March, 2008

Is the reactor group a marketable item? The future of Atomic Energy Canada Limited ( AECL ), a crown corporation, is in a state of flux according to a series of terrific news reports by the Globe & Mail. The newspaper reports that the government of Canada has put a "for sale" sign out on...

Expectations vary whether Italy have a change of heart? Right-wing leader Silvio Berlusconi, whose coalition is seen winning a general election in April, is pushing to reintroduce nuclear power in Italy, according to a report in the daily La Repubblica . Italy banned the use of nuclear power after a...

Decision follows the UK's commitment to a new nuclear building program Reuters reports that the U.K. has signed up to become the 21st member of the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership ( GNEP ) and without very much political fanfare to accompany it. When Canada and Australia proposed to get involved...

Another new nuclear build planned in the deep south The benefits of the Department of Energy's 2010 program are beginning to be seen in events this week in which Entergy ( NYSE:ETR ) and NuStart Energy Development announced they submitted a combined construction and operating license (COL) application...

NRC comes clean on dropping the ball The issue of sleeping guards at a nuclear power plant has reached the wholly predictable stage of a lashing for regulatory officials by Congress for blowing off the problem when first notified about it. The Associated Press reports the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory...

Materials expert is first scientific director of the nuclear research facility Idaho National Laboratory ( INL ) has selected University of Wisconsin-Madison nuclear fuels and materials expert Todd Allen to lead its newly created Advanced Test Reactor ( ATR ) National Scientific User Facility. ( video...

Efforts underway to embrace new nuclear power plants While California, the most energy intensive state in the country, continues its 30-year ban on new nuclear power plants, and New York engages in an economically self-destructive attack on the Indian Point nuclear plant, efforts in Midwestern three...

France pitches South Africa for new nuclear business The Sunday Independent in South Africa reports that French President Nicolas Sarkoy is visiting to promote Areva's nuclear energy solutions over that of Toshiba's Westinghouse. Sarkozy, on his first state visit to South Africa, is leading a...

Four sites still have a shot Areva has taken its Lynchburg, VA, site out of the running for a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant. Laurence Pernot, spokeswoman for Areva NC, said Monday that the company is no longer considering any sites in Virginia for the $2 billion uranium enrichment facility it plans...

French nuclear giant is beating the bushes for greenbacks Not unlike a safari in Africa, Areva has a line of beaters flushing economic incentives out of the underbrush of state economic development efforts. It's working. After taking Lynchburg, VA, off-the-table on Monday this week Areva named Richland...

Regional synergy with LES plant in New Mexico possible. Andrews, Texas is just across the border from the LES uranium enrichment plant now under construction in New Mexico. Economic development officials in that town today revealed they are in the running for a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant to...

The cat might be out of the bag with comments from one of the firm's VPs Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that a senior Areva executive says that even with the legislation now pending in the Idaho state legislature, it still isn't as competitive as Washington state where Areva already has a...

Transition Power tells the NRC it will file a reactor license application by 2010 Utah State Rep. Aaron Tilton is jolting some neural neutrons in Utah with a letter he sent to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ( NRC ) this week. In it Tilton, the nominal head of a shell corporation called Transition...

Jobs are going begging in the booming nuclear industry The Philadelphia Inquirer has a report this week that "a job boom is shaking the nuclear industry." In an economy that is headed south my almost every measure, one of the bright spots is nuclear energy. The newspaper says that industry...

Energy communities across the U.S. turn to Congress for relief A critical issue for the future of the Idaho National Laboratory ( INL ) nuclear energy mission is unfolding in an area where the incumbent site contract on the R&D side of the house has little control. The issue is that advocacy for...

Mining uranium exploration press releases for useful news The rise of the nuclear energy has given the price of uranium a shot in the arm. In western states in the U.S. interest in uranium mining is growing and with it comes another growth industry - the production of press releases about the uranium...

Idaho Falls was worried the Senate might ice the puck and stop their efforts The Associated Press reports that the Idaho Senate Local Government & Taxation Committee, in a squeaker of a vote at 5-4, approved a measure that would cap the taxable value of a possible Areva uranium enrichment plant near...

New customers and limits on natural gas for tar sands region may make the difference Bloomberg wire service reports that Bruce Power , the only non- government owner of a Canadian nuclear plant, filed an application to prepare a site for the first nuclear power plant in Alberta. The wire service reported...

Process heat applications could drive the project South Africa’s fourth-generation nuclear power technology, the pebble-bed modular reactor ( PBMR ), has a real chance that it could be demonstrated, in a process heat application, at the Idaho National Laboratory ( INL ) near Idaho Falls, ID, according...

Citizens groups are fired up in opposition to the governor's endorsement Ohio Governor Ted Strickland is said to have made public statements in support of locating Areva's planned  uranium enrichment plant at Piketon, OH. According to a report on a Dayton, OH, blog, Ted Strickland has announced...

That was the week that was The race to land a deal for a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant is coming down to the final lap. It's not NASCAR, but plenty is known about the five leaders in the pack based on reports in the news media. There are five sites that have been confirmed in the news media...

With all the attention being paid to Areva's plans for a  new, $2 billion uranium enrichment plant in the U.S., the question becomes, how much uranium enrichment capacity is needed in North America.  The answer is "more than you think."  Where will it come from the answer...

NRC Commissioner says feds fall short Gregory Jaczko, a member of the Nuclear Regulatory  Commission ( NRC ), went to London last week to say the obvious about federal loan guarantees , something he should be saying here in the states.  What he said was that the U.S. government's $18.5...

  An occasional survey of what other nuclear blogs are saying.  Every nuclear blog has a blog roll, which lists the blogs the publisher thinks would be interesting to readers. I'm starting a new occasional series to survey some highlights of my blog roll. Over at Atomic Insights Rod Adams...

Incentives are aimed at landing a $2 billion uranium enrichment facility in Idaho The Idaho Senate today passed two bills by 2:1 margins aimed at providing tax incentives designed to attract a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant. The site under consideration by French nuclear giant Areva is located west...