May, 2009

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that the NRC had published a notice of proposed rulemaking titled "Variable Annual Fee Structure for Power Reactors" [NRC-2008-0664] . I also promised that I would post a link to my submitted comments. I finally got around to completing that task. You can...

Judging from the number of blog posts that have been generated in the past 24 hours in response to the New York Times article titled In Finland, Nuclear Renaissance Runs Into Trouble , some people have never heard of the concept of learning curves or been involved in a project where everyone is inexperienced...

When I am not listening to podcasts on my daily commute, I often turn to NPR (National Public Radio) for some thoughtful stories. Though I missed yesterday's edition, a friend sent me a link to an interesting story titled Face-Off Over 'Fracking': Water Battle Brews On Hill that describes...

A reader introduced me to a site that I had not yet visited called Watt's Up With That . He told me that there was an active conversation going discussing the merits of atomic fission (aka nuclear power) versus renewable energy and fossil fuel. When I found the thread titled Renewable energy – our...

Andrew Revkin at the New York Times Dot Earth blog published a blog this morning titled Should Major Emitters Focus on the Sun . Within his blog is a presentation with graphs of historical research investments in various energy technologies that shows a small share of the overall budgets being provided...

Over the years I have gathered a rather eclectic library of books and articles on energy issues and technologies. I have posted a PDF of my book list as of May 2009 . The article list is far longer and needs some formatting and updating before posting. My intent is to periodically update the list and...

On May 19, 2009 the US Senate Appropriations Committee heard budget defense testimony from Dr. David Chu, the Secretary of Energy. During the testimony, Senator Dianne Feinstein, a big Chu supporter, lectured him on a new land rush that is occurring on the deserts of Southern California. Her concerns...

Predictions of future costs play a large role in the discussion of whether or not to enable the construction of new nuclear power plants. A commentary in the Duluth News Tribune (free registration required) titled Pro/con: Nuclear power is not competitive with coal, natural gas encouraged me to share...

Lisa Hymas at Grist.org has provided an important first step in understanding some of the heat associated with efforts to craft a climate change mitigation bill with her post titled Gore vs. Hansen: Enviros take sides in debate over House climate bill . She lists a number of organizations that have long...

Yesterday during mark up on the Waxman-Markey climate change bill, Rep Cliff Stearns of Florida offered an amendment that would have included power produced in nuclear power plants in the computation as an approved source of emission free electricity to meet a proposed renewable energy standard. The...

This is an important week for the economic future of the United States as representatives and senators and their staffs work to refine companion bills that will establish a stable financing mechanism for the kinds of long term, high quality projects that often have difficulty gaining support in the "get...

I visited NA-YGN's web site this morning to catch up on some of their recent and near future activities. I followed a link to the Spring 2009 issue of Go Nuke . I could not help chuckling at the front page of the publication; it was a display of the top three posters from the organization's annual...

This afternoon I shared an overflowing ballroom at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, DC with about 300 excited young professionals that are members of the North American Young Generation in Nuclear (NA-YGN) . The theme for this year's conference is “Investing in Our Future With Nuclear”. I felt really...

As a liberal who proudly voted for President Obama, I am disappointed by his recent decision to elevate Gregory Jaczko to the position of Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) . The NRC has serious public business to address, and the chairman is the organization's public face and chief...

I have frequently written about the need to change the Nuclear Regulatory Commission license fee structure from the current model of a single annual fee for all power reactors, no matter how complex they are or how much power they produce. Under current rules, the annual fee for any power reactor is...

Reliable, accessible and affordable energy has been one of the primary pillars of American prosperity since the dawning of the Industrial Age. Unfortunately, many of the energy sources that we have always used have been seriously depleted or produce a dangerous build up of waste products in our common...

Anti-nuclear activists, both the vocal kind and the kind that work the decision making bodies behind the scenes, love to point to initial costs as a way to discourage positive hopes for a fission powered future. They emphasize news stories about cost overruns at projects like the Olkiluoto reactor in...

Sometimes I want to just shout out when I read an article describing a growing problem that has a rather obvious solution. My Google Alert this morning brought me one such article from USA Today (not one of my normal news sources unless on the road). The article, titled U.S. warhead disposal in 15-year...

The Nuclear Energy Institute is hosting a series of workshops in cities around the country and in certain international forums to share information with manufacturers and service suppliers about the needs of the industry. In an economy where half a million or more people lose their jobs every month,...

As Dan Yurman at Idaho Samizdat has mentioned, Areva is working hard to become a participant in the online conversations about nuclear energy developments. Though it is natural to think that a company with growth aspirations would put some effort into the interactive media, it is difficult to describe...

Some skeptics on the need for the United States to invest in cleaner energy production point to India and China and claim that any investments that we make in that area will be overcome by increased emissions from those large, densely populated countries with more rapidly growing economies. People on...

In the past couple of days three major European energy companies ( Centrica , GDF Suez, and Total Petroleum Company) have announced partnerships with EDF (Electricite de France). These partnerships will provide EDF with several billion euros of capital to support their development of new nuclear plant...

The American Wind Energy Association held its annual meeting last week in Chicago . It was a massive affair full of optimism and high powered government and industry leaders laying out their plans for the future. There was also an impressive display of wares in the exhibition hall. Here are some statistics...

The CIA Factbook on Jordan includes this description of its economic status: Jordan is a small Arab country with insufficient supplies of water, oil, and other natural resources. Poverty, unemployment, and inflation are fundamental problems, but King ABDALLAH II, since assuming the throne in 1999, has...

Though I have enjoyed many hours of wind driven propulsion over the years, I am no fan of industrial scale wind power development. I am actually rather grouchy about the success that its promoters have had in obfuscating the challenge of providing useful, reliable energy that minimizes the impact on...