PEER Sues NRC for Docs on Dam-Failure Inundation of Nuke Plants

August 28, 2013–See the list of US nuclear facilities that could be endangered by dam failure, thanks to a document that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission does not want to release, made public by the Huffington Post. Watchdog group Public Employees for Environmental Responsiblity filed suit August 15, 2013, under the FOIA to force the NRC to disclose more of what it knows.

Elephant Wrangling on the Energy Beat

April 15, 2013–

Is Environmental Journalism Ready for the Path Ahead?

April 15, 2013–The latest issue of SEJournal (Spring) includes a four-part special report to help make your coverage of energy and climate change more effective. Photo: © Roger Archibald.

NRC Board Orders Calif. Nuclear Plant To Turn Over Withheld Records

December 12, 2012–Is the public entitled to see documents that may bear on the safety of a for-profit utility's plan to restart the flaw-stricken San Onofre nuclear plant in California? Maybe not. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board ruled the utility must turn the documents over to the board — but currently plans to keep them secret from the public.

Enviros Challenge Transparency of Virginia Uranium Mining Deliberations

June 13, 2012–A company wants to mine Virginia's major uranium deposit so the state formed a multi-agency panel to study ending the three-decade ban on uranium mining. That panel hired a consulting firm that critics say was stacked with experts affiliated with the nuclear industry.

Data.gov Keeps on Giving Gifts to Gumshoe Reporters

May 30, 2012–The federal Data.gov, while not perfect, has grown over three years especially strong in datasets from federal agencies that deal with the environment, energy, natural resources, health, and science. Many of them are downloadable, so that you can crunch them on your own computer. Several are map layers or geo-tagged in some way. See a few randomly chosen examples here.

Boots on the Ground at Annual SEJ Gathering

April 15, 2012–

Coast Guard Security Zones Restrict Access to Nukes, Water Intakes

March 21, 2012–The Coast Guard defines "security zones" to protect certain sensitive facilities in its bailiwick. It does sometimes grant permission for boats to transit these zones. We suggest journalists interested in such maritime investigations contact their local Coast Guard district or station first.

Some Secret CRS Reports You May Want To Read

January 25, 2012–Here, courtesy of the Federation of American Scientists, are some recent Congressional Research Service backgrounders that may be useful to environment/energy reporters, on chemical facility security, nuclear power plant design and seismic safety considerations, and proposed Keystone XL pipeline legal issues.

Nuclear Experts Assess How Well Media Covered Fukushima

July 15, 2011–