July, 2011

The Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future was charged by President Barack Obama with recommending ways to move forward with used nuclear fuel in light of the closing of the Yucca Mountain used fuel repository project. Let’s leave aside the wisdom of closing Yucca Mountain – considering alternatives...

Plant Status Workers at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility in Japan will begin sampling gases inside containment at reactors 1 and 2 to obtain more accurate data on the types and amount of radioactive substances being released. TEPCO hopes that analysis of the...

One of the big arguments against nuclear is that it simply costs too much. Well, if the latest reports from Germany are anything to go by, consumers are going to have to pay more without it. As reported here earlier, Germany has decided to phase out nuclear power and is hoping to shut down all of its...

Guest statement by Christopher Guith Vice President for Policy U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for 21st Century Energy The starting point for any review of U.S. commercial nuclear safety after the disaster in Japan must start with the NRC task force’s fundamental conclusion that our nuclear...

Exelon chief John Rowe isn’t very worried about new regulations on the company’s nuclear energy facilities: "We're not in any panic at all," John Rowe, chairman and CEO of Chicago-based Exelon Corp. told investors on an earnings call. Well, why not? Rowe said the company's "worst...

Plant Status Tokyo Electric Power Co. continues its attempts to decontaminate radioactive water that has collected in the basements of buildings and in drains at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility. With its current decontamination system operating at only 53 percent of capacity, TEPCO is planning...

The Electric Power Research Institute has a report out that compares the costs of fossil fuels, nuclear and renewables. The Integrated Generation Technology Options report provides an executive-level overview of near-term (5 – 10 years) as well as longer term (2025) electricity generation technology...

In case you hadn’t heard – and you really should’ve since it was in our spiffy Twitter feed – but NEI held a meeting for Wall Street’s financial analysts this morning to review with them issues related to the accident at Fukushima Daiichi and the NRC’s subsequent 90-day review of the accident. The NRC...

NEW YORK—America’s nuclear energy industry continues to operate safely and reliably, and the industry has a positive outlook, Marvin Fertel, president and chief executive officer of the Nuclear Energy Institute, told financial analysts today. ...read...

CBS News finds a new hook for their look at nuclear energy: Temperatures began going down Sunday in the eastern half of the country, dropping from last week's record triple-digits and easing a heat wave blamed for at least 34 deaths. Boy, it didn’t feel that way from here, but okay. In any event...

Plant Status After a 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck offshore from Fukushima in the early hours of July 25, Tokyo Electric Power Co. reported there were no problems with any of the systems used to stabilize the reactors at Fukushima Daiichi and no injuries. TEPCO checked the systems for water and nitrogen...

The US electric reliability watchdog and the power sector said Thursday that they are working with federal authorities and within the industry to shore up security in the face of a recent federal bulletin about potential threats to private sector utilities. The Department of Homeland Security issued...

Plant Status Japanese media are reporting on a joint assessment by Tokyo Electric Power Co. and the government that the company has met the first step in its effort to stabilize the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi site. Among the targets met in the first step include re-establishing stable cooling...

WASHINGTON, D.C.— As the Eastern United States suffers triple-digit temperatures that are threatening brownouts and blackouts, America’s nuclear energy facilities are playing a significant role in the reliably producing electricity and stabilizing the...

The analysts at the Commonwealth of Australia Bank want you to know : "But it is a case of one step backward, two steps forward," they said in a review of the sector. "Nuclear growth plans remain intact in China, India, Russia, South Korea, the U.S. and U.K. among others, and dominate...

Plant Status Tokyo Electric Power Co. plans to achieve an improved and stabilized shutdown condition for reactors 1-3 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility within six months, the utility said. TEPCO said it will continue to use the circulating cooling system that decontaminates radioactive...

Guest commentary by Ed Halpin President and Chief Executive Officer, STP Nuclear Operating Co. Member of the Fukushima Response Steering Committee The sweeping recommendations from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Fukushima task force deserve careful consideration and review from key industry...

WASHINGTON, D.C.—Legislation introduced in the U.S. Senate today would provide for continuity of service on the five-member Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The measure would amend the Energy Reorganization Act to allow a commissioner to continue in office...

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is visiting India . There are a skein of issues to discuss, but one with special resonance to us: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed Tuesday for easier access to the Indian market for US nuclear energy firms, who are trailing their French and Russian competitors...

Plant Status TEPCO is scheduled today to install a metal cover over the turbine building of reactor 3 before Typhoon Ma-on moves toward the Japanese coast on Tuesday. The 15-foot-by-50-foot structure is meant to cover a hole in the building. TEPCO reported that the nitrogen injection into reactor 3 is...

Plant Status Tokyo Electric Power Co. expects to meet its self-imposed July 19 deadline to stabilize reactor cooling and mitigate radiation at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility. That work includes injecting inert nitrogen gas into the reactor 3 containment vessel, which started today. The...

Around the time of the July 4 holiday, we responded to a four-part series published by The Associated Press that was larded with inaccuracies about the nuclear energy industry. It’s one thing for a single newspaper to get something wrong in a single print file; quite another when a global news wire service...

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WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. House of Representatives approved a fiscal 2012 appropriations bill today for energy and water development programs. The $30.6 billion appropriations measure (H.R. 2354) provides $733 million for nuclear energy programs (a one...

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