Idaho Samizdat: Nuke Notes

Progress reported on $2 billion loan guarantee and NRC license application An Areva executive says the Department of Energy has completed the due diligence on a $2 billion federal loan guarantee for the gas centrifuge Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility planned to be built 18 miles west of Idaho Falls, ID. Sam Shakir (right), head of Areva Enrichments Services, told a conference call of nuclear energy bloggers...

February 1, 2010 Dr. John P. Holdren Director, Office of Science & Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President Washington, D.C. cc. Dr. Steven Chu, Secretary, Department of Energy 24 member Committee—National Academies “America’s Energy Future” Members of Congress Dear Dr. Holdren: Peace on earth and preservation of the marvels of nature will not be achieved without a sound energy policy...

Situation not as dire as predicted, but overall funding level is unchanged Two weeks ago advocates of funding for nuclear energy R&D came unglued when a trade newsletter reported that the budget for this work for 2011 has been slashed to ribbons by OMB. Notices of the death of the nuclear R&D budget, as laid out in a strongly-worded letter from Energy Secretary Chu, may turn out to be premature...

Live Webcast with a Pioneering Environmentalist February 18, 1 PM EST / 10 AM PST Click here for free registration In Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto, ( Amazon ) lifelong environmentalist Stewart Brand (right) lays out what has been called “a mind-blowing vision for the planet's salvation: migration to the cities, power generated by mini-nuclear reactors, healthier crops through...

And finds technology to build fast reactors An alliance of oil refining firms, chemical companies, and reactor vendors is working on development of a 300 MW fast reactor to swap out the use of several million barrels a day of crude oil for process heat. The industry consortium is working on building a first-of-a-kind high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) with commercial prospects by 2022. While...

Proceeds from sale of stake in gold firm fuel drive for growth This report is based on an article in Fuel Cycle Week , V9N360, January 20, 2010, published by International Nuclear Associates, Washington, DC. Stock prices referenced in this article are in the currency of the country of origin and cited as of market close January 19, 2010. What will Cameco ( TSE:CCO ) do with the C$1.5 billion it has...

Pro-nuclear bloggers react to the President’s State-of-the-Union address During the 2010 State of the Union Address, President Obama took the handcuffs off of the nuclear industry revival when he said: “But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. And that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country...

Leading nuclear fuels and materials science expert talks about what has to be done to get ready to build them (NucNet): NucNet Editor Mathieu Carey talks to Dame Sue Ion OBE * about the future of materials science and the emergence of China and India as global nuclear energy players. NucNet – Firstly, you have spoken very positively about the future of material science worldwide and its increased importance...

The people who will run Europe’s new reactors are learning their skills now ( NucNet ) ( WNN ): A group of major European nuclear companies announced the launch of the European Nuclear Energy Leadership Academy (ENELA). In the wake of Europe’s nuclear energy renaissance, the purpose of the Academy is to train post-graduates and high potential employees with different backgrounds to become leaders in...

Guest column -- Lane Allgood , Executive Director, Partnership for Science & Technology ( PST ) ( Facebook ) Tel: 208-313-4166 Idaho Falls, ID During his presidential campaign, Barack Obama pledged to end our addiction to foreign oil, reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels, deal with climate change, and create millions of new energy sector jobs that can’t be shipped overseas. To many of...

The group has real expertise. Let’s hope they do real work and don’t hand it off to staff. Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced Jan 29 a Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future . The Commission, led by Lee Hamilton and Brent Scowcroft, will provide recommendations on managing spent nuclear fuel and fission waste products. In its first year in office, the Obama administration decided...

Bloomberg wire service reports the increase will be requested in the 2011 budget Two people familiar with the Department of Energy budget for 2011 have told the Bloomberg wire service that the President’s budget for 2011 will include a request to add $36 billion to the nuclear energy loan guarantee program . Bloomberg also reported that Southern’s Vogtle plant , which plans to build two Westinghouse...

NRC takes first step to reinstate construction licenses, but there are still big decisions ahead for TVA Think of all the metaphors about Phoenix birds rising out of the ashes and then apply them to what’s happening on a 1,600 acre site along the banks of the Tennessee River in northern Alabama. There life may be restored for two nuclear reactors that most had given up for dead. Last week the Nuclear...

Florida regulators slam on the brakes over rate increases The two major nuclear utilities in Florida, Progress Energy ( NYSE:PGN ) and Florida Power & Light (FPL) ( NYSE:FPL ), came away Jan 13 from a meeting with the Public Service Commission (PSC) with a lot less than they asked for to build new nuclear power plants. After a 10-month regulatory review, FPL got just $75 million out of a request...

This blog post is an edited version of content published in Fuel Cycle Week for 01/13/10 V9:N359 by International Nuclear Associates, Washington, DC. Strathmore gets better offer for Reno Creek. Bayswater matches it. The Reno Creek property in Wyoming was briefly the object of a bidding war between Bayswater Uranium Corp. (CVE:BYU), which last August offered to buy it, and an unnamed third firm, which...