary Nuclear Storage Sites - A Senate committee proposed letting U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu begin the process to build temporary storage sites for nuclear waste in communities that seek such a facility.

April 25: Amodei's efforts to strike Republican compromise on Yucca faces first real test - When the House Appropriations committee votes on an annual Energy and Water package today, Nevadans might want to brace for some powerful deja vu: Just like last year, House Republican leaders want to spend $35 million to revive the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste project over Nevada lawmakers’ objections, all but setting up a repeat of last year’s fights.

April 25: Lawmakers mount new bid to revive Yucca Mountain - House lawmakers supporting the Yucca Mountain repository plan to advance a bill this week that would set aside $35 million to revive the controversial nuclear waste site.

April 25: Bill to ease radioactive rules makes some in Missouri worry -An amendment quietly added to legislation in the Missouri House would make it easier -- and far less expensive -- for a Canadian company to ship radioactive material through the state.

April 25: Should nukes be nullified? The debate over nuclear energy has remained inconclusive with environmentalists and the nuclear industry at loggerheads. Antony P U discusses the effects of nuclear waste on the environment while suggesting alternate sources of energy.

April 24: U.S. Sen. Dean Heller Calls On Congress To Continue Defunding Of Yucca Mountain - U.S. Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., today sent a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of both the Senate and House Committees on Appropriations asking them to continue defunding the proposed high level nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain.

April 24: Senate bill takes first new step on nuke waste - Sen. Dianne Feinstein unveiled a bill Tuesday that she said takes a first step, though admittedly a small one, to relocate thousands of tons of nuclear waste left in limbo by the cancellation of the Yucca Mountain repository.

April 23: Republicans Push Spending to Dump Waste in Reid Back Yard - A proposed nuclear waste dump outside Las Vegas that the U.S. Senate’s top Democrat has spent years trying to kill is back on the congressional agenda as Republicans are pushing for it in spending bills.

April 20: NRC leader fights abuse accusations - RC Chairman Gregory Jaczko denied accusations he abuses women in the workplace, a charge that has resurfaced in the latest fight in Congress over the nuclear safety agency.

April 19: Obama Defies Reid On Key Appointment - Reuters reported that Obama will renominate Svinicki despite the majority leader's objection, setting up an intra-party battle over Reid's signature issue, Yucca Mountain. A White House aide confirmed that Obama will indeed renominate Svinicki.

April 19: Obama to renominate Republican member of Nuclear Regulatory Commission - President Barack Obama will nominate Republican Kristine Svinicki to a new term on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, despite opposition from two top Democratic senators.

April 19: Old tensions return as Republican senators demand NRC member be reappointed - Old tensions at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission are surfacing again as Republican leaders banded together Wednesday to issue a demand to the president: Renominate Commissioner Kristine Svinicki, whose term is expiring, or else.

April 19: Energy bill would keep Yucca open - A bill introduced this month by U.S. Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.) calls for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository in Nevada to remain open.

April 19: RPT-Turmoil at U.S. nuclear regulator spills into Congress- A toxic internal battle that has scarred the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as it works on historic reforms now threatens to hold up the work of the U.S. Senate as leaders spar over an opening on the five-member panel.

April 18: NRC Nomination Revives Political Fight - At issue is whether Republican Kristine Svinicki, who has criticized the current chairman, will be renominated to the five-member board before her term ends on June 30.

April 18: Bill legalizing fracking in NC will be taken up in May session -RALEIGH A state Senate committee on energy policy on Wednesday approved a proposal to legalize fracking in North Carolina in a little more than two years, and during that period establish a new regulations to ensure the environmentally sensitive process of natural gas extraction is done safely.

April 17: Bill gives big increase for fossil fuels research - Fossil fuels and nuclear energy are big winners in the House Appropriations Committee’s energy and water spending bill that was released Tuesday...An additional $765 million would go to nuclear energy research and demonstration, about the same amount as 2012, as well as $25 million to keep Yucca Mountain in Nevada operational.

April 10: US NRC should consider work on new repository regulation: chairman - US Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko said Tuesday he believes the agency should begin looking at how to proceed with the development of a generic repository licensing regulation to replace those tailored to a repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

April 9: Letter to the Editor Who made Harry Reid king of the USA?-Your pungent April 5 editorial, "Derail this gravy train," on the boondoggle of running a train from Las Vegas to nowhere — er, make that Victorville, Calif. — was exactly on point. And its political backdrop raises a troubling question. While I confess to a strong preference for U.S. Senate Democratic leadership rather than that of Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), I have to wonder about the slack accorded Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) in his parochialism on issues that go well beyond Nevada. First, he cons 2008 presidential nominee Barack Obama into prematurely abandoning the proposal to place a nuclear waste complex at Yucca Mountain. Now he's asking the taxpayers' indulgence of his high-speed-rail fantasies. Is it heretical to ponder a tipping point between such self-serving scheming and the national interest?

April 5: Going Nuclear - NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko discusses nuclear's future and agency turmoil. Gregory Jaczko, chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, has had a tough year. The normally obscure agency was thrust into the limelight after a triple meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant in March 2011. Since then, even while the regulator has been wracked by a very public internal feud, it has also moved forward, issuing the first construction and operating licenses for new U.S. nuclear reactors in almost 35 years. The embattled chairman spoke with National Journal about the challenges of his job. Edited excerpts follow.

March 2012

March 20: Solving Nuclear Storage Issues - The desire to meet the requirements of an increasingly energy hungry world, without the carbon emissions associated with fossil-fuel-fired power plants, has caused many utility companies to consider nuclear energy.

March 19: Energy is top concern, Sensenbrenner says - The high cost of energy is the No. 1 issue on the minds of his constituents, Rep. James Sensenbrenner, R-Menomonee Falls, said in a stop at the Watertown Daily Times on Friday.

March 17: Comments Print E-mail Share Nye County, Sandoval clash over future of Yucca - Despite the tough words earlier this week by Gov. Brian Sandoval, the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear dump is still alive.

March 14: NRC unites on safety, but rift remains - Members of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) testified regarding new safety rules during a hearing by the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday, presenting a united front despite ongoing divisions over controversial issues such as nuclear waste.

March 13:Graham wants Yucca fees repaid in rebates to electricity customers in S.C. - U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham has a simple lesson in consumer economics for the federal government: We paid for something we didn’t get, so please give us our money back.

March 12: Nevadans Surveyed About Yucca Mountain - A new survey shows more Nevadans are in favor of turning opening up Yucca Mountain as an energy research park.

Public Opinion Strategies surveyed 500 likely voters last month. Of them, 62% said they supported the created of a research park, for the study of reprocessing spent nuclear fuel. 34% said the Yucca Mountain should be closed entirely, and 2% of respondents were undecided.

In Washoe County, 60% of those surveyed are in support and 37% are opposed. In just Reno, 64% are in support, with 32% opposed. In Clark County, 61% of residents support it, with 36% opposed. 75% of rural residents supported the opening of the site, with 17% opposed.

Among party registration, 73% of Republicans, 66% of Independents, and 50% of Democrats are in support of the research park. 70% of labor union house holds support creating the park, while 68% of teacher union members support it.

March 12: US Senate bill would force nuclear waste fee rebate if Yucca not revived - Legislation introduced in the US Senate Monday would require the US president to certify within 30 days of the bill's passage that Nevada's Yucca Mountain remains the preferred site for a US nuclear waste repository. If the president fails to do so, all money in the Nuclear Waste Fund would be returned to utilities with 75% of that going back to utility customers, according to a statement Senator Lindsey Graham's office issued. The remainder would be used for upgrades at nuclear power plants storing spent fuel, it said.

March 12: Gov. Sandoval Says Nevada Does Not Want Nuclear Waste, But New Poll Shows Support For Research Facility - Gov. Brian Sandoval sent a letter to U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu today making it clear that he does not support any type of nuclear waste disposal or interim storage at Yucca Mountain.

March 9: A NEW BEGINNING IN NEVADA - A large majority of Nevada voters say Yucca Mountain should be opened From a statewide survey of 500 likely voters in Nevada, conducted February 21-23, 2012 by Glen Bolger at Public Opinion Strategies.

March 12: U.S. Senate bill: President must allow the Yucca Mountain repository or give rebates: A bill introduced in the U.S. Senate last week calls for the president to be required to allow the operation of Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository or make rebate payments to South Carolina ratepayers who have contributed more than $1.3 billion toward the repository to date.

March 10: Alexander thinks incentives might spur communities to accept nuclear waste - Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, a nuclear power advocate, is working to turn into legislation the recommendations made in January by the Blue Ribbon Commission, a group appointed by President Barack Obama to move the country out of nuclear-waste limbo.

March 10: Nuclear Waste - Leave well alone -OF ALL THE difficulties nuclear power is heir to, that of waste has most fired the public imagination. Building power plants that last a century is one thing; creating waste that will be dangerous for 100 times as long is another. For decades America has failed to create a long-term repository for the waste from its civilian reactors at its chosen site, Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Most other countries have similarly failed, so the waste from today’s reactors piles up.

March 9: Nye officials give consent to burying nuke waste - With the federal government embarking on a new "consent-based" search for someplace to dispose of nuclear waste, officials in Nye County sent a reminder this week that they still consent to burying it at Yucca Mountain.

March 9: Fukushima disaster halts progress of nuclear power in the US - On February 9, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the construction of two new nuclear reactors near Augusta, Ga., making these the first reactors to receive construction approval in over 30 years. This was seen as a major victory for proponents of nuclear power, possibly signaling a change in U.S. energy policy. Even President Barack Obama, a staunch clean-energy advocate, renewed his commitment to nuclear power in 2010 when he extended over $8 billion in federal loan guarantees to the new nuclear reactors.

March 8: US DOE would resume Yucca work if court tells it to do so: Chu- Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu said before a House of Representatives subcommittee hearing Thursday that DOE would resume the Yucca Mountain repository program it dismantled in 2010 if there is a court order to do so.

March 3: OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: NO CONFIDENCE IN NUCLEAR ENERGY- A major public concern about nuclear reactors has been that the spent nuclear fuel could remain stranded at the reactor site indefinitely. In the 1970s, courts prohibited the Nuclear Regulatory Commission from licensing new reactors unless it assured the public that the waste would be removed-a requirement called the "waste confidence" rule. President Obama's decision to abandon plans for removing the waste to the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada creates an uncertainty that could be a barrier to the expansion of nuclear power. Two nuclear policy experts argue that the 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act provides sufficient confidence that spent nuclear fuel will be removed and, thus, that the waste confidence rule is unnecessary and should be abandoned.

March 1: Nuclear Power's Unsettled Future - A year after the Fukushima Daiichi disaster in Japan, prospects for the nuclear power industry worldwide are far from certain. An energy policy scholar assesses the key economic, environmental, political, and psychological hinges on which nuclear power's future now swings.

February 2012

Feb 28: America's IMBY era for energy - Last week during a speech at the University of Miami, President Obama called for an “all-of-the-above energy strategy that develops every available source of American energy.”

Feb 28: Commission Blasts Outdated Nuclear Waste Management Policy - The BRC report attributes the dearth of waste management options to decades of ineffective nuclear policy. As a result, the U.S. currently lacks a long-term disposal site for radioactive waste. The majority of used fuel in the U.S. is instead stored at local reactor sites.

Feb 27: A New Urgency to the Problem of Storing Nuclear Waste- The nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, earlier this year caused many countries to rethink their appetite for nuclear power. It is also, in subtler ways, altering the fraught discussion of what to do with nuclear plants’ wastes.

February 2012

Feb 24: The other thing Vogtle has revived: Nuclear hysteria -... Let's just set aside the fact that Yucca Mountain was pulled off the table not for any scientific or technical basis (there is an overwhelming paucity of evidence indicating Yucca Mountain was unsuitable as a repository, a fact confirmed by the GAO)...

Feb 20: Chairman with an agenda - Opinion By John Sununu (story appeared in the Boston Globe) - WASHINGTON HAS a special vocabulary for everything. When bureaucrats become too close with the industry they're charged with overseeing, it's called "regulatory capture.'' The phenomenon can be very expensive for the public. Most famously, the Office of Thrift Supervision was accused of lax oversight contributing to the collapse of Washington Mutual and IndyMac, two of the biggest bank failures during the 2008 financial crisis. The OTS has been eliminated.

Feb 17: New Plant Vogtle reactors praised despite unresolved nuclear waste plan - Steven Chu "Finding a workable way to end the stalemate over the safe and secure storage of used nuclear fuel is one of the most important things we can do to support this vital industry," he said."

Feb 15: Energy working group to assess nuclear waste recommendations - Energy Secretary Steven Chu vowed Wednesday to develop a strategy for managing the country’s nuclear waste based on recommendations issued last month by the Blue Ribbon Commission.

Feb 8: Yucca could still be on the table for nuclear waste: BRC member

Feb 8: White House is all talk on its energy strategy - President Obama said in his State of the Union address that he supports an "all-of-the-above" national energy strategy. Unfortunately, his actions and the actions of his administration have not followed in line with this statement.

Feb 6: Debate emerges over refunding nuclear waste fee - With long-held plans to develop a national repository for nuclear waste locked in political limbo, a debate is emerging over what to do with billions of dollars collected from utility customers in South Carolina and other states to pay for the illusive

Feb 5: Insisting on Yucca Mountain won't fix nuclear waste problem, says Hamilton -The fact of Yucca Mountain still standing empty of nuclear waste is a testament to the need for a new approach to siting permanent nuclear waste disposal factories, said a co-chair of a blue ribbon commission chartered to examine radioactive waste policy.

Feb 4: Nuclear waste fracas that just won't go away

Feb 2: Yucca Mountain as a nuclear-waste site - (Opinion) This is just another burden on the American taxpayer. The residents near Yucca Mountain don't want nuclear waste stored there. The residents of the Tri-Cities don't want nuclear waste stored at Hanford. Sounds like a clear case of "Not In My Back Yard." They are both half right: There is no safe haven for nuclear waste, waste that must be kept isolated from all living things for hundreds of thousands of years.

Feb 1: CAGW President Tom Schatz Testifies on Yucca Mountain - To date, through assessments in their utility bills, ratepayers have contributed between $750 and $780 million each year since 1983 into the Nuclear Waste Fund. The Department of Energy (DOE) has spent $15 billion to evaluate various possible sites, to develop Yucca Mountain, and to submit the licensing application, but the national inventory of spent nuclear fuel stands at 65,000 metric tons and not one spent fuel rod has been moved to the Yucca Mountain facility. The spent fuel languishes at 75 sites in 33 states, stored either in cooling pools or, when the pools have reached capacity, in expensive dry cask storage facilities adjacent to operational reactor sites.

Feb 1: Heads of US nuclear waste panel call for new approach to disposal - The top-down approach the federal government used to select the proposed repository site at Yucca Mountain, Nevada does not work and a new process is needed, the co-chairmen of a blue ribbon commission on nuclear waste told a subcommittee in the US House of Representatives Tuesday.

Feb 1: DOE Responds to Complaints About Its Commitment to Open Government - After a journalist called attention to the difficulty of finding documents about the prospective Yucca Mountain nuclear repository last week, the Department of Energy responded in near-record time. Cammie Croft, director of New Media & Citizen Engagement, addressed the concerns in a reasonable blog post on Energy.gov. She pulled together a specific list of Yucca Mountain documents and explained the general problem that governmental bodies have.

January 2012

Jan 30: How to Win Friends, Influence People, and Bury Nuclear Waste - The decades-long stalemate on where to store U.S. nuclear waste could be ending.

Jan 30: What about radioactive waste? - Although the nuclear power industry touts the fuel as emission free, it still leaves a big challenge behind: what to do with radioactive waste.

Jan 29: What Sweden can teach us about nuclear waste - Back in the 1980s, the Swedish government drew up a long list of locations that could potentially host a waste repository. Each town was given a chance to veto, and, after two decades and countless hours of local consultation, Sweden had two finalists, towns that actually competed with each other for the chance to host the site and reap the economic benefits. (One was finally picked in 2009.) Both towns, not surprisingly, already had nuclear plants in the area, and polls showed support running as high as 83 percent.

Jan 27: Final Blue Ribbon Commission Report Urges Cooperative Efforts in Siting Waste Facilities - A new consent-based approach to siting future nuclear waste management facilities and a new organization to run a waste management program are two key recommendations in a final report released Jan. 26 by the Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future.

Jan 27: Immediate action needed on US waste policy - After nearly two years of work, the Blue Ribbon Commission has issued its final recommendations for "creating a safe, long-term solution" for dealing with the USA's used nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. Efforts to develop a waste repository and a central storage facility should start immediately, it says.

Jan 27: Around the Halls: President Obama and America's Nuclear Future - President Obama's Blue Ribbon Commission report on America's Nuclear Future, released today, is exasperatingly devoid of meaningful concrete policies that will move the industry ahead and allow it not only to contribute to the future supply of electricity in the United States but also to make the vital contribution that Professor Socolow's wedge theory posits nuclear energy must make if we have any chance of reducing rising global CO2 emissions over the next 30 years.

Jan 25:Where information goes to die - Last August, the US Energy Department proudly announced a "comprehensive website reform, making Energy.gov a cutting-edge, interactive information platform and saving taxpayers more than $10 million annually." In short, the government eliminated 12 separate department program sites and merged them into one (with plans to add many more), upgraded the content-management system, and streamlined information into the cloud PDF. In theory, Energy.gov is now the "cutting-edge" go-to site for information on everything from home weatherization to nuclear research. In practice, however, it's more often a black hole.

Jan 26: Panel: Start now to replace Yucca Mountain nuclear dump - WASHINGTON (AP) – The United States should immediately start looking for an alternative to replace the failed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste dump in Nevada, which cost an estimated $15 billion but was never completed, a presidential commission said Thursday.

Jan 26: Feds: Company backing Utah nuclear plant is a fraud - A company once touted as one of the main financial backers of Utah’s first nuclear power plant is in big trouble with federal securities regulators.

Jan 26: Nuke Us: The Town That Wants America's Worst Atomic Waste- This attitude—“Yes in my backyard,” if you will—has brought near permanent prosperity to this isolated spot that until recently had no endemic economic engine.

Jan 26: Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future Issues Final Report to Secretary of Energy - The Commission noted that it was specifically not tasked with rendering any opinion on the suitability of Yucca Mountain, proposing any specific site for a waste management facility, or offering any opinion on the role of nuclear power in the nation's energy supply mix.

Jan 25: Broken Promises on Energy Independence - Last night we heard some lofty language from our campaigner-in-chief about exploring America's energy potential. We heard about the development of offshore gas, and about reducing America's dependence on foreign oil. What the president failed to mention is that he recently killed the Keystone XL pipeline, which would have put thousands of Americans to work and is the best way to supply oil to U.S. Gulf Coast refineries.

Jan 25: President Obama comes to Las Vegas -- shish, boom bah! - So, President Obama is heading to Las Vegas to talk more about his "everything goes" domestic energy policy. Do you know why he's headed to Vegas? Because the press corps here for the most part can't find a discouraging word (or question) to ask the president when it comes to energy policy. Someone may serve up a Yucca Mountain question, let the president play to the Nevada crowd, and then fail to follow it up with key questions about what this means for the national development of nuclear energy. Is he for nuclear energy (like he says he is) or not? And how does that support mesh with the closing of Yucca Mountain?

Jan 25: Yucca Mountain on the horizon for GOP candidates - The presidential debates have featured discussions most recently addressing the Republican candidates' tax returns, how quickly they'd repeal President Obama's Affordable Health Care Acr and personal claims made by ex-spouses. One topic missing from the recent debates in South Carolina, but not from the campaigns' radar, is the nation's nuclear waste storage plan, which also hits home with Washingtonians.

Jan 24: A mountain of nuclear waste- Before the month is out, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future will unveil the result of its two year-long investigation into what to do with the accumulated radioactive waste at the country’s nuclear power plants. By year’s end, that waste will constitute a mountain 70 years high, with the first cupful generated in 1942 at the Fermi lab not far from Chicago when scientists first created a self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction.

Jan 13: Senator: Send used nuclear fuel rods here - State Sen. Al Melvin admits that not everyone thinks having a nuclear waste processing plant and burial site in Arizona is a great idea.So the Republican from Tucson's far-north suburbs has a sweetener he believes will get some people to change their minds: Money.He is proposing to make Arizona as the place where all the nuclear plants in the country send their spent nuclear fuel rods. Melvin, a long-time proponent of nuclear energy, said the failure of the federal government to set up a planned high-level radioactive waste dump at Yucca Mountain in Nevada creates an opportunity for Arizona.

Jan 10: NRC: Can chairman's new chief of staff help bridge panel's deep divides? -Coggins is moving into a tough spot. Jaczko and his colleagues do not get along. In October, the four commissioners -- two Republicans and two Democrats -- complained to the White House about Jaczko bullying NRC staffers, particularly female employees, and withholding information from the commission. Jaczko denied the allegations.

Jan 9: Reps. give overview of legislative session- South Carolina has provided $1.3 billion toward the prospective Yucca Mountain site for radioactive waste disposal, including spent fuel at the Savannah River Site. However, that project has been shelved, at least for now. The state's legislative delegation has asked President Barack Obama and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu about returning those funds to ratepayers, Young said.

Jan 5: 'Nuclear waste here? Why not?' - As reported shortly before Christmas, scientists at Sandia National Laboratories have produced a handful of studies into geologic formations that might replace the scuttled Yucca Mountain site for disposal of highly radioactive wastes.

Jan 5: Our view: Nuclear waste here? Actually, why not?- Duluth Daily News. The news landed like a lump of coal for many of us on Christmas morning: The Lake Superior region of Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula has “the most stable region of granite outcrops in the U.S.” Also, there hasn’t been a volcano or significant earthquake here in millions of years. And that makes our area perfect — absolutely perfect, according to a front-page story about a 114-page study from the Sandia National Laboratory — for entombing nuclear waste.

Jan 3: Halt nuclear panel meltdown - The chairman of the NRC has been excoriated by scientists who have seen years of research effectively discarded as Mr. Jaczko wantonly terminated the national nuclear waste repository in Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

 

December 2011

 

Dec 29: Nuclear power: The case for a safe, alternative energy source

Dec 29: Yucca Mountain received no funding after a bill was passed in the House of Representatives on Dec. 16, and Sen. Harry Reid blocked an attempt by House Republicans to keep the issue open when they tried to halt closure procedures of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In a press release distributed after the year-end funding meeting, Reid stated, "Once again, Congress will not appropriate a single dime to make Nevada the nation's dumping ground for nuclear waste. Despite the best efforts of House Republicans, President Obama and Congress have made a decision to end this dangerous project. … Yucca Mountain was never a good idea and it's time to move on towards real solutions that ensure Americans' health and safety."

Dec 27: Why would a utility consider Nuclear Energy? - The future of the U.S. electricity portfolio is a complex matter that asks the industry to find a path forward that acceptably balances many different factors. Once one acknowledges that every generating technology carries physical, financial and environmental risks, the conversation can begin in an intellectually honest manner. In the case of the nuclear industry, the issues frequently discussed are the costs of new construction, safety and fuel management.

Dec 27: Bomb-Grade Uranium Being Shipped from Canada to the U.S. - Today, Canada's Globe and Mail reports that "weapons-grade uranium is quietly being transported within Canada, and into the United States, in shipments that the country's nuclear watchdog wants to keep cloaked in secrecy." The radioactive freight is being shipped from Chalk River, Ontario into the U.S. via routes of which only authorized agencies and law enforcement personnel know the details. The freight contains a large enough amount of highly enriched uranium capable of making "several Hiroshima sized nuclear bombs."

Dec 27: As Nuclear Plants Age, No Easy Energy Solutions - No nuclear power plants have been built in this country since the accident at Three Mile Island more than 30 years ago. The old reactors continue to provide 20 percent of our electrical power, but many of them will start to come offline in the next 10 years or so.

Dec 21: Yucca funding remains zero in 2012 - Congress for the second consecutive year is zeroing out spending for the Yucca Mountain project, the nuclear waste plan that continues to recede as government policy.

Dec 19: Feuding NRC Faces Decisions on New Southern Co., Scana Reactors- Members of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission have said they're willing to work together after four of them accused Chairman Gregory Jaczko of bullying employees and creating a toxic work environment.

Dec 16: Koodankulam Nuclear Plant : Risk Analysis on Spent Fuel – Part 4- Nuclear power plant uses nuclear fission techniques in which atom splits into smaller parts and release the abundant quantity of heat energy.

Dec 15: The Plot to Oust America's Nuclear Watchdog- In what may well be a temporary aberration, the Obama Administration appears to be sticking by Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko, even though the nuclear industry most definitely wants him out. 

Dec 15: Illinois wants its waste gone - A Republican congressmember from Illinois is faulting a Democratic U.S. senator from Massachusetts for failing to help his constituents by opposing a nuclear waste dump in Nevada.

Dec 11: Lawmakers Split Over NRC's Jaczko -Lawmakers are splitting along party lines over whether to support U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko after colleagues questioned his leadership in a letter released Friday.

Dec 9: Nuclear Panel Members Say They Have 'Grave Concerns' About Chairman Jaszko - Four Nuclear Regulatory commissioners from both parties say they have "grave concerns" about the panel's chairman, charging that the actions of Gregory Jaczko are "causing serious damage" to the commission and creating a "chilled work environment at the NRC."

Dec 8: UCS Comments on Threat Assumptions for Dry Cask Security - The termination of the Yucca Mountain repository project has left the US with no near-term prospects for a final disposal site for spent nuclear fuel. Until the repository program gets back on track, dry cask storage of spent fuel can be an acceptable interim option for many decades, but it is not risk-free. Long-term dry cask storage raises safety and security concerns that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the nuclear industry will have to resolve.

Dec 7: Coffin wants to keep alive city's Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository Committee - Coffin argues that eliminating the Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository Committee, which hasn't met in four years, would be a mistake, though the state has a similar committee aimed at blocking the federal government from directing nuclear waste to a storage site about 100 miles north of the city.

Dec 7: Nuclear Reactor License Renewals May Be Slowed, Jaczko Says- Limited staffing at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission may slow the agency in renewing licenses for existing nuclear power plants, the agency's chairman said.

Dec 4: Nevada Cites Concerns With Transport Of Hazardous Waste In Response To Draft Plan For Former Test Site - CARSON CITY – A draft environmental statement addressing the future of the former Nevada Test Site appears to be setting the stage for the transportation of mixed hazardous and low-level radioactive waste to the site through heavily populated areas of Las Vegas, the state response to the document says.

Dec 3: House Republican targets Sen. Kerry for Yucca Mountain opposition - Top Republican on the House Energy and Commerce Committee criticized Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) for his opposition to the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository this week, arguing that lawmakers who are unsupportive of the Nevada storage site are effectively ensuring that high-level nuclear waste remains in their states

Dec 3: Advantages and challenges of nuclear power - Yet the authors of the report also recognize that the impediments are significant. No federal depository is available to accept the highly radioactive waste that is a byproduct of nuclear power. Financing the construction would be difficult. And nuclear power remains unpopular with an ill-informed public. (State of Conneticut)

November 2011

Nov 30: Transport of Nuclear Waste Protested By German Activists Calling For Change - Nuclear energy has been unpopular in Germany since the fallout from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster in Ukraine drifted over the country.

Nov 29: Ballot Initiative Would Close California's Nuclear Plants, Cause Rolling Blackouts- Should it attract enough signatures by mid-April to be placed on the ballot in California, an initiative could effectively shutter the San Onofre and Diablo Canyon nuclear plants.

Nov 28: Dramatic Carbon Emission Reduction Goals Targeted By Koch Brothers Achievable, Study Finds - California's ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals may be eminently achievable using available technologies, a new study finds, although the virtual elimination of fossil fuel to generate electricity is required.

Nov 27: A New Urgency to the Problem of Storing Nuclear Waste- The United States has long contemplated a permanent disposal site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada, but that plan has been stymied, perhaps permanently, by the politics of local opposition. Nevada has an early presidential primary, and this autumn several Republican presidential candidates, appearing at a debate in Las Vegas, denounced proposals to use the site. The Senate majority leader, Senator Harry Reid, Democrat of Nevada, also opposes using Yucca Mountain.

Nov 20: Illinois' Sen. Kirk's Letter on Nuclear Spent Fuel at Yucca Mt. - On November 18, Senator Mark Kirk (R-IL) sent a strong letter in support of Yucca Mountain being the permanent repository of nuclear waste. The letter, signed by 31 Senators was sent to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate and House subcommittees urging them to support the bipartisan, House passed language which funds the storage of nuclear waste inside Nevada's Yucca Mountain. Senator Kirk has made establishing a permanent storage facility for America's nuclear waste a critical issue for all states and especially critical for Illinois.

Nov 17: No Alternative to Yucca Mountain for Waste Found Yet - Licoln County Record - Nearly two years of study and scrutiny regarding storage of high-level nuclear waste in the U.S. has failed to find any better alternatives than what has already been proposed at Yucca Mountain.

Nov 15: Heller and Kirk in an amendment-off over Yucca mountain - Republican Sens. Dean Heller and Mark Kirk have got themselves into a bona fide amendment-off over Yucca mountain, but their squabble may be destined to stay on the sidelines of the Senate floor.

Nov 14: Final Showdown on Spending: .....Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) plans to offer an amendment to the package of spending bills that would continue funding for Nevada's planned nuclear waste repository Yucca Mountain, a project Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has pledged to end. The Obama administration has also taken steps to end funding for the project.

Nov 8: Familiar face to return to Nevada Nuclear Projects Agency - the Nevada Board of Examiners on Tuesday gave the go-ahead to pursue a contract with Joe Strolin, former planning administrator and acting director of the agency. Board approval is needed under a new law aimed at curbing abuses uncovered in state audits on the use of contract workers.

Nov 7: Court sets schedule in Yucca case

Nov 3: Dump switch -The Reno News & Review provides a useful summary of the politics roiling around the nuclear waste issue after Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Rick Perry said they opposed opening a national waste repository at Nevada's Yucca Mountain.

October 2011

Oct 30: REP. PAUL BROUN AND REP. ANDY HARRIS HOLD A JOINT HEARING ON AMERICA'S NUCLEAR FUTURE
Oct 28: US House science lawmakers spar over Yucca Mountain
Oct 27: Energy CEOs Urge Court To End Nuclear Waste Fee
Oct 27:Oral history records 'lessons learned' in Yucca Mountain fight
Oct 26: Quit stalling on solutions for spent nuclear fuel rods
Oct 26: Recycling nuclear waste makes sense for energy future
Oct 25: County creating oral history of decades-long battle over Yucca Mountain nuclear dump in Nevada
Oct 21: Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Project Opposed By GOP Candidates
Oct 20: Nye County official sees no alternative to Yucca Mountain
Oct 20: GAO studies alternative uses for Yucca Mountain
Oct 20: GOP Lawmakers Challenge White House on 'Scientific Misconduct'
Oct 20: If I ruled Yucca Mountain
Oct 19: Nuclear waste task force meets in Atlanta
Oct 18: GOP candidates line up against Yucca Mountain
Oct 14: Yucca Mountain: The 'Scientization' Of Politics
Oct 12: The "scientization" of Yucca Mountain
Oct 10: MASS. MARKET: Quest continues for nuclear waste solution
Oct 10: End deplorable Yucca delay
Oct 7: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair: Events Like Fukushima Too Rare to Require Immediate Changes
Oct 7: Nuclear crises renew regulator's relevance
Oct 7: Spent nuclear fuel rests in peace near Fort St. Vrain

September 2011

Sept 30: Senior U.S. Official Denies Talk of Foreign Nuclear Waste Site in Mongolia
Sept 30: Nuclear Regulatory Commission Suspends Yucca Mountain Licensing Hearings
Sept 29: Savannah River Site Gets Nuclear Waste
Sept 28: UNH students get a lesson in nuclear power
Sept 28: Draft Plan For Future Of Former Nevada Test Site Questioned At DOE Public Hearing
Sept 28: America Falling Behind: The Strategic Dimensions of Chinese Commercial Nuclear Energy
Sept 28: NRC invites public to meeting on spent fuel
Sept 23: Despite Berkley's ethics woes, final chapter yet to be written
Sept 23: Pro-Yucca lawmaker tries new strategy
Sept 22: Guest Column: The Lessons of Fukushima
Sept 22: TWENTY-FOUR MILLENNIA AHEAD
Sept 22: San Clemente sets up nuclear meetings
Sept 20: Could SRS be the new Yucca Mountain?
Sept 19: 26 Organizations Voiced Support for Resumption of Yucca Mountain Review
Sept 19: Yucca Nuclear Waste Wars
Sept 19: Court urged to intervene in Yucca Mountain dispute
Sept 15: NRC allows closure of Yucca Mountain nuclear dump
Sept 14: EDITORIAL: Reid goes nuclear on waste storage
Sept 13: NRC issues final Yucca Mountain technical report, nears closure of license review
Sept 13: NRC commissioner offers views on Yucca
Sept 13: Don't dump nuclear waste on us, Westerners say
Sept 12: Blue Ribbon Commission report focuses on process
Sept 12: How Dead Is Yucca Mountain?
Sept 9: Yucca may yet have pulse after ruling
Sept 9: Energy and Commerce Committee has been Preparing All Year for Administration's Regulatory Push th Legislative Solutions Are Primed for Floor Consideration
Sept 8: Temporary storage proposed for vit plant waste
Sept 7: Our views; All power sources present health risks Quake damage to nuke storage unit underscores need for rational policy D
Sept 4: Earthquakes, Hurricanes Highlight Serious Regulation Flaws
Sept 1: Quake shifted nuclear storage containers at Virginia plant

August 2011
Aug 30: Amodei: No reason to close Yucca Mountain entirely
Aug 26: Yucca Nuclear Site Returns
Aug 25: $142M award upheld for San Onofre nuclear fuel disposal
Aug 24: Where will Nuclear Waste Go?
Aug 23: Where to Put Spent U.S. Nuclear Fuel
Aug 22: Blue Ribbon Commission on Nuclear Waste: Missing Opportunity for Lasting Reform
Aug 18: Future of nation's nuclear waste buried in deficit
Aug 16: NRC infighting goes nuclear
Aug 15: County in Nevada where Yucca Mountain is located joins Aiken County lawsuit
Aug 15: Bury Our Nuclear Waste — Before It Buries Us
Aug 14: Japan Prepares for Its First Import of Radioactive Waste Since Earthquake
Aug 13: Expert: Yucca not best place for storing nuclear waste
Aug 12: Nuclear fallout
Aug 9: Nuclear Waste Piles Up—in Budget Deficit
Aug 8: In Our View: Pressing the Feds State attorney general turns up the heat on Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Aug 8: Used 22 times over 314 weeks, Yucca Mountain facility closes
Aug 8: Panel urges speedy removal of CT nuclear waste
Aug 6: Halstead to head nuclear projects agency
Aug 5: Committee releases draft recommendations on safe nuclear waste disposal
Aug 5: Yucca Mountain removed from equation
Aug 4: Governor appoints chief of Nevada nuclear agency
Aug 4: Access to electronic Yucca Mountain data ending
Aug 2: Looking Past Yucca Mountain
Aug 1: The back and forth over Yucca Mountain as nuclear waste storage site

July 2011
Jul 31: Energy NW sues for higher nuclear fuel storage costs
Jul 30: How to store nuclear waste? New approach urged
Jul 26: Yes, In Our Backyard
Jul 22: NRC Releases Study of Yucca Waste-Site Application
Jul 17: Labrador Votes Against, Simpson Votes For Energy Bill
Jul 15: Joe Heck chooses Nevada interests over party loyalty
Jul 15: NRC's Jaczko leads an agency in flux
Jul 14: House Could Breathe New Life Into Yucca Repository
Jul 14: House increases money for nuclear waste review
Jul 14: Optimism in Congress for Hanford Tank Farm Funding
Jul 12: DOE official promises Hanford waste will be moved
Jul 12: Green Scene: A glowing report?
Jul 8: Re-processing nuclear waste
Jul 8: U.S. to pay Xcel $100M for nuclear waste storage
Jul 6: Court Rejects Bid to Rescind Yucca Cancellation
Jul 7: GOP field splits on Yucca
Jul 6: Nevada's Yucca Mountain nuclear site a dilemma for Republican hopefuls
Jul 6: Editorial: We should demand an answer now Obama punts on Yucca Mountain; the nation can't afford another 50-year wait
Jul 5: Learning Lessons from Yucca Mountain
Yucca Lawsuits Must Wait Until NRC Acts, D.C. Circuit Rules

June 2011
June 24: Huntsman: Nuclear waste at Yucca Mountain up to Nevadans
June 21: U.S. official says Yucca nuclear dump not an option
June 21: Bipartisan Outrage Over Obama Administration Termination of Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository
June 18: Illinois nuclear plant leaks contaminated drinking water
June 16: Defiant NRC Chief Rejects Calls to Resign Over Yucca Mountain Dispute
June 16: Waste discovered at Yucca Mountain
June 16: House OKs $20 million Hanford budget cut
June 13: Jaczko heads to Capitol Hill amid criticism over Yucca handling
June 13: GOP: Politics at play in commission's Yucca Mountain review
June 13: Desert site said ideal for nuclear waste disposal
June 11: Gadomski Says Yucca Mountain Shows U.S. Ineffectiveness
June 9: Chairman Accused of Withholding Information in Nuclear Repository Decision
June 8: Yucca a radioactive issue for Gregory Jaczko
June 7: Radioactive politics over nuclear storage at Yucca Mountain

May 2011

May 31: Debate rumbles on over U.S. Nuclear Waste Recycling Facility
May 29: Callaway, other nuclear plants cope with spent fuel dilemma
May 25: Ore. lawmakers: Don't put nuclear waste at Hanford
May 25: Risk From Spent Nuclear Reactor Fuel Is Greater in U.S. Than in Japan, Study Says
May 24: McCain campaigns in Reno
May 23: In Our View: Focus on Hanford
May 18: Wash., Ore. oppose hauling more waste to Hanford
May 17: Mountain of ... bluster
May 15: U.S. Panel Suggests Moving Used Nuclear Fuel to Interim Sites
May 13: Q+A: Yucca Mountain nuclear waste controversy
May 12: Nuclear watchdog points to gaps in U.S. safety regulations
May 12: Yucca Shutdown Was Political, Federal Watchdog Says
May 10: Funding to fight Yucca Mountain shrinks as dirt thrown on project
May 9: Waxman breaks own rule by outing whistleblower at NRC hearing
May 6: The Yucca Mountain Nuclear Waste Site Lives on -- in NRC and Capitol Hill Infighting
May 6: GAO predicts Hanford costs will rise if Yucca is closed
May 4: Watchdog group wants DOE to review waste safety at Hanford
May 4: Group questions costs of storing nuclear waste
May 4: House Leaders Seek Political Points in Yucca FightMay 2011
May 2: Issa, Shimkus Question Legality of Yucca Nuke Decision

April 2011

April 25: Pahrump stop possible on lawmaker tour of Yucca
April 25: Report Urges Storing Spent Nuclear Fuel, Not Reprocessing It
April 24: Delegation says Zion storage plans OK — for now
A pril 24: Nuclear plant in Clinton running out of space for spent fuel
April 22: Backers of Yucca Mt. say Obama pays lip service to nuclear while ignoring waste needs
April 13: Nuclear disaster's impact
April 22: Leave me a loan
April 21: Japan and Yucca Mountain
April 20: President Obama Speaks at East Reno Business
April 19: Residents quiz nuclear regulators on Oconee plant's safety
April 17: DOE plans support projects for Hanford vit plant
April 12: Nuclear Power: Fears and Facts
April 8: Lessons from Japan on nuclear waste
April 8: Waxman: Cut Yucca trip
April 8: Radioactive fuel rods: The silent threat
April 5: Republicans Open Inquiry on Yucca Mountain Shutdown
April 4: Sandia National Labs suggests we take another look at underground salt deposits for nuclear waste
April 3: While nuclear waste piles up in U.S., billions in fund to handle it sit unused
April 2: Taxpayers, utility ratepayers face mounting nuclear bills
April 3: Blue Ribbon Commission's nuclear report online
April 1: House panel to probe Obama on Yucca nuclear waste dump
April 1: Yucca Mountain: did politics trump science?
April 1: Salty tombs could contain nuclear waste

March 2011

Mar 29: Fukushima Makes Case For Yucca Mountain
Mar 29: SC Attorney General: President out of line in canceling Yucca Mountain
Mar 29: Nuclear Naysayers and the National Interest
Mar 28: Japan crisis refuels nuclear waste storage debate
Mar 24: Nuclear Nevada?
Mar 24: Three lessons from Japan's nuclear crisis
Mar 22: Obama lacks authority to shutter Yucca site, court told
Mar 21: Nuclear disasters: Is the fear realistic?
Mar 20: Coming in this week's Las Vegas Business Press
Mar 20: Demand for energy certain to outweigh fear
Mar 19: Move SRS waste
Mar 19: Japan crisis revives spent fuel dilemma here
Mar 19: U.S. reactors grapple with spent fuel in shadow of Japan crisis
Mar 18: The danger of spent-fuel rods and the Yucca Mountain project
Mar 18: Japan crisis renews U.S. nuclear fuel storage debate
Mar 18: CUNA's Political Ads Win Awards
Mar 18: Bingaman Says Japan Nuclear Accident No Chernobyl
Mar 17: TVA reactors modified to help avoid explosions
Mar 16: N.J. opposes new rule allowing 60-year storage of spent nuclear fuel
Mar 15: The difficult truth about nuclear power
Mar 13: GOP still pushing for Yucca Mountain as nuclear waste site
Mar 12: NRC senior staffers protest Yucca Mountain shutdown
Mar 12: Former EPA chief touts nukes
Mar 10: Energy Northwest sues to suspend nuclear fuel fee
Mar 10: Double attack on US nuclear waste fees
Mar 8: We Energies lawsuit wins millions
Mar 7: NARUC takes federal government to court over waste fee collection
Mar 4: Obama wastes Yucca Mountain
Mar 4: Action sought on nuclear waste site
Mar 2: Wisconsin Electric receives $45.5 million in used fuel settlement

February 2011

Feb 28: Two orders by panel keep active licensing case for Yucca Mountain
Feb 20: Settlement reached in nuclear case
Feb 18: NRC Censors Flub Opportunity to Move Yucca Debate Forward
Feb 14: Heller pushes back on GOP's pro-Yucca Mountain move
Feb 13: Yucca Mountain or not, nuclear waste resides here
Feb 12: US must move past Yucca dump for nuke waste-Chu
Feb 11: House panel proposes advancing Yucca Mountain, cutting policing program
Feb 11: Proos And Nesbitt H ope For Spent Fuel Storage Solution
Feb 8: U.S. 'falling behind' in nuclear power
Feb 3: Reid appoints longtime nuclear veteran to intelligence panel
Feb 2: NRC chairman says Yucca Mountain closeout to include license panel

January 2011

Jan 27: DOE seeks four-month wait on Yucca Mountain case
Jan 19: Missteps have hurt nuke industry
Jan 19: Shimkus to investigate Yucca Mountain
The Hill got its hands on a copy of the House Energy and Commerce Committee's energy and environment agenda January 19th. Here's one more tidbit to add: Rep. John Shimkus (R-Ill.), who will chair the panel's environment subcommittee, is planning to focus on EPA's superfund program and the Obama administration's efforts to abandon the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. Shimkus told The Hill Tuesday night that he plans to ask Obama administration officials why they abandoned Yucca Mountain. "We really have to ask the tough questions," he said. "Why did we pull the plug and was it all politics. I think people know the answer to that, but you should go through the process of asking the questions."
Jan 19: Strolin will temporarily lead nuclear projects agency
Jan 18: New chairman sets sight on Yucca hearingsJan 11: Appeals court to hear arguments in Yucca Mountain lawsuit
Jan 11: Dangerous High-Level Nuclear Waste with Nowhere to Go
Jan 11: Nuke Agency Still Believes in Geologic Repository
Jan 5: Blue Ribbon panel to tour SRS, look for solution
Jan 4: Federal attorneys maintain US DOE has authority to kill Yucca
Jan 4: Flirting With Disaster
Jan 4: Natural Gas Industry Sees Little Gain From Obama's Show of Support
Jan 4: Commission lets 36 states dump nuke waste in Texas
Jan 4: NRC wants waste stored for century

Jan 31: Reid: Budget would eliminate Yucca Mountain funds
Jan 31: What Harry Reid may face after June’s primary
Jan 29: Secretary Chu Announces Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future - The Commission, led by Lee Hamilton and Brent Scowcroft, will provide recommendations on managing used fuel and nuclear waste
Jan 28: Is It Just Politics?

News clip regarding the NRC's Licensing Hearings on January 26 and 27th

Consultant Rex Massey and Governor Bob List attend Yucca Mountain Licensing Hearings.

Jan 27: Energy leader to reveal Yucca expert panel Friday
Jan 27: Yucca project assailed
Jan 26: Licensing Procedures Move Forward on Yucca Mountain
Jan 20: Yucca Mountain Decision Ignores Science
Jan 20: Obama’s flunking science
Jan 20: U.S. says wind could power 20 percent of eastern grid
Jan 15: Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary Matt Frank touts climate control legislation
Jan 15: Nuclear power: Wonder of new technology may be a dangerous diversion
Jan 15: 2nd UPDATE: Loan-Guarantee Program To Be Sped Up
Jan 15: Blumenthal eyes U.S. Senate
Jan 14: Chu, Orszag at Odds Over Yucca Funding
Jan 14: Court Rules for Utilities in Nuclear Waste Case
Jan 13: Nuclear Utility Awarded More Than $50 Million For Partial Breach Of Contract Claim
Jan 12: Green Ink: Shallow Gas, Electric Cars, and the Future of Yucca Mountain
Jan 12: U.S. Can’t Cite Delays to Defend Nuclear Waste Suits (Update1)
Jan 12: White House aide speaks up for nuclear energy Jan 11:Federal Nuclear Judges Affirm Citizen Intervention
Jan 11: Against New Nuclear Power Reactors on Florida Jan 11: Nature Coast Decision Relegates Hottest Waste in Question to Orphan Status
Jan 09: Dr. Edwin X. Berry and MG Paul E. Vallely – Why Jan 09: we support nuclear power and why you should too
Jan 09: Yucca Haunts Admin's Lagging Efforts on Nuclear Waste Study Panel
Jan 02: Wil Hylton: Why Obama Should Rethink the Closure of Yucca Mountain

December 2009

Dec 30: Nuclear plant near Fresno planned
Dec 30: PETT funds were a cash cow from Yucca project
Dec 22: Yucca Mountain Project experiencing brain drain: WASHINGTON -- The acting head of the Yucca Mountain Project is retiring at the end of the month along with another top official, the latest to depart the shrinking nuclear waste program, the Department of Energy confirmed
Dec 21: Court: nuclear spent fuel can be stored at plants
Dec 19: Harried Reid
Dec 16: City of Houston Reneges on NRG Solar Energy Deal
Dec 15: Yucca Mountain:Licensing efforts continue: Energy Department keeping nuclear repository options open
Dec 10:Nuclear waste: Canada asks its towns if they'll give it a home
Dec 9: Report: Spent fuel storage costs may run $225B
Dec 9: NRC OK with Yankee fund plan
Dec 9:One Million Years of Isolation: An Interview With Abraham Van Luik
Dec 8: Field Notes: The wharf and the wind turbine: Possibilities for
Dec 5: Why import nuclear waste?
Dec 3: High cost for US radwaste alternatives
Dec 5: Why import nuclear waste?
Dec 3: High cost for US radwaste alternatives

November 2009
Nov 29: Private capital awaits “long-term signal” on carbon – Chu
Nov 28: Minn. tribe rallies against nuke plant's expansion
Nov 27: Reviving Prism: the Power Reactor, Innovative Small Module
Nov 24: Nuke waste problem
Nov 18: Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee are angry over the Department of Energy's plans to halt work on the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site.
Nov 18: Group Concerned High-Lever Radioactive Waste May Be Stuck At SRS
Nov 17: Nuclear industry weighs in on nuke dump license
Nov 16: U.S., Japan to Cooperate on Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Research
Nov 16: Experts Question Hanford's Waste Treatment Plant
Nov 16: A reprosessing plant is the solution
Nov 15: DOE's Non-Performance on Nuclear Fuel Storage Costs Billions
Nov 15: Nuclear plant expansion clears hurdle
Nov 14: In Nevada, nuclear raises touchy issues
Nov 14: Nuclear plant expansion clears hurdle
Nov 13: A mountain of a problem
Nov 13: Yucca Mountain debated Thursday before chamber of commerce
Nov 11: Leaked memo seems to suggest Yucca Mountain dead
Nov 2: The Nuclear Wait

Op Ed Nov 2: Funds for nuclear reprocessing sit idle as energy needs grow
Nov 1: Udall widens push for nuclear plants

October 2009

Oct 31: FACTBOX: Obama signs energy, water spending bill into law
Oct 30: Red Wing hires lobbyist to deal with nuclear waste issue
Oct 30: Solar, wind not the bright path for Nye
Oct 30: Yucca debate planned
Oct 30: NS New Report Review: “The Outlook for Nuclear Energy in the United States: Dark Ages, Renaissance or Age of Enlightenment?”
Oct 30: U.S. Sen. Mark Udall calling for nuclear plants
Oct 27: Harry Reid's dilemma
Oct 26: Senate Leader Harry Reid faces tough re-election
Oct 26: What to Expect As The Senate Tackles the Energy Bill
Oct 26: Doc to Obama: What about Yucca Mountain for waste? Doc Hastings has sent a timely and important question to President Obama: What about Yucca Mountain? Rep. Hastings, R-Wash., was more delicate, more diplomatic than we phrased it above, but the substance was there.  In a carefully worded letter, Hastings asked Obama to share with Congress his plans for disposing of nuclear waste.  "I write to inquire about the status of your plan to develop a new option for our nation's defense waste and commercial high-level nuclear spent fuel," Hastings wrote. Twice in the one letter he mentions the need for scientific justification for whichever site is chosen. Yucca Mountain was the spot chosen after just such a scientific search, and it was written into law by Congress
Oct 24:Chuck Muth: Rory Reid says Dad wrong; Yucca Mountain is safe?
Oct 24:President and CEO, Nevada Development Authority
Oct 24:Congress Mulls Nuclear Power As A Way To Reduce Emissions
Oct 24:Letter: Nuclear energy debate swirls among PSU faculty members
Oct 21:Boos as Obama taps Yucca supporter President Barack Obama nominated Bill Magwood to the commission, which is charged with regulating and licensing all civilian use of nuclear materials, including the stalled nuclear waste dump proposed for 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas.
Oct 20:Nuclear Power Revival for GE Leaves Waste Unsolved
Oct 20: Radioactive tritium found off nuclear test site for first time
Oct 16: Small space no problem for anti-Yucca Mountain
Oct 23: Costly new nuclear system may cut waste, arms risk
Oct 22: White Pine County to get $500,000 for renewable energy feasibility assessment
Oct 21: What's Holding Nuclear Power Back?
Oct 13: How Tax Codes Negatively Distort Our Energy Choices
Oct 07: Make noise over nuclear storage now
Oct 05: Hanford's Massive Vitrification Plant Nears Halfway Point
Oct 05: The US Left Behind in Nuclear

Is nuclear power green energy?

Oct 2: House OKs 2010 spending for energy-water projects
Oct 1: Late attempt to revive Yucca Mountain plan falls short
Oct 1: Minnesota Groups to MN Congressional Delegation: Reprocessing of Radioactive Waste From Prairie Island, Other Reactors 'Not a Solution'

September 2009

Sep 30: Huebsch wants to end ban on new nuclear power plants
Sep 29: Nuclear may be necessary
Sep 26: Senate Leader Reid Becomes GOP Target in Nevada
Sep 25: NRC rule ~ No rabbits out of a hat

Sep 23: U.S. Panel Shifts Focus to Reusing Nuclear Fuel
Sep 23: U.S. Panel Shifts Focus to Reusing Nuclear Fuel
Sep 22: No easy way to dispose of nuclear waste
Sep 21: Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management: Who is Warren “Pete” Miller, Jr.?
Sep 20: William J. Nieckarz: Nuclear needs to be part of zero-carbon footprint future
Sep 18: Nuclear waste piles up in Michigan, around the country
Sep 18: Nuclear agency needs independent appointees
Sep 16: A nuclear waste solution
Sep 12: Nuclear Regulator May Double Waste-Storage Period to 40 Years
Sep 11: Nevada Files Five More Challenges to Yucca Mountain
Sep 9: A History of America's Nuclear Power Experience: Part Three
Sep 1: Lawmakers warn of de facto nuclear dumping
Sep 1: Home state finds it hard to warm up to Reid

August 2009

Aug 27: Another Major Setback for 'Nuclear Renaissance': Industry Goes 0-6 in 2009 Efforts to Overturn State Bans on New Nuclear Reactors
Aug 26: WASTING INDUSTRY - Re: Max Schulz's Obama Nuclear WasteAug 10: With Yucca Out, Where Does Nuclear Waste Go?
Aug 6:Information center is 'a hell of a benefit' to Nye County
Aug 6:A History of America's Nuclear Power Experience: Part Two
Aug 6:IDAHO DELEGATION, GOVERNOR DECRY FUNDING CUT FOR YUCCA MOUNTAIN
Aug 3: Nevada governor urges Reid do more to kill Yucca Mountain prospects
Aug 2: Government must address nuclear waste disposal
Aug 1: Reid declares Yucca victory
Aug 1: Sen Reid custs $29M from Yucca Mountain funding
Aug 1: Senate cuts funds for Yucca Mountain review:
Aug 24: The search for a nuclear graveyard
Aug 24: Max Schulz: Obama's Yucca budget bungle
Aug 24: Federal inspector: Tighten Yucca Mountain credit card use
AUG 24: Where do we store nuclear waste?
Aug 24: Nuclear Energy group spent $570K lobbying in 2Q
Aug 24: Yucca Mountain Funding Nears Its Demise
Aug 18: Nuclear waste discussion moves to Plan D
Aug 15: Nuclear fuel reprocessing: the benefits

July 2009

Jul 30:Senate passes bill to close Nevada's
Jul 24:RC Still Plans to Review YuccaNuclear Waste Site Application
July 23: Yucca Mountain: lemonade out of lemons
Jul 23 Laboratory advances and the demise of Yucca Mountain
Jul 23:New Fuel Source: Nuclear Waste?
Jul 17: US House Votes Against Eliminating Yucca MountainFunding
Jul 14: Senator Alexander's Nuclear Blueprint, and Reality
Jul 13:Nuclear critics: Is Illinois the new Yucca Mountain?
Jul 12: 33 billion energy bill goes before House
Jul 12: Inside a Nuclear Plant: Skip the Lip Balm
Jul 12 $33.3B Energy and Water Appropriations Bill Heads to House Floor
Jul 8: KC is candidate to store nation's waste mercury
Jul 8:Not So Fast With Those Electric Cars
Jul 8:Utilities Seek to Suspend Nuclear Waste Payments

June 2009

June 29:Deal to build nuclear facility is dead
June 24: Miller to run nuclear division at DoE
June 24: The GOP's "American Energy Act" Is Bad For America
June 24:If Reid, Obama Kill Yucca Mountain, Where Will Nuclear Waste Go? Think Fusion
June 21: Nuclear reactors feel squeeze
June 21:Minnesota Edges Closer to Ending Moratorium on Nuclear Power
June 21: Bennett: U.S. needs 100 more nuclear power plants
June 21: Allison Macfarlane A nuclear expert on life after Yucca.
June 17: Funds to shut nuclear plants fall short
June 14: Governors seek to deter nuclear waste storage in Western US

May 2009

May 24: LAS VEGAS FUNDRAISER: Obama plays up Reid
May 27: UNLV RECEIVES $2.1 MILLION FOR NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES RESEARCH
May 27: G.O.P. Eyes Tough Task: Winning Reid’s Seat
May 27: Mr. President, thank you for coming to Vegas
May 26: Obama says he'll meet Gibbons; governor not interested
May 25: President’s course leaves question open: Is it dead?
May 21: Is Nuclear Power Renewable Energy?
May 21: Follow the Science on Yucca
May 20: Radioactive waste
May 19: Waste Knot
May 19: Saying "Harry Reid Is Vulnerable" Doesn't Make It True
May 15: Yucca Mountain plan dead, despite appropriations
May 14: Mineral County High School National Honor Society students complete survey
May 5: NEI's CEO Marv Fertel on Nuclear Jobs
May 5: The Who What Where Why of Yucca Mountain
May 2: Sustainable Energy-without the hot air
May 2: NEI Nuclear Notes
May 2: Moving Forward in Limbo
May 4: Ensign is front and center. Now what?
May 2: Radiation exposure risk study to be presented to board
May 2: Is a salt formation in New Mexico the new Yucca Mountain?

April

Apr 30: GOP senators push back on plans to scrap Yucca project
Apr 30: State urged to keep fighting
Apr 20: Yucca's demise to cost Nevada, Job losses will add to economic woes
Apr 16: County seeking input on renewable energy policy
Apr 16: Energy Department presses for license as if nothing’s changed
Apr 15: In the Great Ship Titanic
Apr 04: Energy Department presses for license as if nothing’s changed
Apr 01: McCain says it's time for Plan B for Yucca project
Apr 02: Obama expected to visit Las Vegas in May
Apr 04: Energy Department presses for license as if nothing’s changed
Apr 01: McCain says it's time for Plan B for Yucca project:

March 2009

Mar 29: Mountain of Trouble Mr. Obama defunds the nuclear repository at Yucca Mountain.Now what?
Mar 29: Idaho legislators question Yucca plansMar 31: Sessions focus on licensing for Yucca site
Mar 28: Reid agrees with study on Yucca Mountain alternatives
Mar 24: US senators worry nuke waste plan could leave government liable
Mar 24: Reid's nuclear waste meeting with energy official delayed
Mar 19: NUCLEAR COMMISSION: Radioactive waste storage is revised
Mar 17: Alaska senator criticizes Obama nuke waste policy
Mar 14: Nuclear industry to fight Yucca Mountain bill
Mar 13: Yucca missing from plan to remake nuclear waste policy
Mar 12: Chu promises to develop Yucca alternative quickly
Mar 10: Group would study alternatives to Yucca
Mar 09: Senator Reid is now saying he wants to look at alternatives to Yucca
Mar 07: Idahoans unhappy with Yucca downsizing
Mar 07: Couple faces coping with Yucca job loss
Mar 06: Official: Nuclear dump is out
Mar 04: Controversy Over Yucca Mountain May Be Ending
Mar 03: Chu: Yucca no longer option for nuclear waste
Mar 03:County Ends Contract with Washington DC Law Firm
Mar 03:County Ends Contract with Washington DC Law Firm
Mar 01:There's dough in that mountain
Mar 01:What Obama and Reid would say in a chat about Yucca, mayor

February 2009

Feb 26: Reid Celebrates Obama's Yucca Mountain Decision
Feb 20: Obama budget to cut Yucca Mountain funds
Feb 17: NRC adopts 1 million year rule for Yucca Mountain
Feb 17: Nuclear industry calls for fallback plan for Yucca Mountain
Feb 14: Yucca workers try to save jobs amid predictions of 500 layoffs
Feb 13: YUCCA MOUNTAIN: Repository comments questioned
Feb 12: Yucca battle backed
Feb 12: DOE distances secretary from Yucca Mountain Project comment
Feb 12: Cuts intensify Yucca concerns
Feb 10: Ethics Commission Says No to Loux Offer / Northern Nevada, Reno
Feb 08: State urged to drop nuclear waste battle
Feb 09: Nuclear industry advised to hush up about Yucca « nuclear-news
Feb 02: Anti-Yucca Mountain strategist catching up

January 2009

Department of Energy Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste has released the National Transportation Plan for public comment. January 2009 DOE's Yucca Mountain Project Decision ScheduleJan 31: Yucca workers urged to fight for their jobs
Jan 30: Yucca funding likely to shrink further
Jan 29: Yucca might be cut more
Jan 22: Nevadans criticize plan to ship waste
Jan 15: Reid, Ensign seek more Yucca cuts
Jan 14: Chu calls nuclear waste 'thorny' issue
Jan 06: Yucca budget facing big cuts over 2009-10, Reid says
Jan 05: Reid discloses plans for crippling cuts to Yucca Mountain projec