Platts - Friday, January 07, 2005 http://www.platts.com ------------ Alexander will continue to chair Senate Energy subcommittee Washington (Platts)--6Jan2005 Sen. Lamar Alexander will continue to chair the Energy & Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy in the 109th Congress. The Tennessee Republican will have Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) as his co-chair. Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) will be the panel's ranking Democrat. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.) will continue to chair the full committee. Other Republican members of the Energy Subcommittee include Sens. Mel Martinez of Florida, James Talent of Missouri, George Allen of Virginia, James Bunning of Kentucky, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Larry Craig of Idaho, Craig Thomas of Wyoming, and Conrad Burns of Montana. Democratic members include Sens. Daniel Akaka of Hawaii, Tim Johnson of South Dakota, Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Dianne Feinstein of California, Maria Cantwell of Washington state, Jon Corzine of New Jersey, and Ken Salazar of Colorado. ------------ Bingaman to remain ranking Democrat on Senate Energy Committee Washington (Platts)--5Jan2005 Senator Jeff Bingaman will remain the ranking Democrat on the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee during the 109th Congress. Twelve Republicans, same as the previous Congress, will sit on the committee while Democratic membership has dropped to 10, down from 11 last year. The panel's Democratic press office reported today that Sens. Jon Corzine of New Jersey and Ken Salazar of Colorado will join the committee. Relinquishing their seats on the panel are Sens. Bob Graham of Florida, who did not seek re-election, and Evan Bayh of Indiana and Charles Schumer of New York. No information was available at press time, on whether any changes had been made to the committee's Republican membership. ------------ White House nominates two individuals for NRC commission Washington (Platts)--4Jan2005 The White House nominated Gregory Jaczko and Albert Konetzni Jr. to the NRC today. Both names were sent to the Senate for confirmation but under a deal struck in November between the administration and Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), now the Democratic leader, the two are expected to take their seats on the commission through recess appointments. The Senate recesses Jan. 7, so the appointments are expected to occur sometime between then and Jan. 19. Jaczko, as Reid's science policy adviser, has spoken against the planned high-level waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nev., prompting the industry's objection to his nomination. Konetzni was the deputy and chief of staff for the U.S. Atlantic Fleet in the Navy when he retired last July. ------------ NRC to extend deadline for USEC intervention petitions for some Washington (Platts)--3Jan2005 The NRC commission will allow more time to file challenges to USEC Inc.'s proposed commercial American Centrifuge enrichment plant at Portsmouth, Ohio. In an order issued late last week, the commission said it would extend the filing date for intervention petitions until the end of February. But the commission said that only those parties that had asked it to extend the original filing deadline of Dec. 17 could take advantage of the new schedule. Several individuals and interest groups had sought the extension, pointing out that key records (e.g., USEC's application and environmental report) had been removed from the agency's record-keeping system Oct. 25 while the NRC staff searched for terrorist-useful information. Redacted versions of the documents have now been restored to the NRC's record-keeping system. Among those asking for more time were the Nuclear Information & Resource Service, the Central Ohio Sierra Club Group, and the Portsmouth/Piketon Residents for Environmental Safety & Security (Press). ------------