[see yesterday's items]

* List of 277 new documents today from NRC PDR

Today's source articles

* Are We Going Nuclear?
Rachel Smolkin, Washingtonian (hard copy subscription required)
A wide ranging article on nuclear power plants, with special attention on the closest plants to the DC area -- North Anna and Calvert cliffs. Lots of facts and figures and quotes from folks affiliated with the industry, its regulators, and its detractors. One of the many memorable quotes: "Dominion chief nuclear officer David Christian ... lamented that popular culture has distorted public perceptions of nuclear power: 'Images that come to mind are things they've seen on The Simpsons,' where green slime seeps from pipes and pools in corners of the reactor where Homer Simpson toils."

* Senator Harry Reid's Statement On December 18th's Yucca Mountain Press Briefing
Senator Harry Reid (D-NV)

* Castle AFB veterans doubt radioactive problem widespread
Stacey Wiebe, Merced Sun-Star

* Blue Source helps clear the air
Steven Oberbeck, Salt Lake Tribune

* State delays Ca–on City mill's plan to accept tainted soil
Joey Bunch, Denver Post

* IAAP screening nears end
Matthew LeBlanc, Burlington Hawk Eye

* Regulators questioning plant safety -- NRC findings push back consideration of restart
Tom Henry, Toledo Blade

* Davis-Besse can't restart this year; safety issues remain, panel says
John Funk, Cleveland Plain Dealer

* Nuclear reactor restart delayed
Jim Mackinnon, Akron Beacon Journal

* Tainted metal at Paducah plant to head West
Joe Walker, Paducah Sun

* Decision delayed on USEC plant -- January likely resolution date
Greg Wright, Chillicothe Gazette

* Nuclear plant has brief water leak
Bradenton Herald

* Landfill says it's not too nuclear
Jeff Schogol, Express-Times

* Blackout: What went wrong
Gregory Sopkin, Rocky Mountain News

* Report: Submarine damage worse than expected
Stamford Advocate

* N. Korea Vows to Strengthen Nuclear Force
Las Vegas SUN

* Dounreay widow in 40-year fight for justice
Rob Edwards, Sunday Herald

* Decision day for fusion project
BBC News

* Decision Delayed on Site of Nuclear Fusion Plant
Reuters

* TVO: nuclear power set for a reprieve?
Comment Wire

* Sofia Insists on EU Entry Before Closing N-Units 3, 4
Novinite

* Uk in secret talks with pariahs
Brian Brady, The Scotsman

* Britain Hails Libyan Weapons Decision
Las Vegas SUN

* Kadafi Began His Overtures More Than a Decade Ago
Paul Richter, Los Angeles Times

* Libya to Give Up Arms Programs, Bush Announces
David E. Sanger and Judith Miller, New York Times

* Libya Vows to Give Up Banned Weapons
Peter Slevin and Glenn Frankel, Washington Post

* Analysis: Two Decades of Sanctions, Isolation Wore Down Gaddafi
Robin Wright and Glenn Kessler, Washington Post