February, 2008

Here's what an Orlando Sentinel editorial has to say about the role of the Turkey Point nuclear plant in the Tuesday blackout... Our position: Nuclear energy shouldn't be used as scapegoat in this week's massive blackout Critics of nuclear energy were barking up the wrong power pole when...

Several leading policymakers have made statements encouraging construction of new nuclear power plants over the past week. Here are some of these statements. Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), ranking member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, had this to say about nuclear energy in a speech...

Here's a summary of what went on in the energy markets last week: Electricity peak prices increased $3-9/MWh at all hubs except NEPOOL. The NEPOOL hub decreased $1/MWh (Platts, see pages 1 and 3). Estimated nuclear plant availability rose to 93 percent last week. Grand Gulf 1 was the only unit to...

Two days ago on DallasNews , Arjun Makhijani from the anti-nuclear group Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) gave his usual commentary that nuclear can't cut it but renewables can . Having failed miserably to deliver on the 1950s promise that nuclear electricity would be "too...

The nation's largest federation of businesses, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce , has officially entered the blogosphere. Check out the new Chamberpost where staffer and outside experts weigh in on issues important to American business. ...read more

From Entergy : The application seeks regulatory approvals to potentially build a new unit adjacent to Entergy’s existing Grand Gulf Nuclear Station, a reactor that ranks third among the nation’s 104 nuclear plants for total electricity output over its lifetime of commercial operations. With energy demands...

Federal spending on research and development on key energy technologies has increased substantially since the end of 2000, according to a recent study. Investment in new energy technologies will no doubt pay dividends. ...read more

That's what they're aiming for : Areva aims to build more than 100 gigawatts of new nuclear power capacity by 2030, one third of the 344 GW that the company expects to be developed around the world by that date, a spokeswoman said. AREVA's Evolutionary Power Reactor is 1.6 GW therefore 100...

The Diane Rehm show is not on all NPR stations, but if you can get it, Scott Peterson and Jim Riccio are on the show NOW talking about what the future of nuclear should be in the United States. (Note Diane is not hosting today. The show is being hosted by Frank Sesno .) For online access, try here and...

A widespread power outage in Florida occurred just after 1 PM Eastern today affecting several millions of Florida customers. Two of Florida's five nuclear reactors were shutdown as a result of the outage. Here is a statement from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission : At approximately 1:09 p.m. today...

In the March 2008 issue of Gentlemen's Quarterly , Wyl S. Hylton wrote a great, balanced piece on the current state of the nuclear industry . His main topics centered around the Three Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania and Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Below are some highlights (bold edits are...

The latest issue of Nuclear Energy Insight is now available online. In it, you'll find an article on congressional approval of an energy bill that opens overseas markets for America's nuclear power suppliers. There also are reports on new-plant plans across the globe and the important role nuclear...

More here . ...read more

Check out number five from the Houston Chronicle : 5. The U.S. nuclear energy industry has proved itself to be safe, reliable and free of toxic emissions. New technologies make plants more efficient and easier to build and operate. Environmental concerns dictate that nuclear power play a larger role...

It's to go nuclear according to Charles Groat at the Houston Chronicle : The next president of the United States can strike an early blow for sound energy policy by actively promoting our increased use of nuclear power. ... Ghosts from the past and emotional arguments not backed by scientific fact...

Leading investment banks have begun to incorporate estimates for the cost of reducing carbon dioxide emissions into the cost of building new power plant projects, a move that would increase the competitiveness of new nuclear plants. According to this approach, banks would impose additional costs on plants...

Industry executives described the prudent steps energy companies are taking as they consider builidng new nuclear plants in the United States in a briefing for Wall Street analysts today. NEI's press release follows: Nuclear Energy Expansion Will Proceed Cautiously Over Next Decade, Wall Street Analysts...

Last night Alec Baldwin moderated a forum on the health effects of the Oyster Creek nuclear plant in New Jersey. From APP.com : Actor Alec Baldwin said he would like to see the state force the owners of the Oyster Creek Generating Station to build cooling towers to replace an outdated boiling water reactor...

Don Gillispie, President and CEO of Alternate Energy Holdings Inc. , wrote an opinion piece at ArbiterOnline which is Boise State's Independent Student Newspaper : Nuclear power, on the other hand, needs little area to produce massive amounts of energy and does it with 90 percent reliability, zero...

From Progress : Progress Energy Carolinas, a subsidiary of Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN), announced that it will file a combined operating license (COL) application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) later today [yesterday] for two possible new reactors at the existing Harris Nuclear Plant site...

You can listen here . ...read more

Alan Greenspan last week strongly endorsed nuclear energy as part of a future energy portfolio that provides clean power to the electricity grid and reduces U.S. dependence on foreign oil. Speaking at Cambridge Energy Research Associates’ (CERA) week-long energy conference in Houston, the former Federal...

Two weeks ago I attended Platts' 4th Annual Nuclear Energy Conference. Below are some highlights I would like to share from 8 of the 31 speakers. Day One - Michael Wallace Michael Wallace, Chairman of Unistar and President of Constellation Energy Nuclear Group , began the conference by stating the...

Rod asks: Should we be concerned about guards sleeping in a "ready room"? Late last year there was a lot of hype about a series of cell phone videos recorded by a new security guard at the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station of fellow guards dozing off while in a room identified as a "ready...

In the January/February 2008 edition of Extra, Karl Grossman at Fairness and Accuracy In Reporting wrote a disingenuous, inaccurate piece against nuclear energy . The whole premise of his article is that the mainstream media doesn't question the nuclear advocates in the industry and government. We...