ECA Update: October 7, 2011
Published: Fri, 10/07/11
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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission established a YouTube channel last month. It has a Twitter account, @NRCgov, and since January it has had a blog. On Tuesday it took the next step: the chairman, Gregory B. Jaczko, hosted an online session with more than 50 bloggers, most of them pro-nuclear. He is supposed to do it again on Thursday, with anti-nuclear bloggers.
Tuesday's session was supposed to last an hour but stretched to 90 minutes. The bloggers submitted written questions that were read to Mr. Jaczko by Dan Yurman, a blogger who also moderates a list-serv dedicated to nuclear power and social media.
The turnout "exceeded all expectations," according to Eliot Brenner, the commission's chief spokesman. Transcripts will be posted in a few days, Mr. Brenner said.
Biggest demolition project in Oak Ridge history complete
Leean Tupper, Oak Ridger
October 4, 2011
OAK RIDGE, Tenn. -- The U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge Environmental Management program recently completed its largest demolition project to date. The removal of K-33, a former gaseous diffusion uranium enrichment facility spanning 32 acres, was completed several months ahead of schedule.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funded the $51 million project.
"The expedited removal of K-33 significantly changes our site's landscape, and moves DOE closer to transitioning the East Tennessee Technology Park into a private industrial park," EM Assistant Manager John Eschenberg stated in a news release.
Groundbreaking held for Hanford Reach Interpretive Center
Michelle Dupler, Tri-City Herald
October 6, 2011
RICHLAND -- Tribal spiritual leader Armand Minthorn had a message for the people huddled under umbrellas next to the Columbia River on Wednesday -- history surrounds us.
History is in the rocks and the trees and the water, and in the people who remember and tell the stories.
"We all have ownership in history, wherever we come from," said Minthorn, with the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation, as he blessed the ground where the Hanford Reach Interpretive Center will be built in the west end of Columbia Park.
Lawsuit filed over Hanford subcontract; claims bid rigging
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
October 5, 2011
Annette Cary, Tri-City Herald
October 5, 2011
A losing bidder for a Hanford subcontract has sued Washington Closure Hanford and two of its subcontractors in federal court, claiming bid rigging and other unfair practices.
As the result of false claims, the Department of Energy did not receive the best price for environmental cleanup work at Hanford, alleged Salina Savage and her firm, Savage Logistics of Richland, in a lawsuit filed in Eastern Washington Federal District Court.
Washington Closure, Federal Engineers and Constructors, and Phoenix Enterprises Northwest, all named in the lawsuit, have denied the allegations.
Protest demands Ga. monitor Savannah River Site environment
Walter C. Jones, Morris News Service
October 4, 2011
ATLANTA -- A group of anti-nuclear activists held a rally on the Capitol steps Tuesday to call for the U.S. Department of Energy to resume funding Georgia's monitoring of air and water quality for dangerous emissions from Savannah River Site.
The group, Women's Action for New Directions, said the funding was needed as an early warning against accidental releases of nuclear hazards that could contaminate the air, crops, wildlife and private wells and raise the risk of cancer in people living in Richmond, Burke, Screven, Effingham and Chatham counties.
Senators reached a bipartisan agreement Wednesday to reauthorize the Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program, which sends federal payments to local governments to help offset losses in property taxes due to federal lands within their boundaries. The County Payments Reauthorization Act of 2011 (bill number not yet assigned) would fund the PILT program (and the Secure Rural Schools program) for five more years.
The PILT program would have expired in 2012, whereas the Secure Rural Schools program already expired last week. Both programs would be authorized until 2017 under the new legislation.
The bill will be co-sponsored by Sens. Bingaman, Murkowski, Baucus, Crapo, Wyden, Risch, Reid, Tester, Feinstein, Udall (NM), Boxer, Cantwell, Murray, Bennet, and Merkley.
Sources say the bill will be introduced within the next week.
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October 12, 2011
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October 18, 2011
Washington, DC
October 20, 2011
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October 28, 2011
The First Annual National Nuclear Fuel Cycle Summit
Carlsbad, NM
April 2-5, 2012
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