Idaho Samizdat: Nuke Notes

After five years it is time to close up shop Typewriter keys for an Underwood Universal #5 This blog has ceased publication and the contents, all 1,600 blog posts, will remain available in archive status. I appreciate all the support from readers over the past five years. The purpose...

~ Updated for 2012 ~ Fed Up with Turkey? Try this Recipe! In the spirit of Thanksgiving, and wanting to take a break from reading, thinking, and writing about nuclear energy, I'm offering for the 6th year my tried and true cooking instructions for something completely different. Sunday...

The Indian Atomic Energy Regulatory Board gave a green light for the action Russian build VVERs at Kudankulam Work began on Wednesday, Sept 19, to load commercial fuel (3-5% U235) into the core of the first of two 1,000 MW Russian built VVER nuclear reactors located on India's southern...

Despite seemingly intractable problems at several reactor sites, there are some positive developments Common sense report on Indian Point New York Governor Andrew Cuomo New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has tried mightily to create a rationale for closing the twin nuclear reactors...

The Cabinet hits the brakes on a formal policy to phase out all nuclear reactors in 30 years. Hiromasa Yonekura, Chairman of the Keidanren business lobby (L) Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE ...

Restarts of reactors at three utilities are still distant gleams in the eyes of their operators Customers of three nuclear electric utilities will have a long wait for the restart of four U.S. reactors. The sites are Southern California Edison's (SCE) twin 1100 MW units at San Onofre,...

Political expediency seems to be the motivation in Japan, but the picture is less clear in France Last Friday Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda appeared to bow to overwhelming anti-nuclear sentiment in his country in an effort to save his party's fortunes in the upcoming elections...

The path to using it is paved with government documents T he Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is considering a plan to burn mixed oxide fuel in two of its power reactors starting in 2018. While the utility hasn’t formally made up its mind, the decision process reached a new stage...

A hearing on the potential use of MOX fuel on two TVA reactors is set for September 11 The American Nuclear Society is putting on a full court press over a MOX fuel hear on Tuesday this week. They ask for your help with a September 11 public hearing in Chattanooga, Tennessee. We need...

China's huge sovereign wealth fund is a frequent target of power proposals The Peoples Republic of China is sitting on huge cash reserves available for investment, domestic or foreign. According to some estimates, the amount is about $4 trillion. If every dollar of hard currency China...

Layoffs equal to the staff of a nuclear reactor and removal of fuel from Unit 3 are troubling signposts for the future of the power station Steam generator problems that have kept both Units 2 & 3 offline since last January played a role in two new sets of consequences in August. Southern...

It signs on to manage Ft. Calhoun and signs off on plans for a new build in Texas Exelon ( NYSE:EXE ) took over the management of the Ft. Calhoun Station which is owned by the Omaha Public Power District ( OPPD ). The troubled plant hasn’t generated electricity since last Spring when it was safely shut...

The 119th weekly Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers is up at Vermont Yankee The Carnival is the collective voice of blogs by legendary names that emerge each week to tell the story of nuclear energy. If you want to hear the voice of the nuclear renaissance, the Carnival of Nuclear Energy...

Fast reactor designs face export controls and the need to develop new fuel types which may slow time to market This article is based on a presentation given by Andrea Jennetta, Publisher, Fuel Cycle Week , at a conference held in July in Washington, DC, on commercializing small modular reactors. Research...

Fukushima related fears have slowed but not stopped development of new reactors The International Atomic Energy Agency ( IAEA ) said this month in a series of reports that the events which took place at Fukushima, Japan, in March 2011 are expected to slow, but not stop, nuclear growth. The agency said...

The question is how big is the bird and will any of the proposed deals fly? Competition for Turkey’s second and third nuclear power stations has heated up, but it isn’t clear whether any deals will be signed soon. China, South Korea, Japan, Canada, and Russia all want to supply the plants, which are...

The firm maintains it financial guidance for 2012 This is my coverage as published in Fuel Cycle Week V11:N483 published 8/2/12 by International Nuclear Associates, Washington, DC Cameco ( TSX:CCO ) recorded precipitous drops in revenue and earnings for the 2012 second quarter compared to the first quarter...

Plan to share best practices cleared by U.S. Department of Justice Nuclear utilities representing 13 reactors and 16 GWe of generating power have formed a virtual alliance to share best practices to improve their overall performance. While it is not a merger in the traditional financial sense, the new...

It’s a busy week as usual with a focus on the continuing ire of Sen. Harry Reid as well as unrelated nonproliferation issues over nuclear fuel The Carnival is the collective voice of blogs by legendary names that emerge each week to tell the story of nuclear energy. If you want to hear the voice of the...

Reports of a late Fall return to service are pro-forma Image Source: Smart Animation by Real Illusion Breathless news media reports last week that Units 2 & 3 at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) would restart in late Fall are off the mark. The dates, Nov 18...

Problems with procurement and finance said to be causes of the delay Brazil's Angra 3 (conceptual image via Merco Press) Brazil's Angra 3 nuclear power plant being built by state owned Centrais Electricas Brasileiras (EBR) is not expected to enter revenue service until 2016...

Stockholders will receive $46/share, a 72% premium Chicago Bridge & Iron ( NYSE:CBI ) agreed to acquire The Shaw Group ( NYSE:SHAW ) for $3.04 billion in cash and stock on July 30. The surprise move extends CB&I’s growth into the U.S. power generation market particularly nuclear energy. CB&I...

The U.S. doesn’t want to hear about it The Cold War is over but North Korea has another nut job for a political leader, this time it is an untested youth still shy of his 30th birthday. Claims by the U.S. that South Korea must not pursue uranium enrichment and reprocessing because of the unpredictability...

The 115th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers is up at Atomic Power Review . The Carnival is the collective voice of blogs by legendary names that emerge each week to tell the story of nuclear energy. If you want to hear the voice of the nuclear renaissance, the Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs is where...

B&W inks MOU with First Energy for economic, siting, and licensing studies The Babcock & Wilcox Company (B&W) ( NYSE:BWC ) and FirstEnergy Corp. ( NYSE:FE ) announced July 25 that FirstEnergy and a B&W subsidiary, Generation mPower LLC (GmP), have signed a Memorandum of Understanding...