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Julie Wernau

The back and forth over Yucca Mountain as nuclear waste storage site

Last updated Wednesday, August 3, 2011 - 9:12am

Depending on who you talk to, a new federal report on nuclear waste disposal either offers a start at dealing with a growing problem or merely kicks the can down the road on the controversial issue of Yucca Mountain.

The Blue Ribbon Commission on America's Nuclear Future wasn't specifically asked to decide the viability of a permanent nuclear waste repository in remote Yucca Mountain, Nev. But its avoidance of the issue in a 90-plus-page report submitted to the secretary of energy Friday has left some critics calling the whole effort a cop-out.

Features, Nuclear Waste, Yucca Mountain Read more Comments

Japan crisis renews interest in U.S. anti-nuke movement

Chicago Tribune, Julie Wernau

Last updated Thursday, April 14, 2011 - 9:36am

CHICAGO -- When the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant in Japan was knocked out with one mighty wave, the all-but-forgotten anti-nuke movement suddenly powered up in the U.S.

Paul Gunter, director at Maryland-based Beyond Nuclear, barely found time to sleep. Web traffic spiked, and Gunter's mailing list exploded with new members.

David Kraft, who for 30 years has quietly operated a Chicago-based nonprofit committed to ending nuclear power, scored his organization's first face-to-face meeting with the governor of Illinois. The state boasts the largest number of nuclear plants in the country.

And in Pennsylvania, Eric Epstein, chairman of Three Mile Island Alert, was deluged with media requests. He trekked to the infamous plant as many as 11 times a day for TV interviews about whether what happened in Japan could happen here.

The renewed interest in nuclear power comes at a time when it has become more accepted, somewhat aligned with the green movement, and opponents had largely dwindled to a small band of scientists and aging hippies.

Earthquake, Japan, Protests, National Read more Comments

Holiday Inn aims to refresh reputation

Chicago Tribune, Julie Wernau

Last updated Friday, September 24, 2010 - 8:21pm

CHICAGO -- In 1986, Holiday Inn told us, "We want you back." In 1997, they said, "We're making every Holiday Inn hotel as good as the best Holiday Inn hotel." And in 2006, they asked us to "Look again."

Business, Service Read more Comments

FDA to review report that seafood price includes ice

Julie Wernau Chicago Tribune

Last updated Tuesday, March 30, 2010 - 9:36pm

CHICAGO -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Tuesday that it is reviewing the results of a multi-state investigation that found that shoppers have been paying for large amounts of ice that are not supposed to be included in the price of frozen seafood.

Food, National Read more Comments