Feds pony up for Piketon
The federal government is partnering with a uranium enrichment company on a $350 million research project in southern Ohio.

The Department of Energy announced funding for the project today (Wednesday). It’s partnering with Maryland- based USEC Incorporated on the R & D project in Piketon. USEC spokesman Jeremy Derryberry says the hope is to turn the research effort into a permanent enrichment operation.

DERRYBERRY on Piketon

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“The plant, the structures, the building is already in place in Piketon, Ohio. The announcement today is funding for going forward with the research development and demonstration program at the plant site.”

Uranium must be enriched before it can be used in nuclear energy, and Derryberry says USEC hopes to improve on its enrichment process.

The project has bipartisan support with hopes of creating up to 4,000 jobs.

Davis Besse retarts, continues to investigate cause of pinhole leak 
Ohio’s Davis Besse nuclear power plant is back on line, a week after crews found a pinhole leak that sprayed radioactive coolant inside the plant.
Akron-based First Energy owns the reactor on Lake Erie near Port Clinton. It’s spokesman, Todd Schneider, says the cause of the leak is still undetermined.

SCHNEIDER on leake

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“We’re investigating that right now, but there was a permanent repair made, so it should not be an issue with future operations.”

The leak was discovered while crews were preparing to restart the reactor after a maintenance shutdown that began May 6^th, and weld repairs were completed over the weekend.

In announcing this morning’s restart, FirstEnergy says it also inspected hairline cracks in the concrete shield that protects the plant from tornadoes and other outside forces. It says it found no new cracks, nor any growth in the old ones.

First Energy is asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend Davis Besse’s operating license for another 20 years. Commission staff have asked First Energy for more information on how it trains staff to spot and deal with “aging issues” at the plant.

Psychiatrist says Cleveland man is sane enough to be executed
A psychiatrist testifying for the state says a condemned Cleveland killer is mentally competent, disputing a defense claim that he is too psychotic to be executed.

Dr. Stephen Noffsinger testified today in Cleveland in the case against 53-year-old Abdul Awkal.

Awkal recently received a two-week reprieve from Gov. John Kasich just hours before he was set to die for killing his estranged wife and brother-in-law in a Cuyahoga County courthouse in 1992. Kasich granted the reprieve to allow time for a hearing on Awkal's mental competency.

Awkal's attorneys argue he is so mentally ill he believes the CIA is orchestrating his execution. But the state witness testified that Awkal is mentally competent and has a motive to distort information, namely to spare his life.

Browns Cribbs sponsors a bus trip to Omaha  to support Kent baseball
A Kent State favorite son – Browns receiver Josh Cribbs -- is sponsoring a bus trip to support the Kent State baseball team’s first trip to the College World Series.

Cribbs  played quarterback for Kent State from 2001-04 and announced last night he’s sponsoring the trip to Omaha, including hotel room and game tickets, for $150 per person. It sold out within hours.

Cribbs says he’s “making sure "those guys have a fan base out there cheering for them. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Kent is the Cinderella team in the College World Series.