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Taxpayers off the hook for cost of new plants ( NucNet ) The British government will not use taxpayers’ money to subsidize  the construction of new nuclear power plants, Philip Hunt , (right) minister of state at the Department of Energy and Climate Change said Jan 21. In an online question and...

The people who will operate the reactors of the nuclear renaissance are all under 40.   What are the qualities necessary for the next generation of leadership to run the nuclear reactors that are now on the drawing boards of the world’s commercial electric utilities?  By 2012-2015, most of...

A discussion forum for subscribers and visitors to the newspaper’s online edition In late summer 2008 the online Wall Street Journal set up a series of community forums to take advantage of emerging social media. Since September 2008, I’ve been hosting a discussion forum at the online WSJ on the nuclear...

All comments are moderated and here's why Constructive comments that add to the conversation are welcome. I've had my say with the blog post. Comments are a way for you to have yours. Most comments are approved with 24 hours. I ask that comments be relevant to the post you are commenting on,...

Despite a gloomy economic outlook in its service area, the utility’s CEO is bullish on the future of nuclear energy Utility CEO’s are not known for exuberance, irrational or not, in talking about the future of an energy technology.  In fact, with the “ prudent investor ” paradigm motivating publically...

A modest proposal to avoid killing off innovative reactor designs due to cost recovery for design certification reviews In a widely read OP ED published in the Wall Street Journal on June 25, Bob Metcalfe , a well-known entrepreneur and venture capitalist, complained about the “high costs and astronomical...

What makes a good blog? Hat tip to Merlin Mann at 43 Folders At the American Nuclear Society conference taking place in Atlanta this week we had a panel discussion with Rod Adams from Atomic Insights, John Wheeler from This Week in Nuclear and Kirk Sorensen from Energy from Thorium (speaking from the...

Jaczko in the morning, miners take warning The "green agenda" of the Obama administration is being felt  almost immediately in the western states where ISR mining abounds. Newly appointed NRC Chairman Gregory B. Jaczko announced on June 4 that the agency is making a significant change...

Snake River Alliance testimony at NRC hearing targets issues from its own agenda Idaho’s self-appointed nuclear watchdog, the Snake River Alliance (SRA), proved what everyone knows, and that having one around sometimes results in a lot of barking at the wrong things.  For instance, dogs in our neighborhood...

Brussels TV network & newspaper blog about nuclear energy   The European news channel, euronews and the Brussels-based newspaper, European Voice , published by the Economist group, have formed a unique partnership, in association with Shell Oil, in order to seek informed opinions on the key...

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. ...

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...

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...

Business & civic leaders tackle nation’s capital. Students sweep through France It was a classic two-fer this month as dual delegations from one of the nation’s most remote states grabbed their carry-ons, laptops, and, for some, their passports, and hit the road to promote the use of nuclear energy...

Robert Hargraves opens his 2009 class online at Dartmouth Last year, Robert Hargraves offered his now acclaimed online class on nuclear energy over the Internet.  This year he’s added new content and launched a new program called “Aim High” to accompany the class. He’s developed material on a little...

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...

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. ...