The forensic analysis of the Deepwater Horizon's blowout preventer revealed that a buckled drill pipe fouled the unit's blind shear ram, preventing it from sealing off the well.
"The threat of the release of highly radioactive spent fuel at a Japanese nuclear plant has revived a debate in the United States about how to manage such waste and has led to new recriminations over a derailed plan for a national repository in Nevada."
"With remnants of once-legal lead paint, leaded gasoline and other pollutants from the nation's industrial past tainting land in U.S. cities, soil researchers warn that the growing number of urban farmers and community gardeners need to test their dirt and take steps to make sure it's safe."
"Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced plans Tuesday to auction off vast coal reserves in Wyoming over the next five months, unleashing a significant but controversial power source amid uncertainty about clean and safe energy development."
"The Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday it would halt imports of dairy products and produce from the area of Japan where a nuclear reactor is leaking radiation."
"The Supreme Court declined today to take up the question of whether an environmental inspection of a private property can be viewed as an unconstitutional search and seizure."
As the Nuclear Regulatory Commission begins a presidentially ordered review of U.S. nuclear power-plant safety, the NRC's chief operations officer says no major safety changes are needed.
The U.S. has called for evacuating a 50-mile radius around the stricken Japanese nuclear plant. If a similar disaster were to require evacuation around the Indian Point plant, the comparble circle would include almost all of New York City and a big chunk of New Jersey. Despite an evacuation "plan," such an evacuation on short notice would be unrealistic.
"The birth of the 'nuclear renaissance' and proposed construction of up to 100 new nuclear reactors in the United States will be crippled by the crisis in Japan as regulators struggle to incorporate 'lessons learned' into the country's existing nuclear fleet, a former member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said [Friday]."
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