Nuclear Energy Institute

Pandora’s Promise in Review

NEI — Wed, 19 Jun 2013 14:00:00 GMT

Opening Reviews? Mixed, with a tilt to the positive. Manohla Dargis in the New York Times grabbed a little harder than I did at the drubbing of Dr. Helen Calidicott got in the picture and said it showed the movie’s one-sided view of nuclear energy. This comic divide — the strident old lady environmentalist with the apparent bad dye job (Ms. Caldicott...(read more)

Does Nuclear Energy Still Have a Future? You Better Believe It Does.

NEI — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 16:21:00 GMT

Ever since last week's announcement of the closure of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station , we've been seeing a spate of stories in the press questioning whether or not nuclear energy has a future as part of the nation's energy mix. Here at NEI, the answer is a resounding yes, and part of the confidence springs from the fact that we've...(read more)

The Power of Doubt in Pandora’s Promise

NEI — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:42:00 GMT

Note: Be sure to look at all of Nuclear Notes’ coverage of this important movie, most notably Eric’s review below. Should you trust a “review” of Pandora’s Promise , Robert Stone’s new movie on nuclear energy, from this particular site? Well, that’s up to you to decide. If I thought the movie terrible as a film going experience, there would still be...(read more)

Did Pandora's Promise Miss John Kerry's Change of Heart on Nuclear Energy?

NEI — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 16:35:00 GMT

Sec. John Kerry One of the big ideas pushed by Pandora's Promise concerns the potential of breeder reactors to provide a technological fix to the political question of what to do with used nuclear fuel. A considerable segment of the film tells the story of the Experimental Breeder Reactor II (EBR-II) project at Argonne National Laboratory in Idaho...(read more)

A Brief Review of Pandora's Promise

NEI — Fri, 14 Jun 2013 12:30:00 GMT

Robert Stone behind the camera. It was back in 2006 that NEI Nuclear Notes published its first post with the title, " Another Environmentalist for Nuclear Energy ." At the time, I could certainly have understood how a statement like that might seem more than a bit unbelievable. Environmentalists? Supporting? Nuclear? Energy? Wasn't the...(read more)

Lost in the Nuclear Clouds

NEI — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 18:20:00 GMT

I watched Cloud Atlas (2012) over the last two nights (it’s almost 3 hours long) and was surprised that one plotline involves a nuclear energy facility, at least tangentially. If you haven’t seen the movie, it tells six distinct stories in widely variant time periods, each in its own style. Like D.W. Griffith’s similarly structured Intolerance (1916...(read more)

Robert Stone and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Clash After Screening of Pandora's Promise

NEI — Wed, 12 Jun 2013 11:55:00 GMT

On Monday night, I traveled to Pleasantville, NY to attend a screening of Pandora's Promise . While I had originally intended to provide live coverage of the event via NEI's Twitter feed , I was foiled by poor reception inside the theater. I'm writing this summary to take it's place. Pleasantville is only a 27-minute ride from Indian...(read more)

Reactions to San Onofre Closing: It “ought to jolt the governor”

NEI — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 18:11:00 GMT

The reaction to the closure of San Onofre in the California Press has been mixed, to say the least. The anti-nuclear feeling out there has faded a bit, as demonstrated by the failure to get enough signatures for ballot measure to close San Onofre and Diablo Canyon, but there’s still a fair amount of it. Still, this leads to a Jekyll-Hyde response to...(read more)

Where Can I See the Nuclear Energy Documentary Pandora's Promise?

NEI — Mon, 10 Jun 2013 16:04:00 GMT

This evening in Pleasantville, NY at the Jacob Burns Film Center , Robert Stone's new documentary, Pandora's Promise , will have its New York premiere. Following the screening, Stone will have a discussion with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. of Riverkeeper about the film. The discussion will be moderated by Andrew Revkin of the New York Times . NEI...(read more)

NEI on the San Onofre Shutdown

NEI — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 19:02:00 GMT

Earlier today, NEI's Steve Kerekes spoke to the Washington Post concerning the announcement today by Southern California Edison that they intended to close the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station : “This is a situation that is unique to Southern California Edison and the replacement of steam generators at the San Onofre reactors,” said Steve Kerekes...(read more)

Giant Digital Simulator Enhances D.C. Cook Plant Training

NEI — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 18:36:00 GMT

NEI’s Top Industry Practice Awards recognize innovation in the nuclear energy industry. Presented at NEI’s annual conference, the awards honor accomplishments that help the industry improve safety, streamline processes and increase efficiency. In a special series of articles this week, Nuclear Energy Overview highlights the challenges and successes...(read more)

Why You Can't Trust Joe Mangano and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League on Radiation and Public Health

NEI — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:49:00 GMT

More than a few folks have passed along a news clip to us from The Chattanoogan detailing another " study " by Joseph Mangano of the Radiation and Public Health Project and the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League (BREDL) claiming that they've discovered higher mortality rates in populations living near the Browns Ferry Nuclear Plant...(read more)

NextEra Sets Record With 700-MW Power Uprate

NEI — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 15:00:00 GMT

NEI’s Top Industry Practice Awards recognize innovation in the nuclear energy industry. Presented at NEI’s annual conference, the awards honor accomplishments that help the industry improve safety, streamline processes and increase efficiency. In a special series of articles this week, our publication Nuclear Energy Overview highlights the challenges...(read more)

Duke Examines 6,500 Oconee Reactor Parts in One Refueling Outage

NEI — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 20:54:00 GMT

NEI’s Top Industry Practice Awards recognize innovation in the nuclear energy industry. Presented at NEI’s annual conference, the awards honor accomplishments that help the industry improve safety, streamline processes and increase efficiency. In a special series of articles this week, our publication Nuclear Energy Overview highlights the challenges...(read more)

What Gets Sacrificed in a Nuclear Energy Shutdown

NEI — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 20:21:00 GMT

Writer Mark Gunther over at the Energy Collective talks about his hesitation to renew his Greenpeace membership: If Greenpeace manages to persuade the US or other governments to "eliminate nuclear power"--that's what the headline [of the renewal letter] says--the risk of catastrophic climate change will grow much worse. Climate activists...(read more)