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From: Bulletin News To: NRC-editorsfbulletinnews.com Subject: NRC News Summary for Monday, March 28, 2011 Date: Monday, March 28, 2011 7:09:32 AM Attachments: NRCSummarv!10328.doc NRCSummarv110328.odf NRCCliDs110328,doc NRCClips110328.odf This morning's Nuclear Regulatory Commission News Summary and Clips are attached. Website: You can also read today's briefing, including searchable archive of past editions, at http://www.BulletinNews.com/nrc. Full-text Links: Clicking the hypertext links in our write-ups will take you to the newspapers' original full-text articles. Interactive Table of Contents: Clicking a page number on the table of contents page will take you directly to that story. Contractual Obligations and Copyright: This copyrighted material is for the internal use of Nuclear Regulatory Commission employees only and, by contract, may not be redistributed without BulletinNews' express written consent. Contact Information: Please contact us any time at 703-483-6100 or NRC_ EditorsdBulletinNews.com. Use of this email address will automatically result in your message being delivered to everyone involved with your service, including senior management. Thank you. a~~s~4v ~ NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION NEws SUMMARY MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2011 7:00 AM EDT WWW.BULLETINNEWS.COM/NRC TODAY'S EDITION NRC News: Nevada, Massachusetts Detect Radiation From Japan .......... 8 Japan Nuclear Crisis Puts NRC Chairman InSpent Fuel Dominion Official Refutes Fears About North Anna From Storage Spotlight ........................................................... 2 MSNBC Report .............................................................. 9 Groups Want More Detail On NRC's Recommended 50-Mile Wisconsin Paper Expresses Confidence In Nuclear Power ......... 9 Evacuation Zone ............................................................ 2 Columnist Sees Risk InAll Forms Of Energy .......................... 9 Obama Urged To Appoint "Independent" Panel To Review New Jersey Conducts Nuclear Plant Safety Review .............. 9 Reactor Safety .............................................................. 2 Lawsuit Over Piketon Processing Plant Settled After 21 Years ... 9 SPS Highlights Nuclear Plant Inspectors InCentral New York ....2 SRS Group To Assist In Japan Radiation Study ..................... 9 NRC Has Granted Safety Rule Exemptions To Indian Point ........ 2 Popularity Of "Atomic Tourism" Sites Rise During Japanese Opponents Hit NRC Willingness To Approve Vermont Yankee Crisis ............................................................................. 10 Relicensing .................................................................... 3 Uranium Mining CEO Expects No Long-Term Harm To Industry Boston Globe Seeks Safety Reappraisal Of New England From Fukushim a ........................................................... 10 Nuclear Plants .............................................................. 4 NRC DOE Officials To Discuss Japanese Nuclear Crisis Before Arizona Corporation Commission To Hold Safety Discussions Senate Panel .............................................................. 10 For Palo Verde Plant ..................................................... 4 Small Modular Reactors May Help Lower Costs For Nuclear New'Jersey To Review Nuclear Safety .................................... 5 Pow er .......................................................................... 10 "Nuclear Renaissance" May Again Be On Hold ....................... 5 DOE Robots May Assist With Japanese Nuclear Crisis ........ 10 NRC Urged To Take "Good, Hard Look" At Safety Regulations .. 5 Group Targets GOP Leaders Over Nuclear Agency Budget Nuclear Critic Says US Industry Relies Too Heavily On Cuts ............................................................................. 10 Mitigation In Disaster Preparedness .............................. 5 Congressmen Ask Chu, D'Agostino For Y-12, Pantex Contract NRC Faulted For Not Ferreting Out Counterfeit, Substandard Extensions ................................................................. 10 Parts ............................................................................. 6 ORNL Team Assisting DOE, Japan With Computer Simulationsi 1 Senators Say Nuclear Waste Recycling, Storage Should Be Experts: US Unprepared For Cyberattack Against Infrastructurel 1 Reconsidered ............................................................... 6 In the Blogs: San Diego Paper Says Japan Crisis Underscores Need For Waste Storage Plan ........................................................ 6 International Nuclear News: TVA Official Offers Tour Of Fukushima-Type Nuclear Plant ........ 6 Officials Retract Extreme Radiation Measurement At Japanese Man Charged For Lying In Watts Bar 2 Incident ...................... 6 Reactor ....................................................................... 11 NRC Issues Final SEIS For New Reactors At Plant Vogtle .......... 7 EU Leaders Call For Testing Of Nuclear Plants Worldwide ....... 13 NRC IGInvestigation Finds Reporting Flaws For Defective German Christian Democrats Suffer Startling Loss InRegional Nuclear Plant Parts ........................................................ 7 Election ....................................................................... 14 Limerick Station To Be Part Of NRC Spent Fuel Storage Review WikiLeaks Cable Said To Show US Discontent With ElBaradei ..... I................................................................................. 7 At IAEA ....................................................................... 14 Physicists List Lessons To Be Learned From Japan's Nuclear Expert: Iran Only Making Slow Nuclear Progress ................. 14 Crisis ............................................................................. 8 Mixed Oxide Nuclear Fuel Raises Safety Questions ............... 8 alone," because the NRC, she asserts is a "weak regulator NRC NEWS: with insufficient independence" from the nuclear industry. Japan Nuclear Crisis Puts NRC Chairman In SPS Highlights Nuclear Plant Inspectors In Spent Fuel Storage Spotlight. ACQ Weekly (3/28, Central New York. In an article about nuclear plant Kriz Hobson, Koss) cover story profiles NRC Chairman inspectors the Syracuse Post Standard (3/28, Groom) Gregory Jaczko beginning with his appearance on Capitol Hill reports, "InCentral New York, two teams of two inspectors to update lawmakers on the nuclear power crisis in Japan, each ensure the three nuclear plants in Scriba - when he said that one of the spent fuel pools at the Constellation Nuclear Energy Group's Nine Mile Units 1 and 2 Fukushima Daiichi plant had been "drained of its protective and Entergy Nuclears James A. FitzPatrick - operate water' and was releasing "dangerous amounts of radiation" correctly." The Post Standard notes, "The inspectors oversee into the atmosphere. CQ adds that Jaczko's comments training sessions to make certain plant workers know what's "highlight[ed] the hazards of nuclear power," and focused necessary to operate the plants safely" and "monitor attention on disposal of spent fuel. On that issue, "few people maintenance work." According to the article, "At Nine Mile 1 have played a bigger role than Jaczko over the past decade and 2, senior inspector Kenneth Kolaczyk and inspector Doug inimpeding the permanent disposal site at Yucca Mountain, Dempsey" examine the plant every day. which is the industry's preferred solution to the nuclear waste question." The piece notes that "NRC officials say it's NRC Has Granted Safety Rule Exemptions To premature to suggest that the commission will zero inon the Indian Point. Under the headline, "Indian Point's Gotten safety of the industry's nuclear fuel pools or consider the A Free Pass On Safety Regulations Over Last Decade, Feds future of Yucca Mountain as it responds to the Japanese Delay Evacuation Plan," the New York Daily News (3/27, situation." Feiden, Kates) reported, "Federal nuclear watchdogs say Indian Point is their No.1 priority - but over the last decade Groups Want More Detail On NRC's they've let the aging nuke plant bypass scores of critical Recommended 50-Mile Evacuation Zone. On its safety rules." The Daily News adds the NRC "has a history of "Green" blog, the New York Times (3/26, Broder) reported granting Indian Point's owner, Entergy, numerous exemptions that three American health and environmental groups to regulations governing fire safety, storage of spent fuel, and more information about why systems designed to prevent meltdown," though agency announced that they would seek "spokesman NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko recommended that US Neil Sheehan insisted the agency has 'followed citizens keep at least 50 miles away from the stricken appropriate processes' when considering Indian Point's Fukushima Daiichi plant inJapan. Friends of the Earth, the request for exemptions to NRC rules." Nuclear Information and Resource Service and Physicians for New York AG Faults NRC Oversight Of Indian Point. Social Responsibility "said on Friday that they were filing a In a piece for the Westchester (NY) Journal News (3/26) New Freedom of Information Act request" with NRC and DOE York Attorney General, Eric T. Schneiderman wrote, "Just last "seeking access to all information about radiation levels week, when asked about concerns with Indian Point raised in gathered by American radiological monitoring equipment and the wake of Japan's crisis, the NRC's spokesperson said helicopter overflights." The groups noted that in the US, safety data regarding the Buchanan plant is 'really