Nuclear Regulatory Commission nuclear export to China

NRC ISSUES LICENSES ALLOWING WESTINGHOUSE TO EXPORT NUCLEAR REACTOR EQUIPMENT AND FUEL TO CHINA

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a license authorizing Westinghouse Electric Co. to export to China the reactor systems, components and associated equipment and engineering services to build and operate as many as two pressurized water nuclear reactors at the San Men site and two at the Yang Jiang site. A second license was also issued, authorizing Westinghouse to export enough low-enriched uranium fuel to be used in the initial core and in one refueling for each reactor.

Westinghouse submitted the application for the license to export the reactors on Feb. 25, 2004, and the application for the fuel export license on August 26, 2004. Should China accept Westinghouse’s bid for constructing the plants, shipments of the reactor systems and components are expected to begin around mid-2007.

After carefully reviewing the applications and associated information, the NRC concluded that approving these exports to China will not be adverse to the common defense and security. The NRC also agreed with the conclusions reached by interested Executive Branch agencies that approving these exports is fully consistent with U.S. legal requirements.

NRC NEWSU.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs Telephone: 301/415-8200 Washington, DC 20555-0001 E-mail: opa@nrc.gov, nrc.gov/ No. 05-037 February 25, 2005

Ecological Research in Marine Environments

LTER 1

Long-Term Ecological Research in Marine Environments is Topic of Symposium. Image Courtesy: Plum Island Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) Site Long-Term Ecological Research at Plum Island, Massachusetts

At a symposium on Thursday, March 3, scientists will highlight projects underway at the new California Current Ecosystem research site, and the Moorea Coral Reef research site, in the Pacific islands of French Polynesia. These studies and research at other Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) sites are contributing important information about the plight of the world’s oceans. Scientists will also identify and discuss ecological “grand challenges” of the 21st Century.

The LTER network, funded by the National Science Foundation, comprises 26 field sites located primarily in the United States, but with a geographic span from the Arctic and Antarctic to the tropics. The sites represent Earth’s major ecosystems and include deserts, grasslands, forests, tundra, urban areas, agricultural systems, freshwater lakes, coastal estuaries and salt marshes, coral reefs and coastal ocean zones.

Who: Henry Gholz, NSF LTER Program Director, Philip Taylor, NSF Biological Oceanography Program Director, Scientists from coastal and other LTER sites

What: Symposium on results of Long-Term Ecological Research at marine sites

When: Thursday, March 3, 2005, 8:30 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.

Where: National Science Foundation 4201 Wilson Blvd. Stafford II Building, Room 555 Arlington, VA22230

For a detailed symposium agenda, or to arrange for a pass to enter the building, please contact: Cheryl Dybas, cdybas@nsf.gov, (703) 292-7734 - NSF- Media Advisory 05-003 February 24, 2005