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NASA Chief Touts Nuclear-Powered Craft
Index:
NASA Chief Touts Nuclear-Powered Craft
Progress Energy Exploring Dry Nuclear Fuel Storage Facilities
U.S. beefs up atomic power plant security rules
Fire Forces N.Y. Nuclear Plant Shutdown
Nuclear power advocates show power in mayoral, assembly polls
========================================
NASA Chief Touts Nuclear-Powered Craft
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. APR 29 (AP) - The ability to explore planets
beyond our solar system will require the use of space vehicles with
nuclear-powered propulsion systems, NASA Administrator Sean O'Keefe
said Tuesday.
Using nuclear power on future spacecraft could cut the time it takes
to reach the edge of our solar system from 15 years to five years,
O'Keefe told several hundred people attending Space Congress, an
annual space industry conference in Cape Canaveral.
NASA's past efforts to use nuclear power in space has met opposition
from environmentalists. In 1997, hundreds of people protested the
launching of the Cassini interplanetary robot craft, which was
powered by plutonium.
Developing the new propulsion system has been allotted $3 billion
over five years in NASA's budget and given the name Project
Prometheus. Besides making space trips speedier, it would also
``enhance the ability of our robotic spacecraft to perform scientific
investigations of planets,'' O'Keefe said.
If used on manned spacecraft, nuclear propulsion would mean
astronauts spend less time in space, reducing the amount of radiation
exposure and bone and muscle loss they experience, he said.
``We could do these kinds of things safely,'' O'Keefe added.
Although he doesn't know details about Project Prometheus, Frank
Jackalone, Florida staff director of the Sierra Club, said NASA has
shown that the space program isn't risk-free.
Jackalone's group opposed the Cassini launch. ``There is no way NASA
can say for certain that something is 100 percent safe.''
NASA has previously used nuclear energy to power spacecraft but never
in a propulsion system. Currently, space ships are launched with
rocket power, but once in space they rely on momentum to carry them
to their goal, since they cannot carry enough heavy rocket fuel to
continue accelerating through space.
Development of nuclear fusion or fission engines would enable a space
vehicle to continue increasing its speed once away from Earth,
shortening the time needed to reach distant planets. These engines
also could provide electrical power instead of relying on solar cells
or batteries, making it possible to operate more scientific
instruments.
During his speech to the Space Congress, O'Keefe reiterated his goal
to have space shuttles flying by the end of the year.
----------------------
Progress Energy Exploring Dry Nuclear Fuel Storage Facilities at
Robinson, Brunswick Nuclear Plants
RALEIGH, N.C., April 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Progress Energy
(NYSE:PGN) today announced it is exploring dry storage facilities for
spent fuel at its Robinson Nuclear Plant in Hartsville, S.C. and
Brunswick Nuclear Plant near Southport, N.C. The company has issued
a Request for Proposal (RFP) seeking solutions for on-site interim
storage of spent nuclear fuel. Evaluating these facilities will allow
the company to ensure that spent fuel storage needs are met until
Yucca Mountain opens after 2010.
"We plan to operate our plants for many years and evaluating all
options for interim spent fuel storage makes the most sense for our
plants and our customers," said C.S. "Scotty" Hinnant, senior vice
president and chief nuclear officer, Progress Energy. "License
renewal is under review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for
Robinson and plans are underway to file for a Brunswick license
renewal in 2004. In addition, the rail containers currently used to
ship spent fuel by the company will need to be relicensed or replaced
after 2005. Given these factors, the decision has been made to
evaluate all options."
The company would likely select one vendor to supply spent fuel
storage containers for the facilities at Brunswick and Robinson.
Both wet (pool) and dry (cask) storage are proven safe technologies
to store fuel. There are currently about 15 utilities in the United
States utilizing both wet and dry storage. For dry storage, the
coolest fuel (fuel that has been in the pool for a minimum of five
years) is transferred into a specially engineered container of
concrete and steel. The typical dry storage container can weigh more
than 50 tons empty.
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 and its 1987 amendments require
the U.S. Department of Energy to locate, build and operate a
repository for high- level waste and to develop a transportation
system that safely links U.S. nuclear power plants and the permanent
repository. By law, the repository was to be in place by January 31,
1998.
---------------------
U.S. beefs up atomic power plant security rules
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Tuesday ordered atomic power plant operators to further tighten
security at the nation's 103 nuclear reactors to better thwart
attacks or sabotage.
The changes are part of the NRC's effort to beef up security at
nuclear reactors in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New
York City and the Pentagon.
The NRC said it had approved three security orders, including changes
in the so-called design basis threat that private security forces
protecting the power plants must be prepared to meet.
Details of the changes will not be made public, the NRC said.
The other two orders specify work schedules, training and
qualifications required of plant security guards who are hired by
utilities to protect their facilities.
The orders are effective immediately, the NRC said.
Some U.S. lawmakers and activist groups are concerned that a Sept. 11-
type attack against a nuclear plant could penetrate the reactor or
pool where used fuel is stored and spread deadly radioactive
materials for miles.
"With the completion of these complementary orders, the public should
be reassured that the nation's nuclear power plants are well-secured
against potential threats," said NRC Chairman Nils Diaz in a
statement.
The commission intends to continue to work closely with the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security and other federal agencies, as well
and state and local law enforcement and emergency planning officials
to ensure an integrated approach to the security of nuclear plants,
Diaz said.
Since the attacks, the nuclear power industry has worked to enhance
security in several ways, among them more employee training, hiring
more guards, increasing security coordination with law enforcement
agencies, extending security boundaries and adding more barriers
around the plants.
In January, the NRC ordered plant operators to tighten security
screening of anyone trying to get access to the plants, including new
employees and contractors.
-------------------
Fire Forces N.Y. Nuclear Plant Shutdown
BUCHANAN, N.Y. APR 29 (AP) - An insulation fire forced officials to
shut down a nuclear power plant north of New York City on Tuesday,
giving fodder to critics who want it closed for good.
The fire broke out in a non-nuclear section of the Indian Point 3
power plant and was extinguished in less than an hour, officials
said.
The cause was unknown but there were no signs of sabotage or
terrorism, no release of radiation and no injuries, said Jim Steets
of Entergy Corp., which owns the power station.
The fire in the insulation around piping for the main steam-powered
turbine added to the concerns of many area residents who have
expressed fears that the two-plant Indian Point complex, 35 miles
north of midtown Manhattan, could be a terrorist target.
``Not only do we have to fear the threat of terrorists but we have to
fear the plant itself,'' said Alex Matthiessen, who heads the Indian
Point Safe Energy Coalition.
The site's other nuclear plant, Indian Point 2, remained shut down
because of an offsite electrical outage Monday. Rep. Eliot Engel, D-
N.Y., said the double shutdown shows the region could do without
Indian Point, the region's top producer of electricity.
``The Indian Point nuclear power plant is completely off line and the
sky has not fallen,'' Engel said.
Steets said the plant will remain closed until officials know what
caused the fire and check all equipment. A possible cause was
lubricating oil that became hot enough to ignite the insulation, he
said.
---------------------
Nuclear power advocates show power in mayoral, assembly polls
TOKYO, April 28 (Kyodo) - Nuclear power advocates showed strength in
Sunday's local elections in which the issue of whether to build new
nuclear power plants took center stage in many campaigns, election
results showed Monday.
In the mayoral election in the town of Kaminoseki, Yamaguchi
Prefecture, 72-year-old Misuka Kano won her first poll on a pledge to
make efforts for the construction of a Chugoku Electric Power Co.
nuclear plant.
With her victory, a pro-nuclear mayor was elected for the sixth
consecutive term in the town.
Kano, the wife of a previous Kaminoseki mayor who first announced the
idea of attracting a nuclear power plant to the town, won against
Sadao Yamato, 53, a former town assembly member opposed to the
plant's construction, by about 500 votes.
Kano, a former town assembly member, received 2,001 votes and became
the first female mayor in the prefecture. Yamato got 1,458 votes.
In assembly elections in the city of Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture, and
the town of Maki, Niigata Prefecture, nuclear advocates won a
majority of seats.
Nuclear advocates won 13 seats out of 18 in Suzu and 12 seats out of
20 in Maki.
In Suzu, a plan led by Kansai Electric Power Co., Chubu Electric
Power Co. and Hokuriku Electric Power Co. to construct a nuclear
plant has been stalled due to the objections of local residents.
In Maki, local citizens voted against allowing Tohoku Electric Power
Co. to build a nuclear plant by plebiscite in 1996, and Mayor Takaaki
Sasaguchi is against the project.
-------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle
Director, Technical
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA 92626
Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100 Extension 2306
Fax:(714) 668-3149
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net
E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com
Personal Website: http://sandy-travels.com/
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com/
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