December, 2011

Power from thorium : This is [Bob] Greene's first time running [for President], and he's not sure if it's his last, but he certainly wants the world to know his position on thorium — a natural radioactive chemical element he hopes can change the nation's dependence on foreign oil. Why...

2012 promises to be an extremely consequential year for American nuclear energy. In the grand tradition of sneak previews, the first news to hit made 2011: The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Thursday approved the amended design for the Westinghouse AP1000, a reactor that several power companies intend...

National Nuclear Science Week is coming up January 23 and The National Museum of Nuclear Science and History (which has a great slogan: “Reactions Welcome”) is gearing up for it. The museum is in Albuquerque – where Bugs Bunny often made wrong turns – and also near one of the Manhattan Project sites...

Early this morning, NEI received the following statement from Dr. Robert Peter Gale concerning the recent report by Joe Mangano and Janette Sherman on the alleged effects of fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility on the U.S. Comment by Dr. Robert Peter Gale on Mangano-Sherman Report...

A new study released on December 19 by Joseph Mangano, executive director of the Radiation and Public Health Project, claims that 14,000 U.S. deaths can be tied to radiation from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power accident. Dr. Robert Emery, vice president for safety, health, environment and risk management...

Just a few minutes ago, I received the following statement from Dr. Robert Emery, Vice President for Safety, Health, Environment & Risk Management at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston concerning Dr. Joseph Mangano's recent study on fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear...

The Progressive Policy Institute offers strong support for nuclear energy in the post-Fukushima era, in a paper that bats down various myths that have taken hold about nuclear and other energy sources. The paper links support for nuclear energy to progressive views. As champions of reason and science...

The Progressive Policy Institute has released a new policy memo that discusses the impact of Fukushima on U.S. energy policy and says that Americans should consider the facts about nuclear energy before endorsing a “knee-jerk anti-nuclear policy.” The memo also outlines how electricity is...

This time, the sledgehammer is delivered courtesy of Barbara Feder Ostrov's Health Journalism Blog . Like plenty of other folks, she was shocked at Joe Mangano's claims -- ones that he backed off from when under questioning from MedPage Today -- so she talked to some long-time medical journalists...

Congress voted on an omnibus appropriations bill that basically funds the entirety of the federal government for the next year. Naturally, our interest lies with the nuclear energy portion of the Department of Energy’s budget. The executive summary is that the total is more than requested by the Obama...

Mike Moyer, the writer at Scientific American who so expertly debunked Joe Mangano's "research" in June , had a chance to read the latest Mangano study that claimed 14,000 deaths in the U.S. were linked to fallout from Fukushima . The verdict: it's just another flawed study. No attempt...

Japan does not have many options for electricity if it leaves behind nuclear energy and if limiting carbon emission remains a national goal. But what Japan decides to do about nuclear energy is something that is tough to gainsay. So, the groundwork to lessen dependence on nuclear is being laid , though...

Our readers will recall that on Friday afternoon that we were alerted to the impending release of a study authored by Joseph Mangano and Dr. Janette Sherman on the alleged effects of radioactive fallout from the Fukushima Daiichi incident here in the U.S. Earlier today, Mangano and company held a teleconference...

Plant Status The Fukushima Daiichi reactors are in “a state of cold shutdown,” with temperatures at the bottom of the reactor pressure vessels and containment vessels stably below the boiling point and radiation levels at the plant boundary below 100 millirem per year. (By comparison, the average radiation...

Over the past few months, anti-nuclear groups have regularly attacked our industry for allegedly resisting implementing changes at our facilities in the wake of the incident at Fukushima Daiichi. While that’s simply not the case , it’s a perception that often gets reinforced in the press—and this morning...

Late this afternoon, it came to our attention that Joseph Mangano, Janette Sherman and Robert Alvarez will be holding a news conference on Monday morning (December 19) concerning a new study they've done about how Americans might be affected by radiation released into the atmosphere from the Fukushima...

A happy day : Japanese Prime Minister Yoshikhiko Noda said on Friday that the battle to stabilize the country's Fukushima nuclear plant had turned a corner, nine months after an earthquake and tsunami sent reactors into meltdowns. "The reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant have...

Reuters reported this morning that the Japanese prime minister declared that the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy facility is in a state of cold shutdown. See story: UPDATE 5-Japan says stricken nuclear power plant in cold shutdown TOKYO, Dec 16 (Reuters) – Japan declared its tsunami-stricken Fukushima...

I came across an article this week penned by professor Benjamin Sovacool that purports to give readers “the dirt on nuclear power.” The article gives way to hasty generalizations and leaves readers with a false view of one of the nation’s safest industries, and I’d like to point out a few places where...

Suzy Hobbes over at Pop Atomic Studios makes the case . ...read more

Today, French nuclear company AREVA said it expected to post operating losses of about 1.4 to 1.6 billion euros in its 2011 year-end financial report, including a cash flow loss, before tax, of about 1.8 billion euros. This story from AOL Energy News is rather bare on facts, substituting something very...

The Fukushima updates are moving to a weekly schedule beginning today and continuing each Monday. Additional updates will be issued as needed to cover developing events. Japan: Full Decontamination Efforts Will Begin in March December 12, 2011 Industry/Regulatory/Political TEPCO said it will receive...

NOTE: The Fukushima updates are moving to a weekly schedule beginning today and continuing each Monday.  Additional updates will be issued as needed to cover developing events. Industry/Regulatory/Political Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) said it will receive accident insurance from a Swiss company...

Struggling against earthquake aftershocks, devastating floodwaters and debris, employees at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s (TEPCO) Fukushima Daini nuclear energy facility safely shut down all four of the facility’s reactors within days of the historic 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that struck on March...

The following statement concerning the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is from the Nuclear Energy Institute ’s president and chief executive officer, Marvin Fertel : “Safe performance of nuclear energy facilities and the NRC’s credibility are the two most important factors for policymaker and...