The Week in Cleantech, Saturday edition: Did regulators ignore concerns raised over a U.S. nuclear fuel plant? And oil prices tumble as Gustav blows ashore.

Nuclear Shortcuts Exposed In U.S. Nuclear Fuel Facility: Government regulators allegedly disregarded expert advice in an attempt to fast track the completion of a nuclear fuel facility in South Carolina. The charge is leveled in the September issue of The Chemical Engineer magazine, which says Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials “hushed up” safety concerns raised by an independent engineering review. Dan Tedder, Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, criticized the plant’s licensing documentation, saying he’d never seen such a “crazy system.” He called for a closer review of the procedures. An NRC spokeperson dismisses Tedder’s concerns as baseless. (Science Daily)

With little damage to oil patch, prices dip: Gulf oil and gas producers are so far reporting little damage from Hurricane Gustav, now a weakening tropical depression over northern Louisiana. It will take refiners a few days to assess their offshore facilities and transit terminals, but workers could begin returning to their posts by Wednesday. President Bush stated Monday that he’ll authorize purchases from the nation’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve to make up for any supply shortfalls caused by Gustav. Oil traded sharply lower on Tuesday’s Asian markets. (Houston Chronicle)

Toyota, GM Push Electric Vehicle Test Fleets In Order to Beat the Crowd: If you want a plug-in vehicle from Toyota or GM, you’ll have to wait until 2010. That’s if you’re a consumer. Fleet owners will be getting their first electric vehicles almost a year earlier. Why the delay in getting plug-ins to the showroom? Toyota’s Irv Miller explains that fleet operations will provide a real-world testing ground before electric cars make their way to consumers. Miller says fleets sales are a quick way to see how cars perform under a variety of road and weather conditions. (Earth2Tech)

Ener1 - Lithium ion battery prices may be cut in half: Enerr1, the supplier which recently announced a $70 million deal to power Th!nk’s latest electric cars, says they believe volume sales can significantly drive down lithium batter costs. How much? Chief Executive Charles Gassenheimer can see prices falling by up to 50 percent. With lithium battery prices at the top of costs involved in building plug-in cars, such a break would go a long way to improving plug-in affordability. Gassenheimer says that increasing European and U.S. demand should provide the sort of volume increases necessary to force lithium ion prices to a tipping point. (Autoblog Green)

Daimler Releases More Photos of Electric Smarts but Withholds Plans for U.S. Market: The folks at Daimler certainly know how to tease. The German automaker’s publicity department has been sending around juicy photos of the company’s upcoming all-electric smart cars. Daimler has been field testing a hundred car fleet of Smart ED (Electric Drive) vehicles in England for several months, stirring high consumer interest on both sides of the Atlantic. So far, though, the company has been coy about when they might appear on American roads. It still seems likely the first models will turn up in U.S. showrooms by 2010. (Green Car Advisor)

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