September 7, 2016 – 81 FR 61721 – NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION – Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Meeting of the ACRS Subcommittee on Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactors (ESBWR); Notice of Meeting – The ACRS Subcommittee on ESBWR will hold a meeting on September 22, 2016, Room T-2B1, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The meeting will be open to public attendance.

September 7, 2016 – 81 FR 61719 – NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION – Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards; Meeting of the ACRS Subcommittee on APR 1400; Notice of Meeting – The ACRS Subcommittee on APR 1400 will hold a meeting on September 21-22, 2016, Room T-2B1, 11545 Rockville Pike, Rockville, Maryland. The meeting will be open to public attendance with the exception of portions that may be closed to protect information that is proprietary pursuant to 5 U.S.C. 552b(c)(4).

September 7, 2016 – 81 FR 61719-61721 – NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION – Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., Vogtle Electric Generating Plant, Units 3 and 4; Diverse Actuation System Cabinet Changes – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is granting an exemption to allow a departure from the certification information of Tier 1 of the generic design control document (DCD) and is issuing License Amendment No. 50 to Combined Licenses (COLs), NPF-91 and NPF-92. The COLs were issued to Southern Nuclear Operating Company, Inc., and Georgia Power Company, Oglethorpe Power Corporation, MEAG Power SPVM, LLC, MEAG Power SPVJ, LLC, MEAG Power SPVP, LLC, Authority of Georgia, and the City of Dalton, Georgia (the licensee); for construction and operation of the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant (VEGP) Units 3 and 4, located in Burke County, Georgia. The granting of the exemption allows the changes to Tier 1 information asked for in the amendment. Because the acceptability of the exemption was determined in part by the acceptability of the amendment, the exemption and amendment are being issued concurrently.

September 7, 2016 – E&E Publishing – ‘Dead Plant Society’ lobby group booms as reactors close – When utility executives gathered over dinner in 2001 to commiserate about looming reactor closures and start lobbying Congress for help, their first order of business was picking a name for their advocacy group. “The Dead Plant Society,” lobbyist Tim Smith offered. His tongue-in-cheek reference to “Dead Poets Society,” a 1980s movie about a secret group of poetry lovers at an all-boys prep school, landed with a thud. “Nobody,” Smith recalled recently, “wanted to write a check to a group called the Dead Plant Society.” But 15 years later, the name lives — and is more fitting than ever. Reactors are closing as nuclear utilities struggle to compete with cheap natural gas, low demand for power and no national energy policy. And when the behemoth nuclear plants close, the Dead Plant Society grows.

September 7, 2016 – The Spectrum – Downwinders documentary screens during DOCUTAH – DOCUTAH began in earnest with a full roster of films Tuesday, including “Radioactive Veteran,” which focuses on the above-ground nuclear testing in Nevada during the Cold War. It was the first time a full audience had seen the 24-minute documentary, which was screened in the Eccles Main Stage Theater at Dixie State University — host of the annual documentary film festival in St. George. “Radioactive Veteran” is one of 69 films in this year’s festival. Most Southern Utahns are probably familiar with our own “Downwinders,” those who lived through the nuclear testing and were later diagnosed with certain types of cancer attributed to the testing. However, “Radioactive Veteran” tells the story of the late Donald Guy, a North Carolina resident, and his widow Mary. Guy was stationed at the test site while serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.

September 7, 2016 – BBC News – Radioactive liquid waste at Dounreay ‘made safe’ – Radioactive liquid waste at the Dounreay nuclear power site has been made safe, according to a team working on decommissioning the plant. The liquid called raffinate was drained from the Dounreay Fast Reactor (DFR) at the complex in Caithness. It was immobilised by mixing it with cement powder inside 875 500-litre drums, which will be stored on-site. The team has now begun preparations to deal with raffinate in Dounreay’s Prototype Fast Reactor. The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has described the completion of the DFR work as “a milestone” in the wider project to decommission the power plant near Thurso. The drums of cemented waste will be stored at Dounreay until a decision is made in the future on how it should be disposed of.

September 7, 2016 – EOS – Melting Ice Could Reveal Toxic Cold War Era Waste in Greenland – In 1959, during the height of the Cold War, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built Camp Century, a military base in northwestern Greenland encased completely within the Greenland Ice Sheet. The camp’s official purpose was to test construction techniques in the Arctic and conduct scientific research, but it doubled as a top secret site for testing the feasibility of deploying nuclear missiles that could reach the Soviet Union in case of nuclear war. Greenland is a Danish territory, and although the United States had Denmark’s approval to build Camp Century, the missile launch program, known as Project Iceworm, was kept secret from the Danish government. Several years after the camp became operational, however, Project Iceworm was rejected by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the camp was decommissioned in 1967. The Army Corps of Engineers removed the nuclear reactor that powered the camp but left the camp’s infrastructure and waste behind, under the assumption they would be frozen and buried forever by perpetual snowfall.

September 7, 2016 – Prostate Cancer News – Metastatic Prostate Cancer Patients in UK Can Now Have Routine Radium-223 Therapy – The U.K.’s National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE) has approved radium-223 to treat prostate cancer that has spread to the bones for routine National Health Service (NHS) use. The approval comes in the wake of new information about how the effectiveness of radium-223 internal radiation therapy compares with treatments currently available for this type of prostate cancer, according to a news release.

September 7, 2016 – Utah Public Radio – Citing Spills, The Nuclear Regulatory Commission Halts Uranium Waste Shipments to SE Utah – Twice a year, the Cameco uranium mine in central Wyoming sends a truckload of a mining byproduct known in the trade as “barium sludge” to the White Mesa uranium mill south of Blanding. The last two truckloads have resulted in highway spills. The most recent was on March 29th. Ken Vaughn is a Cameco spokesman for the Smith Ranch uranium mine, which is near Casper, Wyoming. “We’re at work to make sure we address all the issues directed by the NRC. We’re not aware of any impacts to environment or public health. I think we need to let the process work through and then we’ll know what actions to take that both we and the NRC are comfortable with and feel appropriate. It’s more important to us that we get it right than we worry about how long it’s going to take.”

September 7, 2016 – Telecompaper – Nkom finds 4G technology has not led to more radiation – Norwegian telecoms regulator Nkom and national radiation protection agency Statens stralevern have presented a report on their long-term test at the Nkom Frequency Forum. The report concludes that when it comes to outdoor radiation, levels are consistently below three permille of permitted levels. They said the introduction of new systems, such as 4G technology, does not necessarily lead to an overall rise in radiation. Measurements were taken from June 2013 until June 2015 in Kristiansand, which was chosen as it was considered to be a typical, largeish Norwegian town with plenty of activity. Measurements were taken every three months in the same spot and the same way. The project will continue for several more years.

September 7, 2016 – Digital Journal – US Nuclear Corp. UCLE Makes Third Acquisition as Part of Aggressive Growth-Through-Acquisition Strategy – US Nuclear Corp. (OTCBB: UCLE) announces the acquisition of Electronic Control Concepts. ECC makes test equipment; kVp, mAs and exposure time meters so x-ray techs can fine tune the performance of the world’s many x-ray machines. This is US Nuclear’s third acquisition which is part of their growth-through-acquisition. Overhoff Technology and Optron Scientific are the previous two. ECC complements Overhoff and Optron since ECC products go to the same markets, same specialties, and same customer base

September 7, 2016 – YLE.fi – STUK still waiting on documents from Russian-owned nuclear plant – Finland’s nuclear regulators are still waiting for documents from the Russian nuclear firm Rosatom that should have arrived at least six months ago. The papers relate to a plant Rosatom is slated to build for the Finnish company Fennovoima in Pyhäjoki, north Ostrobothnia. Key documents relating to Fennovoima’s planned nuclear reactor at Pyhäjoki are more than six months late in arriving at Finland’s nuclear regulator, STUK. The supplier of the reactor, the Russian state-owned firm Rosatom, has not provided the papers required according to a timetable proposed by Fennovoima in 2015. The plan had suggested that the documents would arrive in tranches, deliveries starting at the start of this year and continuing until 2017. Construction would–according to this timetable–begin in 2018.

September 7, 2016 – Reuters – Norway’s fund barred from investing in U.S. firm Duke Energy – Norway’s $900-billion wealth fund can no longer invest in Duke Energy, the biggest U.S. power firm by generation capacity, due to alleged breaches of environmental law at its coal-fired plants, Norway’s central bank said on Wednesday.
The fund, which owns 1.3 percent of the world’s listed company equity with stakes in some 9,050 firms, is barred from investing in companies that make nuclear weapons, anti-personnel landmines or tobacco, among other ethical criteria. Duke Energy and its subsidiaries Duke Energy Carolinas, Duke Energy Progress and Energy Progress Inc were excluded “based on an assessment of the risk of severe environmental damage”, the central bank’s board said in a statement.

September 7, 2016 – Inside Cybersecurity – Nuclear regulators model cyber reg guidance after NIST framework, manufacturing ‘profile’ – New Nuclear Regulatory Commission draft guidance cites the federal framework of cybersecurity standards and a related, industry-specific manufacturing “profile” as a model for a nuclear fuel-cycle facility cybersecurity programs that will be required under a forthcoming regulation. “The [regulatory guide] offers a licensee guidance on addressing the necessary cyber security controls for an existing or new digital asset,” the document states.

September 7, 2016 – Sputnik International – Russian Scientists Develop Nuclear-Powered Underwater Drone Carrier – Russian scientists have unveiled the latest concept in UAV warfare: a nuclear-powered carrier platform which would serve as a ‘mothership’ for unmanned subs.Vladimir Dorofeyev, chief of Malakhit Design Bureau, has announced this new design at the Army-2016 international military forum that kicked off in Moscow on September 6. He explained that the new platform is expected to perform as both a carrier unit and a recharge station for underwater drones, according to RIA Novosti. “Students and young specialists at Malachite came up with this concept, the goal of which is to create a universal platform that could facilitate the use of unmanned underwater vehicles,” Dorofeev said.

September 7, 2016 – GCR – Russia offers to build Saudi Arabia’s $100bn nuclear industry – As the Syrian war grinds on Russia has stepped up diplomatic overtures to Saudi Arabia by offering to build all 16 reactors in the kingdom’s intended nuclear programme over the next 20 years. Yury Ushakov, an aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin, made the offer last week (30 August) ahead of a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Arabia’s young, reformist second deputy prime minister, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman al Saud, on the sidelines of the G20 summit in China, Russian state news agency Sputnik reported. Rosatom, Russia’s state-owned nuclear energy company, was ready to help with the ambitious construction programme, which has been costed at $100bn, said Ushakov. “Our company, which has the most advanced technologies, is ready to join the project to construct 16 nuclear power reactors in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” he said.

September 7, 2016 – The Japan Times – Japan to start background checks of nuclear workers in anti-terrorism effort – The nation’s nuclear watchdog decided Wednesday to require background checks for workers at nuclear power plants and other facilities as part of its anti-terrorism measures. Following recommendations from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Nuclear Regulation Authority will introduce the measure in late September. Still, actual implementation is expected to begin next year or later due to necessary regulation changes needed in regards to handling nuclear materials. It is also unclear how the new measure will be effective in improving security as the operators will conduct the background checks based on information provided by the workers rather than in cooperation with police or other law enforcement authorities.

September 7, 2016 – The Japan Times – Despite dwindling momentum, Koizumi pursues anti-nuclear goals – While Japan’s once-charged anti-nuclear movement struggles to retain its momentum five years after the 2011 Fukushima catastrophe, former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi remains doggedly determined to attain his goal of ending the country’s reliance on atomic energy. On Wednesday, he renewed his pledge to help ill U.S. veterans whose conditions they claim are linked to the release of radioactive plumes from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant. Koizumi, who is opposed to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s pro-nuclear stance, says Japan can be put on a sustainable path without atomic power.

September 7, 2016 – WIBW News – Source of Water Leak at Nuclear Plant Near Burlington Found – Staff members at the Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation near Burlington have located the source of a minor water leak and are working to repair it. Communications director Jenny Hageman says Wolf Creek personnel identified a cracked weld as the source of the water leak in the reactor cooling system. Staff members are finalizing a repair plan. The Emporia Gazette reports that the plant was manually shut down Friday due to the leak. Hageman says officials had planned to shut down the nuclear plant on September 24 for a maintenance and refueling outage.

September 7, 2016 – Boston Globe – Pilgrim nuclear plant temporarily shut down over mechanical issue – The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station was shut down Tuesday morning because of a mechanical issue, the second such incident in recent weeks, officials said. Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, wrote in an email that the Plymouth facility “experienced an unplanned shutdown” around 8:35 a.m. Sheehan said the reactor shut down “due to a high water level resulting from an oscillating (fluctuating) feedwater regulating valve.” Water is pumped into the reactor vessel so it can be boiled, converted to steam, and sent to the turbine to generate electricity, Sheehan said. Commission inspectors “will continue to keep a close eye on Entergy’s troubleshooting activities and any repair plans,” he said.

September 7, 2016 – Mid-Hudson News – Decision on Indian Point relicensing could take another year or more – The decision on whether to grant new operating licenses for the Indian Point nuclear power plants in Buchanan may be another year or more off. Proceedings are continuing by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission with the issues being examined, but the issue of broken or missing baffle bolts may push the process back further, said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan. “They are seeing some progress on some of the other outstanding issues, but because of the baffle bolts issue and the expectation that there will be some contentions related to that, that is going to ensure that the proceeding is pushed at least into 2017 if not farther down the road,” Sheehan said.

September 7, 2016 – Toledo Blade – Fermi plant’s license topic of talks in D.C. – The future of DTE Energy’s Fermi 2 nuclear plant will be discussed in Washington on Thursday afternoon by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards, an independent body of nuclear experts that is a key NRC advisory group. The ACRS has a lengthy talk about the plant’s application for a 20-year license extension on its agenda for that afternoon at the NRC’s national headquarters in Rockville, Md.

September 7, 2016 – Courthouse News Service – Ohio Sues to Contain High Levels of Radiation – The Ohio Department of Health says that a repeatedly vandalized Cleveland business must secure its radioactive material to prevent ground contamination. The department filed an injunctive action against Advanced Medical Systems Inc. and owner Seymour Stein on Aug. 30 in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. According to the lawsuit, AMS was licensed to manufacture Cobalt-60 medical radiation devices until its license was not renewed in 2001. After unsuccessfully appealing the decision, AMS was ordered to decontaminate its facility. However, the health department alleges that AMS has failed to comply with the order.

September 7, 2016 – Los Alamos Monitor – Creating the ‘Secret City’ app – When the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) team that developed the “Secret City” app heard I was stuck trying to get into 109 East Palace, they asked if they could meet with me to help me out. As Team Leader Travis Burkett and Lead Programmer Jeff Wauson coached me through the ins and outs of using the app, I learned how they went about developing this complex piece of programming. The two walked me through unlocking security clearances that let me access the Los Alamos town site, the tech area around Ashley Pond, V-Site and Gun Site and finally the Trinity Site itself. The tour is structured to give the user the experience of being a scientist recruited to the project.

September 7, 2016 – State Press Tempe – ASU researchers analyze emotional meltdowns at nuclear plants – Students done letting that Xbox Kinect in the far corner of their dorm rooms collect dust might just want to donate it to a new research project at the Del E. Webb School of Construction. The Kinect devices are being used in an unconventional way. Cheng Zhang, a graduate student in the school of engineering, is using the 3D imaging capabilities of the Kinect sensor to analyze the emotions of nuclear power plant employees during outages. “A refueling outage is a certain amount of time when we need to shut the power plant down and do the refueling, replacing the nuclear fuel for the power plant,” Zhang said. Outages are times when plant workers will conduct repairs on plant equipment, replace about a third of reactor fuel, and perform routine inspections. The period also requires employees to work on maintenance quickly and efficiently.

September 7, 2016 – Sublette Examiner – Lawmakers warm to nuke waste storage site – Wyoming lawmakers and regulatory officials said earlier this month that they’re ready to consider revising laws and possibly take part in a federal effort to build temporary and permanent storage for highly radioactive waste from nuclear power plants. The Legislature’s Joint Minerals, Business and Economic Development Committee kept alive the possibility of participating in what the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) says would be a voluntary and “consent-based” approach. The committee heard testimony and public comment on the topic in Casper, resurrecting a controversial idea for Wyoming.

September 7, 2016 – San Diego Free Press – Nuclear Shutdown News – US nuclear industry reaches a new low with resale of decrepit nuke plant already scheduled to permanently shut down next year. On July 12, Syracuse.com in upstate New York announced, “Entergy to sell FitzPatrick to Exelon in mid-August.” The FitzPatrick nuclear plant is located in Lake Ontario near the Canadian border. It started up in late 1974, not long after Richard Nixon’s reign over the White House permanently shut down. This means the nuke plant’s one reactor has been cranking away for almost 42 years, releasing radiation into the air and water in the Great Lakes region all the while. US nuclear reactors were designed to operate only 40 years.

September 6, 2016 – 81 FR 61100-61102 – NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION – Revision of Fee Schedules; Fee Recovery for Fiscal Year 2016; Correction – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) published a final rule amending regulations that became effective August 23, 2016. The fiscal year (FY) 2016 final fee rule, published June 24, 2016, amended the licensing, inspection, special project, and annual fees charged to NRC applicants and licensees. This document corrects the annual fee for materials licensees in the category “Nuclear laundries” from the FY 2016 rate of $0 to the FY 2015 rate of $40,100. This correction allows Agreement States to continue to collect fees in this fee category.

September 6, 2016 – 81 FR 61257-61258 – NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION – Lost Creek In Situ Uranium Recovery Project; Underground Injection Control Class V Wells – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering a license amendment request for Source Material License: SUA-1598, for the Lost Creek In Situ Uranium Recovery (ISR) Project located in Sweetwater County, Wyoming. The NRC staff is issuing an environmental assessment (EA) and finding of no significant impact (FONSI) associated with the proposed action.

September 6, 2016 – 81 FR 61215-61216 – DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY – Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board, Northern New Mexico – This notice announces a meeting of the Environmental Management Site-Specific Advisory Board (EM SSAB), Northern New Mexico. The Federal Advisory Committee Act (Pub. L. 92-463, 86 Stat. 770) requires that public notice of this meeting be announced in the Federal Register. DATES: Wednesday, September 28, 2016, 1:00 p.m.-5:15 p.m. ADDRESSES: New Mexico Highlands University, Student Union Building, 800 National Avenue, Las Vegas, New Mexico 87701. fOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Menice Santistevan, Northern New Mexico Citizens’ Advisory Board (NNMCAB), 94 Cities of Gold Road, Santa Fe, NM 87506. Phone (505) 995-0393; Fax (505) 989-1752 or Email: Menice.Santistevan@em.doe.gov. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Purpose of the Board: The purpose of the Board is to make recommendations to DOE-EM and site management in the areas of environmental restoration, waste management, and related activities.

September 6, 2016 – OH&S – DARPA Hails Smartphone-Sized Radiation Detectors – DARPA recently announced that its SIGMA program has facilitated the development of a new tool to help in preventing “dirty bomb” attacks and other nuclear threats — a network of smartphone-sized mobile devices that can detect the tiniest trace of radioactive materials. Used along with with larger detectors, these new devices “promise significantly enhanced awareness of radiation sources and greater advance warning of possible threats,” according to DARPA (the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency). SIGMA began in 2014 with the goal of creating a cost-effective, continuous radiation-monitoring network that can cover a large city or region. And more than 100 of the networked devices have been successfully tested at one of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey’s major transportation hubs. Besides being up to 10 times faster in detecting gamma and neutron radiation, they are one-tenth the cost of conventional sensors. The program achieved its price goal of 10,000 pocket-sized detectors for $400 per unit, according to DARPA’s announcement.

September 6, 2016 – Bloomberg News – Tepco adviser says treated Fukushima water safe for release into Pacific – Treated water from the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant is safe to be released under controlled circumstances into the Pacific Ocean, according to an independent Tepco adviser. “It is much better to do a controlled release in my view than to have an accidental release,” Dale Klein, a former chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said in an interview in Tokyo. “I get nervous about just storing all that water when you have about 1,000 tanks. You have all the piping, all the valves, everything that can break.”

September 6, 2016 – MetroNews.ca – Capitol Hill residents unhappy about proposed cell tower – Plans to build a cell tower in the city-owned Confederation Park Golf Course is meeting resistance from some people in the neighboring community of Capitol Hill. Vera Gartley received a pack of information in mail because she lives within 300 metres of where the proposed tower could be. She’s now hoping to rally others in her community to attend the community meeting on Sept. 15. Gartley said she already suffers from wi-fi sensitivity, and has read lots of information online about potential health hazards from cell towers. Information on the federal government’s website notes that it has created safety regulations with built-in margins to protect the public from any possible radiation hazards.

September 6, 2016 – Novus Light – Radiation Resistant Lens Enables Precision Radiotherapy – Resolve Optics reports that it has developed and is supplying a 24mm diameter fixed focus non-browning lens to a market leader in radiotherapy equipment. The radiotherapy equipment supplier sought a high resolution lens able to withstand, and precisely focus, the high levels of radiation produced by their synchrotron device onto tumours. As increasing numbers of people require radiotherapy as a key part of their cancer treatment, there is a need for treatment delivery systems that can deliver precise and accurate care quickly. Using cerium-doped glasses, Resolve Optics produced a compact f/2.8 lens able to withstand long-term exposure to radiation up to a dose of 100 million radians without discoloration. This new lens is enabling the customer to improve the precision radiotherapy treatment of tumours that its equipment provides.

September 6, 2016 – Science 2.0 – Whole Brain Radiotherapy Offers Little Benefit When Lung Cancer Has Spread To The Brain – People with the most common type of lung cancer whose disease has spread to the brain could be spared potentially harmful whole brain radiotherapy, according to new research published in The Lancet. The phase 3 randomized trial found that whole brain radiotherapy had no beneficial effect on length or quality of survival over treatment with steroids and other supportive care. Despite its widespread use, until now there has been no robust evidence to determine whether whole brain radiotherapy, which can have substantial side effects (eg, fatigue, nausea, neurotoxicity), is better than best supportive care alone in terms of prolonging life or improving quality of life. The authors say that while whole brain radiotherapy may be beneficial in patients who are younger than 60 years old, it should no longer be considered standard treatment for the majority of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) that has spread to the brain.

September 6, 2016 – Union of Concerned Scientists – Nuclear Reactors and Flood Protection – In August 2006, NRC inspectors identified a deficiency in a flood protection measure at the Oconee Nuclear Station in South Carolina. Specifically, the inspectors discovered that workers removed a 6-inch by 10-inch panel in the 5-foot tall flood wall around the Standby Shutdown Facility (SSF) to allow temporary cables to be used during a modification. When the work was completed and the cables removed, the panel was not re-installed. The SSF houses power supplies and emergency equipment that provide core cooling for all three Oconee reactors during certain accidents. The opening in the flood wall could have allowed water to enter the SSF and submerge the equipment, disabling it. The NRC’s preliminary determination was that the problem warranted a white finding. The owner contested the white finding in October 2006 on grounds that the lower end of the opening is 4.71 feet above the ground and no credible flood could cause water to rise high enough to flow through the opening to threaten the equipment inside the SSF. The NRC considered the argument, then decided against it and issued the white finding in November 2006.

September 6, 2016 – WhaTech – Research details developments in the nuclear medicine therapeutics market 2016 – Nuclear Medicine Therapeutics Market 2016 is a professional and in-depth study on the current state of the Nuclear Medicine Therapeutics worldwide. First of all, ” Global Nuclear Medicine Therapeutics Market 2016 ” report provides a basic overview of the Nuclear Medicine Therapeutics industry including definitions, classifications, applications and Nuclear Medicine Therapeutics industry chain structure. The analysis is provided for the Nuclear Medicine Therapeutics international market including development history, Nuclear Medicine Therapeutics industry competitive landscape analysis.

September 6, 2016 – E&T Magazine – Sellafield nuclear plant is understaffed and dangerous BBC alleges – Sellafield nuclear plant is being operated dangerously by its workers as the nuclear material is handled improperly, according to an upcoming BBC Panorama documentary. It is alleged that parts of the nuclear facility regularly have too few staff to operate safely and radioactive plutonium and uranium have been stored in plastic bottles. The BBC said the investigation was prompted by a former senior manager turned whistleblower who was worried about conditions at the site in Cumbria. The company that runs Sellafield has said the site is safe and has been improved with significant investment in recent years, the BBC reported. The whistleblower is reported to have told the programme that his biggest fear was a fire in one of the nuclear waste silos or in one of the processing plants.

September 6, 2016 – The Northlines – Pakistan selling nuclear materials to North Korea – America’s Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has apprised India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) that Pakistan is supplying nuclear material to North Korea. According to reports, Pakistan has been sending nuclear materials to North Korea through sea route. Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC) supplied Monel and Enconel (nuclear substances) to Pyongyang in clear violation of United Nations sanctions. Notably, Islamabad was supplied such materials by Chinese company named Beijing Suntech Technology Company Limited. The supplies of the Chinese company to Pakistan were being diverted to North Korea by the Pakistani authorities through cargo ship, it claimed.

September 6, 2016 – The Bahamas Weekly – IAEA holds workshop in Asia on using nuclear technique to fight disease-spreading mosquitos – The IAEA is holding a workshop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, this week on the potential use of a nuclear technique to help suppress mosquitos spreading Zika and other viruses, such as dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. Organised in partnership with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the week-long meeting brings together more than 50 scientists and public health experts from around 40 countries in Asia, Africa and the Americas to learn about the Sterile Insect Technique (SIT) – an environmentally friendly birth control method for insect pests.

September 6, 2016 – ANTARA News – Nuclear experts from Indonesia, Australia, Japan meet in Bali – As many as 15 nuclear experts from Indonesia, Australia and Japan are holding a meeting in Bali to discuss new standards in measuring the effect of radiation from research, natural processes and human activities. The meeting, taking place in Sanur from September 5 to 9, 2016, is being organized by the National Nuclear Power Agency (Batan), in cooperation with the South Pacific Environmental Radioactivity Association (SPERA). The meeting is expected to recommend new standards in order to protect the public from radiation, Batan Chairman Djarot S. Wisnubroto said.

September 6, 2016 – AIJAC – Radioactive Terrorism – the next big threat? – Concerns about nonconventional terrorism at the Rio Summer Olympics, and reports that persons involved in the November 2015 Islamic State (IS) attack in Paris had conducted video surveillance of a scientist employed at the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre, have revived fears that terrorist groups may be interested in building a “dirty bomb” using radioactive materials – also referred to as a radiological weapon or an explosive radiological dispersal device (RDD). Explosive RDDs are the type of radiological weapon most frequently mentioned in the media. They rely on an explosive charge to disperse radioactive materials to contaminate personnel and facilities in the vicinity of the blast and downwind, to disrupt lives and livelihoods, and to instil fear. Conversely, non-explosive RDDs could involve the contamination of food, water or air with radioactive material (for instance, via a building’s ventilation system). This piece focuses on the threat posed by explosive RDDs.

September 6, 2016 – The Ecologist – Sellafield exposed: the nonsense of nuclear fuel reprocessing – Last night’s BBC Panorama programme did a good job at lifting the lid on Britain’s ongoing nuclear disaster that is Sellafield, writes David Lowry. But it failed to expose the full scandal of the UK’s ‘reprocessing’ of spent fuel into 50 tonnes of plutonium, enough to build 20,000 nuclear bombs – while leaving £100s of billions of maintenance and cleanup costs to future generations. Perhaps the most eye-watering revelations in the BBC programme were that, although reprocessing was going to cease, the waste containment functions of Sellafield would continue for another 110 years at an estimated cost of up to £162 billion. The BBC press release stated this was a “special investigation into the shocking state of Britain’s most hazardous nuclear plant” – and it certainly was.

September 6, 2016 – Newnan Times-Herald – What water bottles, Coke cans, and nuclear material have in common – We put newspapers, water bottles, aluminum cans and all sorts of plastics on the curb in front of our house each week because it extends the life of our landfills, saving us all money. It also is the right thing to do. But when it comes to the used nuclear fuel from our commercial reactors, our long-range plan is simply to bury it. That has been our policy for decades, but changing the policy may be something the next president can bring about. We have in this country more than 70,000 tons of used fuel stored at more than 75 sites in 33 states, and the 100 U.S. commercial reactors produce about 2,000 additional tons of used fuel each year. Because we don’t recycle this nuclear material, it would take nine Yucca Mountain repositories by the turn of the next century to house all of the used fuel being produced.

September 6, 2016 – Eugene Register Guard – Energy Department ending probe into Idaho radiation leak – The U.S. Department of Energy says it’s concerned about a radiation leak two years ago at an eastern Idaho nuclear facility that contaminated nine workers, but the agency says it will not begin a formal investigation. The federal agency’s Office of Enforcement in a letter told Battelle Energy Alliance, a research contractor, that it would continue to monitor the company’s efforts to improve nuclear safety at the Idaho National Laboratory but no additional requirements were being imposed. “The actual nuclear safety consequences of this event were low, but DOE views seriously any event in which workers receive unplanned radiological uptakes,” the letter states.

September 6, 2016 – Daily Evergreen – A radioactive attraction – Entering into the Dodgen Research Facility, all guests are required to clip on a dosimeter, a small device worn with the intent of measuring exposure to radiation. That’s because just up the stairs from the lobby, through a number of secured doors, at the bottom of a 25-foot-deep pool, and surrounded by 65,000 gallons of water, is WSU’s very own nuclear reactor. Despite wearing the sensitive dosimeters, guests should not expect to see the device read above 0.0 millirems, the measure of radiation’s effect on the human body, during their visit. Even operators at the Nuclear Radiation Center never receive more than a tenth of the legal limit, said Senior Reactor Operator Kaitlyn Restis. The reactor fuel at the bottom of the pool gives off an ominous dark-blue glow due to Cherenkov radiation, an interaction between electrons and the surrounding water.

September 1, 2016 – 81 FR 60393-60394 – NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION – Exelon Generation Company, LLC; LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 2; License Renewal – The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is issuing a final plant-specific supplement, Supplement 57, to NUREG-1437, “Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants” (GEIS), regarding the renewal of Exelon Generation Company, LLC, operating licenses NPF-11 and NPF-18 for an additional 20 years of operation for LaSalle County Station, Units 1 and 2 (LSCS).

September 1, 2016 – 81 FR 60351 – DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY – Notice of Public Meeting To Summarize Public Input Received on the Design of a Consent-Based Siting Process for Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste Storage and Disposal Facilities – The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is designing a consent-based process for siting facilities that will be a part of an integrated waste management system to transport, store, and dispose of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste. As part of this process, the Department issued an Invitation for Public Comment in the Federal Register on December 23, 2015 and hosted eight public meetings across the United States in 2016 to get public input on the elements that should be considered in the development of a consent-based siting process. At the September 15, 2016 meeting, the Department will summarize the comments received and discuss next steps in designing a consent-based siting process. The entire meeting will be broadcast live via webstream at http://consentbasedsitingwebcast.azureWebsites.net.