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The two big posts everyone was raving about over the weekend come from Depleted Cranium’s Steve Packard and Brave New Climate’s Barry Brook. Steve clearly spent a great deal of man-hours providing a number of reasons Why You Can’t Build a Bomb From Spent Fuel . As well, Barry Brook always gets a heavy...

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...

Mr. Elliott Negin, media director for the Union of Concerned Scientists, published the same jaded piece at Seeking Alpha and Greentech Media on how nuclear power is “Too Costly to Revive.” He begins by painting a somewhat rosy picture of the nuclear industry but then begins to dish it out by discussing...

Carol Browner, President Obama’s energy and climate advisor, said some nice things about nuclear energy: "We have not built a nuclear plant in this country in a long time but we want to work with the industry to make that happen in the not too distant future," Browner said in a live chat on...

Doesn’t look like it . Apparently she’s trying to create controversy with many in the environmental community over nuclear. Maybe nuclear really isn’t as bad as she believes . . . ...read more

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...

If you weren’t among the 13 million viewers who tuned in to watch the Simpsons 20th-anniversary special on Sunday night, here’s a clip containing the nuclear nuggets. The full episode can be seen on Hulu here . Congratulations to Matt Groening and James L. Brooks for creating what is now the longest...

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...

From a new administration in Washington, D.C., to the debate on climate change, 2009 was a busy year for the nuclear industry as the domestic fleet continued to operate at near-record capacity. The following summary of nuclear energy in 2009 was eloquently written and compiled by one of NEI’s writers...

One of NEI’s knowledgeable writers, Chris Charles, tallied up some promising world nuclear numbers in NEI’s weekly member newsletter. Below is his text that you may find useful. Jan. 7, 2010—The year 2009 ended with two new nuclear reactors beginning operation worldwide and a total of 55 new units under...

We were in the mood for cheese, so of course had to look in on Wisconsin, where the mood is cheddery smooth : A proposal that would relax Wisconsin's ban on nuclear reactors and mandate increasing use of renewable energy began its journey through the Legislature on Thursday, with Gov. Jim Doyle asserting...

Thanks to Dan and Rod , we have four new blogs added to our blogroll. First is Yes Vermont Yankee whose writer, Meredith Angwin, has put herself through the angst and some joys of going to anti-nuclear shindigs. Her latest experience at an anti-nuclear potluck was a bit inspiring in the fact that the...

We know it’s getting to be top ten time of the year (and decade), but we’ve never really enjoyed these summary wrap-ups. After all, time like the tide is rather fluid and what seemed most important in the short term of a year fades before much more time has passed. Even the top ten movies or albums seem...

At the COP15 conference in Copenhagen, President Barack Obama did not seem very pleased: So America is going to continue on this course of action [toward carbon emission reduction goals] no matter what happens in Copenhagen. But we will all be stronger and safer and more secure if we act together. That...

Actually, there are only just three recent studies/reports I'd like to bring to your attention. The first comes from Ted Rockwell (pdf) at Learning About Energy . Colleagues: Attached is a list of purported facts about the use of nuclear energy for generating electricity, and purported facts about...

A bipartisan trio of Senators presented a framework on climate change. The framework is focused on energy security and job creation and is admirably broad based in its energy approach. Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) aim to create legislation that can find...

Our impression reading the daily news wrap-ups about COP15 is that everyone is holding their breaths over the arrival of the world leaders next week and that this first week has more the trappings of a, um, conventional convention – that is, trade show displays, break-out meetings on different topics...

Obama administration officials claim that the EPA announcement and the opening of the Copenhagen Climate Conference are "coincidental." Except that the administration knew when the conference was starting so could have chosen to hold the announcement. Not choosing to wait is a pretty good definition...

Now, Copenhagen is hosting the COP15 conference but Denmark is not the guiding force behind it – the U.N. just likes to put its big meetings in different member countries (COP14 was in Poland, for example.) Still, we were curious to know where the Danes are with nuclear energy and happily, well, unhappily...

Have you heard ? A much-anticipated global meeting of nearly 200 nations — all seeking what has so far been elusive common ground on the issue of climate change — began [in Copenhagen] on Monday with an impassioned airing of what leaders here called the political and moral imperatives at hand. This is...

If you’re not too busy during this second week of my favorite holiday month, there are a number of readings on nuclear energy I recommend (in no particular order). First is from Brian Wang who’s the main writer at Next Big Future . Brian, in a rebuttal to Michael Dittmar’s series at The Oil Drum claiming...

Jesse Jenkins over at The Energy Collective asks : "How can policy help overcome hurdles to nuclear power in the United States?" ... As a policy wonk ... my job is to find policy levers to accelerate the transformation of the U.S. and global energy system to a low-carbon, prosperous energy...

On a crisp morning in 1937, if you asked him, he may have gone with you and his other friends to a fishing spot just over that hill. But to support his disabled father, and his mother and siblings, Virgil Clifton Summer, Jr., graduated from high school and went to work. The Parr Steam Plant had given...

If you’ve been following the health care or climate change debates, you know that your local newspaper will run a story each day whether or not anything significant happened that day because of the intense interest in the subjects. Some stories can roll on for a good long time before anything resembling...

No need to spend too much time on this , from the San Francisco Gate: Let's back up a little bit. Nuclear energy is unsavory to the average citizen: It creates toxic waste and entails some level of danger for those who leave [sic: live] near reactors and waste sites. Advocates insist that risk has...