May, 2009

Sen. Lamar Alexander has some common sense goals for the loan guarantee program Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander has emerged as an outspoken proponent of nuclear energy. The Wall Street Journal Environmental Capital Blog reported May 29 that he is "ratcheting up" the rhetoric. ...

This time they really mean it In the latest round of what passes for a soap opera plot in the heavy industry world of nuclear energy, the government of Canada has announced yet again it will offer a crown corporation, or at least parts of it, for sale.  The part it wants to sell off is the CANDU...

Newspaper tries to make the case the “nuclear renaissance” of the future has collided with its past – it is wrong. In a wrenching review of problems accumulating at Olliluoto, Finland, and Flamanville, France, the New York Times reports that the so-called “nuclear renaissance,” a vision of the future...

Robert Hargraves takes his Dartmouth class to Vermont Yankee on a field  trip and then lights up Google with a talk on thorium power by: Robert Hargraves Guest Contributor to Idaho Samizdat Students enrolled in the Dartmouth ILEAD course, Energy Policy and Environmental Choices: Rethinking Nuclear...

New nuclear reactors are a “common low-carbon technology platform” In the arcane world of international diplomacy, it is unusual to see an absence of the usual contorted language in a joint statement from a group of western nations with wildly divergent interests.  The Wall Street Journal reports...

The hearing seeks public comments on its environmental review process for the plant’s license The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission ( NRC ) will hold a public meeting June 4 in Idaho Falls, Idaho , to seek comments about specific issues that should be addressed in its environmental review of a proposed...

May 19, 2009 presentation by Ed Kee to the Goldman Sachs Power & Utility Conference are available below. Ed posted the slides at 'SlideShare" via Linkedin and they are reproduced here under the terms and conditions of the SlideShare service. This is an excellent overview of where the nuclear...

Possible bid award for Ontario reactor project – or not? The Toronto Globle & Mail ( sub req ) reported on May 15 that the Ontario government has selected AECL to negotiate a multi-year, multi-reactor $22 billion deal with the provincial government. Since AECL is still a crown corporation, the government...

Current R&D is on use of Lead-212 to treat aggressive cancers A “ cowboy ” country-and-western song performed by Chad  Brock whichg includes the dramatic lyrics “Thunder is only noise, lightning does the work” finds new metaphorical meaning in the application of ionizing radiation to aggressive...

Hitachi inks EPC deal with URS for two 1,350 MW ABWRs Just when you thought Exelon’s new nuclear reactor build at Victoria, TX , was coming off the rails, we spot news that the project is back on track.  This week Hitachi hired construction giant URS ( NYSE:URS ) to build two 1,350 MW ABWR reactors...

No Senate confirmation needed to take the post President Barack Obama has named Gregory Jaczko as Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ( NRC ).  He is the only Democrat on the Commission and previously served as a science advisor to now Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev). The Las...

A fifth is a “runner up” The Department of Energy (DOE) has finally produced a short list of  new reactor projects that will likely be eligible for billions in loan guarantees. The federal insurance is paid for by the applicants. It does not guarantee funding for the projects, and only covers 80...

Outreach effort ramping up from impulse power to warp drive Note to public relations consultants to major nuclear reactor vendors, Areva, the world’s largest integrated firm across the entire nuclear fuel cycle, thinks the blogsphere is worth its time in terms of dialog.  The French nuclear giant...

A down payment on new production of Pu-238 is in the 2010 budget Sending unmanned space probes into the deepest reaches of our solar system takes them far beyond the effective use of solar energy panels.  Given the long distances, and years of travel, of deep space probes, only the decay heat from...

Energy Sec. Chu roasts "conservative culture" inside the agency The Department of Energy has billions in energy program grants and loan guarantees for nuclear and alternative energy programs, but so far the only people who seem to be benefiting from the funding opportunities are consultants...

Who doesn’t want to build nuclear reactors? Russia to build 26 nuclear reactors The Nikkei Report, Tokyo, reports that Russia has announced it will build 26 new nuclear reactors with electricity generation capacities of 1,000-1,200 MWe each by 2030.  Assuming the Russian pricing model, in constant dollars...

John Holdren, President Obama’s Science Advisor, says we can do it In a ground breaking speech [ full text ] [ slides ]to the American Association  for the Advancement of Science ( AAAS ) and April 30, in Washington, DC, John Holdren, (left) President Obama’s Science Advisor said If nuclear energy...