March, 2009

$55M Facility will recover high quality fluorine via uranium deconversion International Isotopes ( OTC:INIS ), a small firm located in Idaho Falls, ID, has big plans to recover fluorine for industrial use via uranium deconversion from depleted UF6.  Steve Laflin, CEO, announced this week he has...

It's a quantum leap in overcoming the "not invented here" paradigm Hat tip to Rod Adams at South Africa and China have agreed to joint development of pebble bed reactor technology A press release from Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (Pty) Ltd ( PBMR ) of South Africa indicates that firm has...

Nonproliferation dangers trump global warming benefits The foreign policy establishment struck a nerve with the nuclear  industry this week with a long report attacking the future of the global nuclear industry.  The report, which has the provocative title “Nuclear Energy: Rebirth or Resuscitation” ...

It has for 30 years and likely always will The movie the China Syndrome and the accident at Three Mile Island are forever linked in American history. The movie was showing in theatres nationwide when the cooling pumps failed in Harrisburg, PA, on March 28, 1979. Cinematic visions of an over wrought Jane...

ANS annual meeting Atlanta, GA June 14-18, 2009  I'll be speaking at the annual meeting of the American Nuclear Society (ANS) on the subject of pro-nuclear advocacy using social media such as blogs, instant messaging, and emerging online tools.   Focus on Communications: The Nuclear Story and Other...

Half the capacity of the $3.5 billion plant, not yet built, is said to be sold USEC ( NYSE:USU ) announced that it has customer commitments to  purchase more than half of the planned, initial sales of the American Centrifuge Plant (ACP).  The commitments, valued at $3.3 billion, are from 10...

Exelon switches reactors but not vendors for the twin unit project A few months ago the nation’s biggest nuclear power utility dealt a devastating blow to the GE-Hitachi consortium that is developing the new Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor ( ESBWR ) a 1,550 MW unit. Because the design is still...

Deal includes two Areva EPRs and nuclear fuel for 60 years India is moving into the front range of countries able to raise money to develop nuclear energy after thirty years of near hibernation. This week Nuclear Power of India announced it has commitments of 8 billion euros ($10 B) to build two Areva...

From the UK and Scotland, where people are realizing nuclear energy must be part of the energy mix A forum for discussion of all things nuclear with a stunning button  that I hope you will share with others. Nuclear Power – Yes Please Access is free but registration is required.  Don’t forget...

by: Idaho Falls Post Register Readers of this blog are no strangers to the issues surrounding  loan guarantees for Areva's planned Eagle Rock uranium enrichment plant. The Idaho Falls Post Register ran a lead editorial on Sunday March 22, 2009, on the subject. Normally, the newspaper's editorials...

Comanche Peak and Nine Mile mark milestones in progress towards NRC license and breaking ground The planned expansion of the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant  in Glen Rose, TX, could get an NRC license by 2011 based on a schedule published by the regulatory agency this month.  The project...

A nation swimming in fossil fuels and sunshine puts a priority on a nuclear energy ~ Exclusive to the Energy Collective ~ A special report on the arrival of nuclear energy at the United Arab Emirates. Posted at the Energy Collective.  Access is free.  Click here . # # # Idaho Samizdat ~ http...

Mining uranium press releases for useful news Parts of this blog post were previously published in Fuel Cycle  Week, V8N319 for March 18, 2008 by International Nuclear Associates , Washington, DC The closing stock prices for the informal collection of uranium firms tracked here continue to fall...

Dale Klein’s recent speech could use some help from Yogi Berra rather than Alan Greenspan In a speech March 10, 2009, to NRC employees Chairman Dale Klein  (left) diverged from a largely operational perspective to wax rhetorically about “excessive exuberance” in the nuclear industry.  This...

Building bypasses to blind spots one legislator at a time Anyone waiting for the federal government to come up with a  rational policy that quickly swaps out greenhouse gas producing coal-fired power plants for nuclear energy had better have a time machine handy.  The reasons are two fold. ...

Idaho Falls Post Register pays attention to the French nuclear giant’s financing plans for the Eagle Rock uranium enrichment plant The arcane world of federal loan guarantees got a little bit easier to understand this week as a result of a front page, above-the-fold article published in the Idaho Falls...

A $15 billion project and future participation in global nuclear markets hang in the balance Atomic Energy Canada Limited ( AECL ) is part of one of three mega-consortiums which have submitted bids for the rights to build two new reactors, with options for two more, in the Toronto suburb of Darlington...

Despite a chilly reception from Gov. Jay Nixon A committee of the Missouri House of Representatives voted 12-1  this week in favor of a bill ( HB 554 ) that would allow Ameren ( NYSE:AEE ) to recover construction costs of a new nuclear reactor at Callaway, MO, while it was being built. The St. Louis...

It plans construction of a $3.5 billion uranium enrichment plant in Ohio USEC ( NYSE:USU ) told the Associated Press last month that it is still in the hunt for investors for its $3.5 billion American Centrifuge Plant ( ACP ) to be built in Piketon, OH , about 90 miles east of Cincinnati.  "The...

India - No reactor deals without reprocessing U.S. vendors of nuclear reactors seeking to build at least 10 GWe of civilian facilities in India to generate electricity may be frozen out of the market over the issue of reprocessing of the spent fuel from the plants.  In an exclusive report in The...

A $15 billion project and future participation in global nuclear markets hang in the balance Atomic Energy Canada Limited ( AECL ) is part of one of three mega- consortiums which have submitted bids for the rights to build two new reactors, with options for two more, in the Toronto suburb of Darlington...

Names Robert Poyser as VP Operations for Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility French-owned energy giant Areva opened an office in Idaho Falls on  March 2 for its subsidiary, Areva Enrichment Services LLC , and appointed three executives who will oversee construction of the multi-billion dollar Eagle Rock...

Social media web portal selects four blogs for key role in online dialog about energy policy NEW YORK, Mar 02, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- A team of  internationally known thought leaders on energy, clean technology and sustainability have come together at The Energy Collective to drive informed debate...

Exelon to NRG: I have you in my clutches my dear Chicago-based Exelon ( NYSE:EXC ), which exemplifies the spirit of a  city that will not take “no” for an answer, claims it now has 51%or a controlling interest in New Jersey-based NRG Energy ( NYSE:NRG ).  Although, most of what Exelon wants...

Legislature wants $600 million for plant shut down in two years. The Vermont Legislature has entered into a high risk game of  chicken with Vermont Yankee with legislation that would require its parent owner Entergy to come up with $600 million for the decommissioning fund by 2011.  That’s...