October, 2011

U.S. nuclear energy facilities are highly unlikely to experience the devastating combination of a massive earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in Japan, but the events there underscored the need to guard against even very unlikely combinations of extreme natural forces...

Though the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) Fukushima task force confirmed that America’s nuclear energy facilities are safe, the industry is committed to ensuring that it incorporates all relevant lessons from Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi facility to make nuclear energy facilities even safer. As the...

Plant Status Tokyo Electric Power Co. reports that pilot tests of the ventilation system associated with the cover it has installed over Fukushima Daiichi reactor 1 showed the system successfully filtered more than 90 percent of the radioactive cesium released from the reactor. TEPCO is considering installing...

Last week, I sat in on a House hearing about the Blue Ribbon Commission’s draft report . The hearing rapidly departed from the subject and veered to Yucca Mountain, which the commission was asked not to consider. None of the commission members were at the hearing – they want to wait until the release...

F rom Treehuggers’ Sarah Hodgson: "Every new nuclear plant licensed and built is a stake thru the heart of energy efficiency, offshore wind, solar, and other clean energy sources," said Susan [Corbett, the chair of the South Carolina Sierra Club.] A stake through the heart? Isn’t that what...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues Kansai Electric is to submit to the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency (NISA) the results of a “stress test” on reactor 3 of its Ohi plant in Fukui prefecture. The test consists of computer simulations to gauge whether a plant can withstand a major earthquake and...

A new study from consulting company Capgemini said that Europe may have trouble “keeping the lights on” this winter thanks to the nuclear phase-out in Germany. Following its reactor shutdowns, Germany began to import electricity from its neighbors, including more than 2,000 MW per day from France. During...

Like a lot of folks, we've been seeing the reports out of Argentina that locals have caught a 3-eyed fish (leading to inevitable Simpsons comparison ) in a lake adjacent to the Embalse nuclear power plant . Here are just a couple of thoughts before the shots get mainstream media pickup: While the...

The American Security Project has put up an interesting podcast that asks whether recent events mark the end of the nuclear renaissance. Andrew Holland and Veronique Lee of ASP host Scott Peterson, NEI’s vice-president. Now, before you say, “Well, what’s he going to say?"  ASP aims to create...

Southern Co. has launched a new print advertising campaign to highlight some of the economic benefits the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant brings to the Georgia area. I particularly like the image--the sun rising on the construction site for Vogtle units 3 and 4. It sheds a hopeful light on a topic that...

Late on Friday afternoon, Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to NRC Chairman Greg Jaczko accusing Entergy, the owner of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, of being less than truthful when it came to emissions of Strontium-90 (Sr-90) from the plant. The following comes from the Associated Press...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues The general assembly of the World Association of Nuclear Operatorsapproved a set of wide-ranging commitments to nuclear safety at the organization’s first major meeting after the accident at Fukushima Daiichi. About 600 attended the Oct. 23-25 meeting in Shenzhen...

To every debate, there are two sides of the coin. How will nuclear energy stack up in a post-Fukushima world? Heads—nuclear energy will continue to prosper and become even safer despite potential regulatory hurdles that could befall the industry. Tails—Fukushima’s impact on the industry will force new...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues The prime ministers of Japan and France signed an agreement Sunday to cooperate on improving nuclear safety. The agreement’s intent is to strengthen bilateral efforts in nuclear power risk management and radioactive decontamination. The countries also agreed to discuss...

From Mohamed ElBaradei , the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency: "There will be, in the short term, a slowdown in some countries. But others like France, India or China [won't see] an impact on their [nuclear] programs," he says. A little more: "For example, China...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has directed its staff to implement seven safety recommendations from the NRC’s Fukushima task force. The recommendations are among 12 presented by the task force in July. NRC staff reviewed the task force’s July 12 report and...

Nuclear energy. It’s expensive, right? That’s what a lot of our friends at the Union of Concerned Scientists and Greenpeace keep saying. Alright, then let’s shut down some plants and start saving money, right? Surely, just on a cost basis alone, it makes sense. To be fair, let’s replace the electrons...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has created a steering committee to oversee the longer-term review of lessons learned from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident and implementation of recommendations from the agency’s near-term task force. Its responsibilities...

The Clean Energy Insight blog, which is the blog for the North American Young Generation in Nuclear, just published four stories from mothers who work in the nuclear industry . Being a mother and having any job is tough enough; working in the nuclear industry on top of it is, well, it makes for some...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues Tokyo Electric Power Co. expects to achieve a stable “cold shutdown condition” of reactors 1, 2 and 3 by the end of the year, a month earlier than originally planned, according to a revised “Roadmap Towards Restoration From the Accident at Fukushima Daiichi.” The...

I hear it all the time lately. “What’s happening to American technology? Are we losing our edge?” No more space shuttle . Steve Jobs logging off for good . The next generation space telescope on the chopping block. So, it was with no small satisfaction last week that I listened into an NRC hearing on...

Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues A visiting IAEA team of international radiation experts has submitted a report to Japan’s Environment Minister Goshi Hosono that generally commends the central and local governments for their decontamination efforts in areas surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi facility...

The other day, we ran a bit noting that the British government issued a report that cleared the way for new nuclear build in the United Kingdom. I used it to make a larger point, but it is rather a point in itself. For one thing, it has led to a very substantial change of heart for the Liberal Democratic...

You know, it’s kind of sad that no one is willing to invest in nuclear energy anymore. Wait, what? NuScale Power celebrated the news of its company-saving $30 million investment from Fluor Corp. Thursday morning with a press conference in Washington, D.C. Fluor is a design, engineering and construction...

In 2008, NEI published a study based on an analysis by the Management Information Systems, Inc. that detailed the amount of subsidies that go to each energy source. The study has just been updated and now shows 60 years of energy incentives . Here’s the intro: With concern about the price and availability...