Lawrence E. Nanney
Director
Division of Radiological Health
L & C Annex, Third Floor
401 Church Street
Nashville, TN 37243-1532

February 24, 2008

This is from the front page of today's Chattanooga Times Free Press, of Tennessee.

February 12, 2008

This is from the front page of today's Johnson City Press, of Tennessee.

See full text of this story via the web version of this article.

January 29, 2008

This is from the front page of today's News Sentinel, of Knoxville, Tennessee.

June 3, 2004

* Browns Ferry 1, 2 & 3 - license renewal meeting (June 11)

March 18, 2004

* Fed Ex missing I-131 shipment between Memphis and Miami (was 769 mCi when shipped a month ago)

February 17, 2004

* Tennessee - spill at pharmacy (97 mCi I-131, Chattanooga)

November 25, 2003

NRC to review Tennessee's performance as Agreement State

NRC's IMPEP review of the Tennessee program scheduled for the week of February 23, 2004. The team will include
Duncan White, CHP (Regional State Agreements Officer, NRC Division of Nuclear Materials Safety),
Richard Woodruff (NRC Region I),
Robert Gattone (NRC Region III),
Ujagar Bhachu (NRC Office of Nuclear Materials Safety and Safeguards), and
Shawn Seeley (State of Maine)

Note: a PDF copy of the Integrated Materials Performance Evaluation Program Questionnaire to be used is available from NRC at: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/adams/web-based.html, by entering accession number ML033350278

August 12, 2003

LES turns attention to New Mexico

Jerry Clift, the County Executive of Trousdale Tennessee received a letter Friday, from Louisiana Energy Services, informing of the company's decision to put the proposed Hartsville uranium enrichment plant project on hold and explore prospects for another site. Mr. Clift was extensively quoted in Greenville Sun article, but nary a kind word for LES appears. "They werenÕt interested in spending a little extra money to clean things up,Ķ he said. ŌSo we werenÕt interested in them." The 260-acre site which LES was considering buying is now being considered as site for a new prison. If built, Mr. Clift said, the prison would bring about 400 jobs to Trousdale County. "LES wouldnÕt have employed 20 people from this county", he said, noting that most Trousdale County residents donÕt have the specialized education and technical skills needed for employment in a uranium-enrichment plant.

Mr. Clift expressed opinion that LES will abandon its Trousdale plans and focus, instead, on an eastern New Mexico site near Texas. "New Mexico is willing to give them anything and everything they want", Clift said. "Of course, weÕre not going to give them anything. TheyÕre (New Mexico officials) courting them (LES) pretty heavy. I just wish they had done it (looked seriously at New Mexico) six or eight months ago." Clift said lack of water may be a problem at the New Mexico site. "TheyÕre asking for $600 million more (from New Mexico officials) than it will cost to build it", he said. "That must be to get water to the site."

The Associated Press reported on Aug. 4 that officials from Lea County, N.M., and the small town of Eunice had visited a uranium enrichment plant in the Netherlands that is similar to a $1.2 billion facility the Louisiana Energy Services consortium wants to build in the U.S. The New Mexico officials were favorably impressed with the European plant. Lea County Commission Chairman Ross Black and Mayor Claydean Claiborne of the town of Jal in the southeast corner of New Mexico were enthusiastic about the safety and cleanliness of the facility in Almelo, the Netherlands. The AP quoted Mr. Claiborne as saying "The people there have nothing but respect for the facility and the people who operate it, and I have no qualms whatsoever." The Almelo plant toured by the officials is operated by LESÕ European partner, Urenco.

A $1.2 billion uranium enrichment plant for Eunice has already won support from the city of Eunice and from the Lea County Economic Development Corporation. If built near Eunice, which has a population of 2,562, the plant would likely be located four miles east of town, or almost on the Texas state line, according to the AP.

Louisiana Energy president Jim Ferland reportedly told the AP that the consortium hopes to have a number of issues resolved within the next month so that it can announce whether Lea County might replace Hartsville as the plant site. "In order to make a final decision to site the facility in Lea County, a significant number of issues relating to land acquisition, taxes, geology, environmental characterization and community support must be addressed", he said, adding "We are in the process of working through those issues."

Lea County Manager Dennis Holmberg said the county may issue up to $1.8 billion in revenue bonds for the Louisiana Energy project. The $1.8 billion figure was derived from the estimated value of the $1.2 billion plant in 2006.

The plant would employ 400 to 800 workers during the construction phase. It would be 2013 before the project is complete. Then, the plant would provide about 210 long-term jobs with a total annual payroll of more than $10 million and an average salary of $50,000, it has been said.

[Ref: Bill Jones (Sun staff writer), "LES Considering New Mexico Site For Its Uranium Enrichment Plant", The Greeneville Sun (TN), August 12, 2003]

July 2, 2003

* Sequoyah - missing weapon reported by Security

June 11, 2003

* Sequoyah sirens - storm knocked out power to 23 of 108 emergency sirens

June 3, 2003

* N-Power: "Clean, cheap, abundant. And needed", sez Rep. Wamp (R-TN)

May 21, 2003

LES polls Trousdale residents on proposed enrichment plant

Louisiana Energy Services has commissioned a telephone survey to measure public opinion about the enrichment plant proposed by the company. One participant in the survey said he gave misleadingly neutral answers despite his strong opinion opposed to the plant. The Tennessean suggests that this sort of lack of candor may have been widespread. The company says the survey will help identify concerns that folks have so they can provide answers. Many of the questions on the 20-minute survey asked for opinions of elected leaders and local activist groups. [Source: Kelli Hewett and Kathy Carlson, "Firm planning nuclear plant surveys Trousdale", The Tennessean, May 21, 2003]

May 2, 2003

Representatives of the following organization completed the NRC training course "Transportation of Radioactive Materials Course (H-308)" in Chattanooga, Tennessee on April 28-May 2, 2003: