Search results for

Several recent safety problems at a Connecticut nuclear power plant have prompted the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to require nuclear plants across the country to update the safety information they have on file with the NRC. As NPR's Dan Charles reports, it's not clear whether plants are unsafe now, or whether updated safety instructions will make them safe if they're not.

NPR's Michael Goldfarb reports from Vienna on a two-day auction of artwork owned by Jewish families sent to the Nazi death camps. The proceeds benefit needy Holocaust survivors or the families of victims. The artwork had been held by the Austrian government and not returned to the families after the war. The auction is seen as an attempt by the Austrians to make amends for that controversial decision.

NPR's John Burnett reports on how the Christmas season looks to some who don't recognize its religious significance. Some Christians, such as Mennonites and Jehovah's Witnesses, do not celebrate it as the Nativity. For some non-Christians, December 25th is just another day of the week, but others like to follow the secular traditions of the holiday, such as gift-giving.

A massive irrigation and hydropower project in Turkey is alarming Syria and Iraq. They fear that around half their current supply of fresh water could be cut off by their neighbor. NPR's Sylvia Poggioli reports from Turkey that its plan to build 22 dams has the region realizing that water is as strategic a resource as oil has been to the area's politics and economies.

A year after the landmark Telecommunications Act of 1996 went into effect, regional phone companies are applying to offer long distance service, television stations are preparing to broadcast digital images, and the industry has been swept by an unprecedented wave of enormous mergers. But as NPR's Phillip Davis reports, much of the law is under court challenge -- and it's still not clear how these changes will affect consumers.

Scientists at the Massachussetts Institute of Technology say they've proved that a chemical found in the brains of mice is responsible for turning long-term memories off and on. Some researchers say that the findings, which appear in tomorrow's issue of the journal Cell, could provide new insights into human memory disorders, including Alzheimer's disease. NPR's David Baron reports.

NPR's Don Gonyea reports from Detroit on the close race for resident of the nation's largest labor union, the Teamsters. Incumbent Ron arey has claimed victory in a hard fought battle against James P. Hoffa, the on of infamous Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa. Hoffa has yet to concede the lection and is challenging more than 40-thousand ballots that will be counted his coming week.

Researchers have found the region that is likely to contain a gene that's responsible for prostate cancer, the most common cancer among men. While they haven't isolated the gene itself, knowing its location will enable researchers to develop a genetic test for the disease, and should lead in short order to identifying the gene itself. NPR's Joanne Silberner reports.

NPR's Mary Kay Magistad reports that Yale University is supervising a program to document the atrocities and executions of the Khmer Rouge regime. The documentation was being done to help bring the guilty to justice. But times have changed in Cambodia, and now the government is more interested in forging a more peaceful future than tracking down those guilty of genocide.

The timberwolf has made a remarkable comeback in the continental United States in recent years, and is expected to come off the Endangered Species list in the near future. Now, the states which have substantial timberwolf populations are finding problems in managing their wolves, and balancing the need for protecting the animals with the need to control the numbers of wolves has proven to be very controversial. Catherine Winter of Minnesota Public Radio reports.