Nuclear Power & Radiation

"A U.S. EPA draft report criticizes Washington state for lax oversight of the Hanford nuclear site, citing too few inspections and ignored violations."

"TOKYO — Japan’s new nuclear regulator adopted a fresh set of safety guidelines on Wednesday, starting a process that could allow some of the country’s idled reactors to come back online early next year."

"When does a nuclear plant become too old? The nuclear industry is wrestling with that question as it tries to determine whether problems at reactors, all designed in the 1960s and 1970s, are middle-aged aches and pains or end-of-life crises."

"Exelon has canceled plans for power uprates at four of its nuclear power reactors in Illinois and Pennsylvania, the company has told the US Securities and Exchange Commission."

"WAYNESBORO, Ga. — The two nuclear reactors rising out of the red Georgia clay here, twin behemoths of concrete and steel, make up one of the largest construction projects in the United States and represent a giant bet that their cost — in the range of $14 billion — will be cheaper than alternatives like natural gas."

"Canada will make operators of nuclear power plants liable for the first C$1 billion ($980 million) of damages in the event of an accident, up from C$75 million under existing rules, Natural Resources Minister Joe Oliver said on Monday."

"The San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS), a nuclear power plant set into the seaside bluffs in northern San Diego County, is closing after the high cost of repairs and a Nuclear Regulatory Commission board ruling prompted its owner, Southern California Edison, to pull the plug on the 45-year-old facility."

"Washington -- U.S. regulators are directing 31 nuclear reactors similar in design to the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan, where an earthquake and tsunami caused a meltdown two years ago, to take additional steps to help contain radiation and other damage from any accident that is not quickly halted."

"ANDREWS, Texas -- Republican mega-donor Harold Simmons' remote hazardous waste dump in West Texas began accepting low-level radioactive material Thursday from a federal lab in New Mexico — the latest step in Simmons' vision of a site that accepts all types of waste."

"The operator of the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant said it had found another leak of contaminated water on Wednesday, piling pressure on the utility to curb the problem as it seeks permission to release water to the sea."