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Now, we admit we can be a little provincial when it comes to viewing the activities. We’ve travelled and had longer than vacation-length stays in other countries – still, a little provincial. So whenever we read a story about a British Lord, we inevitably think of a twit or a criminal rotter hiding under...

Blubba , an occasional contributor at Daily Kos , began an entertaining series of posts describing the unique experiences that occur at a nuclear plant. Story #4, my favorite, highlights the interesting situations nuclear workers can find themselves in when changing in and out of anti-contamination suits...

The Duluth News tries a pro-con pair of op-eds on nuclear energy that would have benefitted considerably from a more direct match-up. John LaForge of Nukewatch takes the con and Rolf Westgard, a professional member of the Geological Society of America and of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists...

Nuclear Energy is never going to get an awful lot of love from Mother Jones magazine – unless the tide of support it’s seen from more progressives that way. But not yet. In a small piece, Mariah Blake shows that the nuclear energy industry would really like nuclear energy to be considered amongst other...

Louise Gray at the Telegraph (U.K.) clears it all up for us : Professor Ian Plimer, a geologist from Adelaide University, argues that a recent rise in temperature around the world is caused by solar cycles and other "extra terrestrial" forces. Extra terrestrial? That sounds like fun. But it...

The answers to this question from various experts should be fun to watch unfold over the week . Be sure to remember to check in occasionally to see how the discussion is going. It's up to five mixed responses so far... ...read more

For those who may be stuck inside all weekend due to bad weather (it's supposed to continue to be dreary around DC for the next couple days) there are quite a few excellent and fun readings I recommend. First is Dan Yurman's third-party perspective about the push for nuclear in Idaho. His frank...

Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) co-wrote an op-ed for the New York Times demonstrating that distinguished gentlemen from opposite ends of the ideological spectrum can agree on a few things. Like what, for example? Second, while we invest in renewable energy sources like wind and...

The debate on the effects of radiation from nuclear plants is alive and kicking at Barry Brooks' blog Brave New Climate . In his latest post, he takes on Dr. Caldicott's latest junk piece that surfaced in Online Opinion : The focal claim from Caldicott in this piece is that it is dangerous to...

Now, here’s the thing: if you go to a conference about some topic in your field, you’re likely to eat some bad food, catch up with colleagues you never liked and end up with a bag full of plastic from various widget vendors. So cynical. Listen and you might well also hear some ideas that charm you, some...

As we’re sure you know from Schoolhouse Rock, when a bill goes through committee, members can propose amendments to enhance this aspect or that of the given legislation. In the House, amendments are sent to the Rules Committee and accepted or rejected there, not in committee or on the floor. The Senate...

Politico is running a package of energy related articles in their current print edition and also on its Web site. While the articles as a group are a bit lumpy – there are chats with Barbra Streisand and Carole King, two singers whose, um, records we respect – there are also a fair number of policymakers...

Seed Magazine has an interesting set of articles that roost under the title: The Lesser Evil: Nuclear or Coal? Well, you have to give a magazine room to gin up its content. Gwyneth Cravens, author of the Power to Save the World: The Truth About Nuclear Energy , offers an entry : Wind and solar are too...

We can’t help but think that Die Welt, the German magazine, has an ulterior motive for looking at Maryland’s Calvert Cliffs plant. If they do – like knocking over Germany’s ban on new construction – they don’t reveal it. But we wonder . Members of the Maryland Chamber’s board visited the existing 1,735...

Triplepundit asks the following question: At some point you just have to ask yourself, what is it that these politicians are getting to push nuclear energy so hard? Answer: knowledge. It’s a powerful thing. You can read the rest of the post yourself, but we didn’t find it all that noteworthy. The opening...

Not much thought about by energy types, but exceptionally important in the construction of a nuclear power plant, concrete would seem an unchangeable item. After all, it’s been in use since Roman times. But that, as MIT demonstrates, is remarkably unimaginative thinking – the creation of cement, a component...

We tip our hats to the savvy marketing peeps at Greenpeace for generating lots of internet buzz this morning about their spoofed edition of the International Herald Tribune . From the AFP , Greenpeace supporters handed out mock copies of the International Herald Tribune in several countries Thursday...

Lots of strikingly good news in the nuclear sphere today: Let’s take them one at a time. The Department of Energy has introduced a scholarship program : U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced nearly $9 million in awards to support the next generation of American nuclear energy development. ...

We haven’t been the happiest persons on our increasingly watery planet with the Waxman-Markey energy bill, but neither have we been the unhappiest. After all, the bill set ambitious targets on greenhouse gas emission reduction and nuclear energy is a sure, even the surest, way to meet those targets....

Not our question – because we know the answer – but that of the The National Journal, which has set up a forum for invited parties to grapple with the question. When we checked, some of the pro-nuclear sources had weighed in - Paul Sullivan, Professor of Economics, National Defense University Elizabeth...

On Babcock and Wilcox’s announcement of new, smaller nuclear reactors: Our friends at the Heritage Foundation like what they see : One of the most interesting things about B&W’s entrance into the reactor market is that unlike most other designers, they have the industrial infrastructure to start...

And hard to catch, and tantalizingly within reach. That makes Susan G. Koman for the Cure and its annual Race for the Cure so important. But cure for what ? Nancy G. Brinker promised her dying sister, Susan G. Komen, she would do everything in her power to end *** cancer forever. In 1982, that promise...

"Mr. President, the American people get it. The manufacturing industry gets it. Organized labor gets it. And the international community, who are committed to reducing greenhouse gasses, certainly gets it. And what do all these parties get? "It's time that President Obama and this Congress...

Energy Northwest is giving nuclear energy a look-see . In a May 27 letter obtained by The Associated Press, the [Energy Northwest] consortium asked each of its 25 member public utilities and municipalities to pitch in $25,000 for further research into building one or more small reactors. Those who pay...

We’ve turned the spotlight on some politicians who really seem to have done their homework on climate change, cap-and-trade, nuclear energy and the other topics that will be important as the climate change and energy bills work their way through Congress. We did that because, first, they deserve a little...