EJToday is SEJ's selection of new and outstanding stories on environmental topics in print and on the air, updated every weekday. SEJ also offers a free e-mailed digest of the day's EJToday postings, called SEJ-beat. SEJ members are subscribed automatically, but may opt out here. Non-members may subscribe here. EJToday is also available via RSS feed. Please see Editorial Guidelines for EJToday content.
"Study: Granite Countertop Cutters at Risk of Deadly Radiation Exposure"
Scripps, 09/07/2009"Craftsmen who cut granite for kitchen countertops can be at risk of radiation exposure thousands of times above the federal safety limit, according to new research."
"More Delays at Finnish Nuclear Plant"
NYTimes, 09/03/2009"Areva, a French nuclear construction company, said this week that its project to build the world's most powerful reactor remained mired in delays and was over-budget by 2.3 billion euros, or about $3.3 billion."
"Nuclear Sites Fear They're the Alternative To Yucca Mountain"
McClatchy, 08/31/2009With the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository now dead, "local leaders and lawmakers from the sites where the waste is now stored, however, are increasingly concerned that the Energy Department will leave it in place, even though that might violate legally binding cleanup agreements."
"Nuclear Regulators Urge High-Tech Fire Detection"
NYTimes, 08/28/2009"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission ... is urging nuclear plants to embrace a more systematic approach to assessing fire risk -- one that relies on a computer program."
"Revealing Secret Spots That Evoke Dark Secrets"
NYTimes, 08/25/2009A simple brass plaque in Tarusa, Russia, stands as a reminder of an epic tale of scores of nuclear disasters in the former Soviet Union that were hidden, or never completely reported.
"CANADA: Storing Nuclear Waste a $24-Billion Problem"
CBC, 08/19/2009Canada faces a monumental challenge in finding a way to store or dispose of highly radioactive spent nuclear fuel. The problem has dragged on unsolved for decades, and any solution is likely to prove costly.
"New Plan Would Add Oversight But Delay Hanford Nuclear Cleanup"
Portland Oregonian, 08/13/2009"Cleanup of the nation's biggest nuclear mess would take nearly two decades longer than planned under an agreement endorsed Tuesday by the governors of Washington and Oregon."
"Nuclear Careers To Heat Up?"
Environment Report, 08/13/2009"Some Senate Republicans want the climate change bill to focus on building new nuclear power plants. They're calling for as many as 100 new plants in 20 years. But the industry has been in decline for so many years now, there's concern there might not be enough nuclear engineers to do the job."
"U.S. Weighs Cutting Off Iran’s Gasoline Imports if Nuclear Talks Are Rejected"
NYTimes, 08/03/2009"The Obama administration is talking with allies and Congress about the possibility of imposing an extreme economic sanction against Iran if it fails to respond to President Obama’s offer to negotiate on its nuclear program: cutting off the country’s imports of gasoline and other refined oil products."
Sole U.S.-Owned Reactor-Fuel Enrichment Plant Denied Loan
NYTimes, 07/29/2009"The federal government will not lend $2 billion to USEC, the sole American-owned uranium enrichment company, the Energy Department said on Tuesday."
"Uranium Contamination Haunts Navajo Country"
NYTimes, 07/28/2009Homes are "contaminated with potentially dangerous levels of uranium from the days of the cold war, when hundreds of uranium mines dotted the vast tribal land known as the Navajo Nation."
Navajos Mark Uranium Spill 30 Years Later
New Mexico Independent, 07/17/2009"Thirty years ago today, an earthen tailings dam near the United Nuclear Corp. Church Rock Uranium mine collapsed, spilling ninety million gallons of liquid radioactive waste and eleven hundred tons of solid mill wastes into the Rio Puerco. The spill contaminated water, land and air at least 50 miles downstream on Navajo Nation land in New Mexico and Arizona."
"Russians Plan Floating Nuclear Plants"
NYTimes, 07/10/2009A Russian company is building the world's first floating nuclear plant.
"Reactor Design Puts Safety of Nuclear Plants Into Question"
Globe & Mail, 07/01/2009"Canadian nuclear safety regulators say they have underestimated the seriousness of a design feature at the country's electricity-producing reactors that would cause them to experience dangerous power pulses during a major accident."
"Permit Delay Worries Uranium Hopefuls"
Casper Star-Tribune, 06/22/2009"Several proposed uranium mining projects in Wyoming and across the West will be delayed due the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's recent decision requiring a more thorough site-specific analysis for each project."

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