I find this to be very odd since I have no changed any mods since I hit level 8. When I select the perk for level 9 and click done, Fallout freezes up. It might be mod related, but I can't see how if I changed nothing:

Fallout3.esm
Mart's Mutant Mod.esm
BrokenSteel.esm
PointLookout.esm
Anchorage.esm
ThePitt.esm
Zeta.esm
CRAFT.esm
Selected Containers Respawn.esm
Enhanced Weather - Rain and Snow.esm
DCInteriors_ComboEdition.esm
Xepha's Dynamic Weather.esm
Sydney Follower.esp
CRAFT - Workbench and Crafting Expansion combined.esp
WeaponModKits.esp
WeaponModKits - OperationAnchorage.esp
WeaponModKits - ThePitt.esp
WeaponModKits - BrokenSteel.esp
WeaponModKits - PointLookout.esp
WeaponModKits - Zeta.esp
CRAFTable_WMKs.esp
CRAFT - Activation Perk.esp
EpFspitBombMMM.esp
EpFspitBomb.esp
Cryo Weapons - Vanilla.esp
Project Beauty.esp
Stealthboy Recon Armor - CRAFT.esp
Original Moira Brown.esp
Project Beauty- MMM Raiders.esp
Project Beauty- Broken Steel.esp
Project Beauty- Point Lookout.esp
PB MMM.esp
Realistic Death Physics.esp
Broken Steel Early Enclave Fix.esp
Super Mutant Overlord fix.esp
Feral Ghoul Reaver fix.esp
Albino Radscorpion fix.esp
DCInteriors_ComboEdition.esp
XFO_Timescale_fast.esp
Josef Greys Kozaburo Hair Style for Fallout 3.esp
Selected Containers Respawn - Emptied Trash Cans in Player Homes.esp
Selected Containers Respawn.esp
GalaxyNewsRadio50[C].esp
XFO_Degradation_fixes.esp
MissingUniqueArmorClothing-Enhanced-NSF.esp
Megaton Closes.esp
MMM Fix.esp
Project Beauty- Point Lookout MMM.esp
VDSP-01.esp
Bed N Breakfast.esp
VDSC.esp
NHsleeplimbsonly.esp
Rude Awakening.esp
Rude Awakening - MMM.esp
NoFastTravel.esp
bus.esp
Combat Enhanced-Tactics.esp
LocationalDamage.esp
01AtM - Firefly Ranch.esp
WeightMed.esp
Explosive Explosives v1.3.esp
Pointiac.esp
AxeandDBSrepair.esp
PWSerialKiller.esp
Sydney Follower - Load Order Fix.esp
pointlookoutmadeeasy.esp
D.C. Confidential.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Anchorage.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Broken Steel.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Point Lookout.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC The Pitt.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - DLC Zeta.esp
Mart's Mutant Mod - Mutant Mod Menu.esp
Xepha's Dynamic Weather - Main.esp
Xepha's Dynamic Weather - The Pitt.esp
Xepha's Dynamic Weather - Broken Steel.esp
Xepha's Dynamic Weather - Anchorage.esp
Xepha's Dynamic Weather - Point Lookout.esp
Xepha's Dynamic Weather - Sandstorm.esp
Xepha's Dynamic Weather - Rain.esp
Xepha's Dynamic Weather - Experimental Green Tint Remover.esp
Console Key Binder.esp

Total active plugins: 83
Total plugins: 150

Awesome, it's not my mod for once!

I just had to deal with a level up crash caused by my Powered Power Armor mod- it was due to a strange glitch that sometimes happens when a mod adds a script to a piece of armor. It has nothing to do with the contents of the script, its just a sort of corruption or something that happens to some pieces of armor. You might be able to narrow down which mod is causing the crash by first disabling any mod that adds or alters armor. Then add them back in until the crash happens. The mod's author should be able to take it from there.

Okay, I have no idea what it's related to, but reverting to a much older save works. Just lost all my effort for the day. =(

*edit: oh, that seems possible. It's odd, because it did work when I did a bunch of mod disables, but when I tried to find the culpret, I was lead on a chase. I thought the Weather mods did it, because I had a response from removing them all once, but then I try again and it crashes anyway. Wierd o_O