January, 2009

A national real estate survey shows the NIMBY effect is widespread across America Owners of casinos, landfills, and rock quarries may have something to learn from nuclear power plants. A new survey says most Americans would rather have nuclear power plant built in their community than a landfill, a casino...

EDF will be the project manager (NucNet) A second European Pressurized Water Reactor ( EPR ) is to  be built in France, president Nicolas Sarkozy announced Jan 22. Construction of Areva’s 1,600 MW reactor is expected to start in 2012 at the existing Penly nuclear power plant site in northern France...

AEHI drops lawsuit against Snake River Alliance The Idaho Statesman reported Jan 28 that Fourth District Judge G.D. Carey dismissed a lawsuit for defamation brought by Alternate Energy Holdings Inc. ( PINK:AEHI ) against the Snake River Alliance. The company sued in August , claiming it was defamed by...

UAE signs nuclear agreement with US In one of its last official acts, the Bush Administration signed a  nuclear-cooperation agreement with the United Arab Emirates. The Wall Street Journal reported that the pact could help the UAE become the first Arab nation to develop a nuclear-power industry...

Still climbing out of the cellar, but lots of stair stepping This blog post is an edited version of an article published in Fuel Cycle Week, V8 N311 on 01/21/09 by International Nuclear Associates, Washington, DC. In the ongoing ad hoc sample of uranium stocks, all nine continued to slowly climb out...

Legislative battle over nuclear energy unfolds in the ‘show me’ state Nuclear energy utility AmerenUE has finally left earth orbit and set sail for an uncharted region of the economic and political space seeking strange new supporters in a hostile universe.  A bill ( S.B.228 ) introduced in the...

Exelon and NRG face uncertainties for new nuclear builds in the lone star state No one outside of NRG ( NYSE:NRG ) really knows what it will cost to  build the 3rd and 4th units at the South Texas Project ( STP ), but that hasn’t stopped NRG, the New Jersey utility that is building them, from seeking...

The German firm wants the capital the would come from selling its 35% share in the French nuclear giant The Financial Times of London reports that Siemens plans to pull  out of its nuclear joint venture with France’s Areva.  The German firm reportedly notified French government officials of...

Critics claim energy independence won’t be achieved with Russian reactors Turkish news media reports yet another slide off into the ditch for  the country’s troubled nuclear energy program.  After all but one of 13 potential bidders walked away from the byzantine project, the only company bidding...

The author of Terrestrial Energy will speak to the American Nuclear Society William Tucker, the noted author of a new and well-received book on nuclear energy, will speak to the Idaho Section of the American Nuclear Society on March 5 at 7 :00 PM at a dinner meeting.  The event will take place at...

Speeding up plant construction is the key to avoiding brownouts Between 2017 and 2025 the U.K. will close ten aging nuclear power  plants, a third of its total capacity, opening a major gap in electricity generation supply.  Even with the country’s aggressive plans to build new reactors, the...

Dan Packer, former Entergy CEO, is a candidate for the NRC’s open seat Platts reports that NRC Chairman Dale Klein (right) says he plans to remain at the agency, either as chairman or as a commissioner, and he has not been told by President-elect Barack Obama's administration transition team that...

Dan Packer, former Entergy CEO, is a candidate for the NRC’s open seat Platts reports that NRC Chairman Dale Klein (right) says he plans to remain  at the agency, either as chairman or as a commissioner, and he has not been told by President-elect Barack Obama's administration transition team...

Finland continues its drive for energy independence Reuters reports that a nuclear power plant under construction by  Areva in Finland will be completed in June 2012.  Finnish utility TVO confirmed the new date in a statement to the wire service.  The 1,600 MW EPR has been delayed several...

Target application is Idaho’s Next Generation Nuclear Plant World Nuclear News reports that PBMR in South Africa has  successfully manufactured nuclear fuel “pebbles” at 9.6% enrichment for use in a planned high temperature gas cooled reactor (HTGR).  The company said the fuel design and fabrication...

Three dozen U.S. firms, and 60 executives, travel to Mumbai  for trade discussions The U.S. India Business Council concluded this week a historic trade mission to India to ink deals for nuclear fuel and reactor technologies.  The U.S. Department of Commerce officially sanctioned the trade mission...

Catching up with the news Vermont Yankee - Entergy's nuclear plant Vermont Yankee is a reliable nuclear plant and could have its license renewed by the NRC if various steps to improve its operations at taken according a report issued in late December by the Vermont Public Service Board .  The...

Hostile takeover effort is extended to Feb 25 The Wall Street Journal reports that Exelon Corp. ( NYSE:EXC ) will  extend its offer for NRG Energy Inc. ( NYSE:NRG ) by seven weeks to Feb 25 as a result of having acquired 45.6% or 106.5 million shares since November. NRG's stock closed at $28...

Mining media reports and press releases for useful stuff. This column on uranium mining in the western U.S. continues its admittedly non-rigorous coverage of the stocks of a handful of U.S., Canadian, and Australian uranium miners who are active in western states. The data and brief analysis may offer...

Utility inks a $7.65 billion EPC deal for twin AP1000s Progress Energy ( NYSE:PGN ) has entered into an engineering,  procurement and construction contract with Westinghouse for two 1,105 MW AP1000 nuclear reactors to be built on 5,100 acres in Levy County , FL,  130 miles west of Orlando....

A license from the NRC is expected in 2011 An application was filed Dec 30 by Areva with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ( NRC ) for the Eagle Rock uranium enrichment plant to be located 18 miles west of Idaho Falls, ID . The application is for a combined construction and operating license. ...

Alberta energy project is moving to avoid environmental conflicts According to a report in the Calgary Herald, Bruce Power has sent a letter to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission withdrawing its application for a dual reactor, 2,200 MW, $6.2 billion nuclear power complex that it planned to build...

Utility asks NRC to stop reviews for Grand Gulf and River Bend Platts reports that Entergy has asked the NRC to suspend review  of the utility's two COL applications - one for Grand Gulf, MS , and the other for River Bend, LA .  According to Platts, Entergy asked the NRC to stop billing...

AECL would finance the deal with private sector firms Canadian Energy Minister Jack Keir said this week he will seek approval for two additional new nuclear reactors at Point Lepreau in New Brunswick province.  The atomic power plants would be built by Crown corporation Atomic Energy Limited Canada...

Google's acquisition of Feedburner is the reason For those of you who read posts on this blog with a feedreader such as FeedDemon or other RSS client, the code for the RSS feed has changed.  This is due to the purchase of Feedburner, which used to provide the RSS feed, by Google. You can click...