NEI Nuclear Notes

The following statement comes from NEI's Media Relations Department: The U.S. Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works held a hearing today on the federal government’s program to dispose of used nuclear fuel from commercial nuclear power plants and high-level radioactive waste from U.S. defense programs at a geologic repository planned for Yucca Mountain, Nev. The Nuclear Energy Institute’s chief nuclear officer, Marvin Fertel, made the following comments about the program. “As the Department of Energy moves steadily closer to the submission of a license application for the planned Yucca Mountain repository to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, today’s hearing was an opportune time to note that there is some 20 years of solid science undergirding this program. Over the past two decades, billions of dollars have been spent on analyses of the repository site by many of our nation’s leading scientific experts. This analysis will continue during construction and operation o...

Here's a summary of what went on in the energy markets last week: Electricity peak prices at the listed hubs below decreased about $4-15/MWh except for Palo Verde and SP 15. Cooler temperatures played a role in falling prices at the Eastern and ERCOT hubs. Four out of seven nuclear reactors in the Western region were down for most of the week which contributed to moderate price increases at the SP 15 and Palo Verde hubs (Platts, see pages 1 and 3). Gas prices at the Henry Hub fell from $6.92/MMBtu to $6.55/MMBtu. Moderate weather is considered the cause for declining gas prices for the week (EIA). Gas futures also fell $0.33 to $7.01/MMBtu for November (see pages 1, 2 and 3). NOx allowance prices fell $100 to $770/ton last week (see pages 1 and 3). Estimated nuclear plant availability slipped from 83 to 82 percent last week with two reactors beginning and three reactors finishing refueling outages. Palo Verde 1 was offline to repair an auxiliary feedwater pump (see pages 2 and 4). ...

This week on the Nightly Business Report on PBS, the program is taking a look at the future of nuclear energy with reports each evening as well as some blog posts . Stop by and take a look.

Details via the AP . Expect some video later today.

Kyle Woodlock, the grad student at Georgia Tech who kicked off his YouTube career with a rebuttal to Harvey Wasserman and his "No Nukes" compatriots , has just published a new video where he makes a fair comparison between nuclear energy and renewables : I'm anxious to see the next video.

Visit Futurismic .

Ruth Sponsler has a review of Gwyneth Cravens' new book, The Power to Save the World . Be sure to give it a look. I'm sure many of you will recall that we first pointed out Cravens and her book in a post back in September , before also finding news of a presentation before Stewart Brand's Long Now Foundation .

While Sweden might have passed a referendum to phase out its nuclear generating capacity back in 1980, that hasn't stopped 3 million Swedes -- fully one-third of the country's population -- from taking a visit to one of the nation's nuclear power plants .

From the New York Times : Shai Agassi, a Silicon Valley technologist who was in competition to become chief executive of SAP, one of the world’s largest software companies, has re-emerged with a grand plan to reinvent the world’s automobile industry around battery-powered all-electric cars. Others are developing green cars, like the Tesla and Chevrolet Volt. However, Mr. Agassi is not planning to make cars, but instead wants to deploy an infrastructure of battery-charging stations in the United States, Europe and the developing world. The new system will sell electric fuel on a subscription basis and will subsidize vehicle costs through leases and credits. “We’re basically saying this is just like the cellular phone model,” he said. “If you think of Tesla as the iPhone, we’re AT&T.” Very, very interesting. Here's another passage that caught my eye: The economics will be more compelling in Europe, where gasoline is roughly twice as expensive as in the United States, he said. As...

In today's edition of the Washington Times , Jack Spencer of the Heritage Foundation takes on Bonnie Raitt and friends over their new music video .

Visit Gene Expression .

Here's another YouTube find: Representatives from the Presidential campaigns of Senator Barack Obama, Senator John Edwards, Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Senator John McCain all addressing where nuclear energy fits into their vision for future energy policy . The following was shot earlier this week at the National Press Club: Thanks to Climate Progress for the pointer.

Here's a summary of U.S. nuclear plant performances last month: For September 2007, the average net capacity factor reached 93.7 percent. This figure is 1.3 percentage points higher than the same one-month period in 2006. Monthly nuclear generation was 67.7 billion kilowatt-hours for September 2007, compared to 66.6 bkWh for the same one-month period in 2006. For 2007, year-to-date nuclear generation was 612.9 billion kilowatt-hours, compared to 597.8 bkWh in 2006 (2.5 percent increase) and 598.4 bkWh in the record year of 2004. As of October 24, 2007, 12 reactors were in refueling outages and four were completed for the Fall 2007 season. Final 2006 generation, capacity and capacity factor data for U.S. nuclear plants was released in the Energy Information Administration’s Electric Power Annual 2006. Total nuclear plant summer capacity increased by 346 megawatts to 100,334 MW in 2006. This is the second highest year for total nuclear capacity and is 450 MW short of the record year ...

The October issue of Nuclear Energy Insight is now available online. In it, you'll find an article about the first full license application for a new nuclear plant filed in nearly 30 years. There also are reports on how reactors helped defang the dog days of summer and nuclear plant neighbors' welcoming reception of new-plant plans. Another article remembers NRC Commissioner Edward McGaffigan, while other articles discuss the energy sector's work force options, multiple studies' conclusions that nuclear is needed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and the nuclear sector's completion of a key security review. You also can read about how nuclear technology is improving Zambia's prognosis for cancer treatment.

I was kicking around YouTube again today, and came across a video that had been posted some time ago by Michael Williams, Chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission. Be sure to let him know what you think.

In our final installment on nuclear energy and loan guarantees, Richard Myers, NEI's Vice President of Policy Development , explains why subsidies aren't a four-letter word in American political history. Subsidy Is Not A Four-Letter Word Can we talk about subsidies? In our last post , we took issue with the anti-nuclear refrain – “massive subsidies for the nuclear power industry” – and showed that the energy loan guarantee program is self-financing and clearly not a subsidy. But this unrestrained use of the word “subsidy” troubles me. I can’t think of another word in the English language that is so overused or so misused. Overused to the point of being meaningless, misused as a slur, and employed selectively when it suits the user’s narrow self-interest. Think about it: Is there anything in American life that is not subsidized, and appropriately so? We subsidize higher education and production of agricultural products. We subsidize home ownership thro...

Yesterday, I forwarded a note from Richard Myers, NEI's Vice President of Policy Development , concerning nuclear energy and loan guarantees , the issue that Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne and Graham Nash came to Washington to agitate about earlier this week . But while emotional rhetoric is one thing, the facts are another. Here's Part II: The Loan Guarantees Authorized by the Energy Policy Act Are Not a Subsidy For the past few weeks, we’ve been regaled with horror stories about the loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants authorized in the 2005 Energy Policy Act . The story line from the anti-nuclear groups goes like this: “huge bailout” and “a blank check for the nuclear power industry” and “massive subsidies for the nuclear power industry.” Here are the facts. First, the Energy Policy Act authorizes loan guarantees for a portfolio of 10 clean energy technologies. New nuclear power plants are just one of the 10. Here’s the list, verbatim from th...

JoAnn Sperber, NEI 's Director of Member Communications, was on the scene in Virginia last night for the latest in a series of meetings concerning the construction of a new nuclear reactor at North Anna. Her report follows: Virginians Discuss New Plant Plans at North Anna The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last night held another in a series of meetings detailing the licensing process for new nuclear power plants. This session focused on Dominion Generation’s plan to submit a combined construction and operating license application for a new reactor at its North Anna plant. After a series of presentations by NRC officials, the 130 people gathered at the meeting asked questions on a range of issues, including water use from Lake Anna, nuclear energy's role in addressing climate change, potential economic benefits of a new reactor, used fuel management and nuclear security. Although several opposition groups were present, including the People’s Alliance for Clean Energy and Beyon...

Over the past few days, I've run into more than my share of angry and exasperated colleagues here at NEI . The reason: All the attention being given to the musicians who hit town yesterday to attack nuclear energy . Don't get me wrong, everyone understands that Americans have a right to speak their minds on the issues of the day. But what's bugging us is that -- with a few notable exceptions -- the press is giving these musicians a free pass when it comes to what they're saying about the industry, in particular about nuclear energy and loan guarantees. Richard Myers is NEI's Vice President of Policy Development . Over the next few days we'll be featuring a series of posts from him that will help cut through the propaganda and misinformation. Part I follows: We Know What They’re Against, But What Are They For? For the last 10 days or so, I’ ve watched the anti-nuclear groups (and their rock star friends) attacking nuclear power , and the use of federal lo...

If there's one media outlet that's gotten the story right over the online battle over nuclear energy and loan guarantees, it's Salon and reporter Katharine Mieszkowski. Go there right now to read, Nuclear War on YouTube . And be sure to watch the companion video that cuts all of the videos together in such a way that none of the anti-nuke charges goes unanswered. I hope the folks at our member companies are taking notice of this. If our industry is going to fight and win online the fight over this music video ought to serve as a blueprint for how we go forward. UPDATE : More from Rod Adams .

Visit Critical Faculty Dojo .

I was just taking a quick look around the Web when I found a USA Today piece on the "No Nukes" revival that arrived in Washington today. If the comments that are getting left there are any indication, the aging rockers aren't having much of an effect on the younger generation: Second Coming wrote: 46m ago hahahahahahahaha rofl "we will unite people who have never heard of us by screaming kumbaya to improvised riffs at concerts we expect a bunch of 60 year old's to show up at" Madd Maxx wrote: 1h 28m ago Baby boomers just hate to retire don't they? Their energy would be better spent holding a concert for . . . for . . . for anything else. Several things need fixing in this country. Hopped Up Harry wrote: 2h 24m ago These guys are idiots. Message to self important washed up rockers: Your fight was against OLD technology with your OLD music. The world has moved on. And so should you. More later. UPDATE: More of the same at the Treehugger Video Smackdo...

Last week we pointed to a story about how Maine State Rep. Bob Walker was proposing legislation to create a state Nuclear Power Council . In today's edition of the Waldo County Citizen , Walker makes the case for his proposal in greater detail : Why should Maine encourage the construction of nuclear energy plants? Demand for electricity will escalate as our population expands and energy-hungry manufacturing industries grow. We need cheaper energy if our economy is going to stay competitive here and abroad. Wind and solar power are important sources to be developed, but overall they cannot make more than minor contributions. Energy conservation is fine, but we could never conserve enough to meet expected future demands. Nuclear power also is environmentally friendly and critical to national security. Nuclear plants have zero emissions of greenhouses gases. Today, nuclear energy supplies 16 percent of the world’s electricity, avoiding the emission of 2.5 billion tons of carbon dioxi...

Today on Morning Edition, NPR has picked up on the "No Nukes" music video that a group of aging rockers released a little more than a week ago. To the credit of reporter Elizabeth Shogren, she took plenty of time to feature an audio clip from NEI's rebuttal . Elsewhere here in Washington, Bonnie Raitt will appear at a press conference on Capitol Hill this morning with Congressman Ed Markey. We should have a report later. More details, here .

Details from High Five .

And let me be the first one to welcome Clean Energy Watch to the Blogosphere. I tripped over them today because -- surprise, surprise -- they decided to write about Harvey Wasserman's anti-nuke video . I really can't think of a better way of welcoming them than passing along this message from Dr. Patrick Moore on what he thinks of the environmental movement today. UPDATE : More from Depleted Cranium . UPDATE : Another Wasserman rebuttal, here .

Details from Huliq .

From Daniel Gross at Slate .

Back at YouTube this weekend, anti-nuke activist Harvey Wasserman posted a video rebuttal to Elizabeth King's debut on YouTube last week . I was thinking about getting some folks together to rebut Wasserman, but as it turns out, someone else beat us to it . I'm guessing you might be familiar with his previous work : It's good to know the nuclear energy business has so many friends out there. Thanks for the assist. One final note: In the video, Wasserman charges that NEI "has lots of money" to produce video rebuttals, which gave me a pretty good laugh. For the record, our original video was shot with a Casio digital camera that you could fit in your pants pocket and a $50 tripod. We did our post-production -- if you could call it that -- on a Dell laptop using Windows Movie Maker. Altogether, the process took about 4.5 hours from start to finish. Which makes me wonder: Just how much money did Wasserman and his friends spend on their original video? Something...

In Kansas, local regulators have rejected approval of air permits for a new coal-fired power plant arguing that greenhouse gases threatens public health and the environment. Meanwhile, on Cape Cod, a local commission rejected an application that would have allowed the Cape Wind Project to bury cables in order to connect the 420 MWe wind farm to New England's power grid. Interesting, isn't it?

Today the Department of Energy certified the public availability of documentary material relevant to the Yucca Mountain licensing process on NRC 's Licensing Support Network (LSN). With its launch, DOE in accordance with NRC regulations, may submit a Yucca Mountain license application as soon as six months from now (mid April). According to my colleagues here at the office, NEI intends to participate actively in the Yucca Mountain licensing process to represent industry interests. Accordingly, we will make all of our documents relevant to Yucca Mountain licensing available to the public within 90 days of DOE certification as required by Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations.

Details from Bloomberg .

Details from MaineCoastNow.com .

Details from Atomic Insights .

Visit Right Democrat .

With all the video work we've been doing over the past two weeks, I thought it might be a good idea to create a space for NEI and its friends on the Web on YouTube. So a couple of minutes ago I started a new group: Clean and Safe Nuclear Energy . I'll be using it as a repository not only for all the videos that we upload, but also for anything else that we might find interesting that we might want to share. Be sure to stop by.

University of Wisconsin student Nathan Braun watched last week's "No Nukes" video and came away less than impressed : While it is admirable to see celebrities and potential role models passionate about a cause, these statements demonstrate what’s wrong with anti-nuclear sentiment in America. They could be described as misinformed at best, fear-mongering at worst. Nuclear power is not perfect, but under the right circumstances it can be not only clean and safe, but also practical — the United States already gets 20 percent of its electricity from nuclear power; France gets 80 percent, mostly because political opposition isn’t as strong. Be sure to read the rest, as they say, right now.

Here's some neat video we just got our hands on: An explanation of the passive safety systems of the General Electric ESBWR nuclear power plant : Neat stuff.

From FP&L : Florida Power & Light Company today proposed making nuclear power a bigger part of Florida’s energy future. In the first step toward building two new nuclear power units at its Turkey Point generating complex, FPL filed its plans with the Florida Public Service Commission. FPL’s nuclear power expansion proposals, which place the utility at the forefront of new nuclear projects nationwide, are designed to meet its customers’ rapidly growing demand for emission-free electric power and protect Florida’s environment. “Additional nuclear energy can help supply reliable, affordable power to our customers while avoiding greenhouse gas emissions that scientists have determined contribute to climate change,” said Armando Olivera, FPL’s President. “Nuclear power helps to meet Governor Charlie Crist’s goals for reducing emissions and diversifying our fuel sources.” Today’s filing, seeking what is called a determination of need by the Public Service Commission (PSC), was the...

Visit Nuclear Energy Can Save US .

Our friend Rod Adams is a guest on this week's Cleantech podcast . The topic? What else besides nuclear energy. Click here to listen.

Talk to Chuck Leisure at Georgetown.

Get all the details from Idaho Samizdat .

Here's a summary of what went on in the energy markets last week: Except for SP 15, electricity peak prices fell $3-12/MWh at the hubs listed below. SP 15 increased only $0.04/MWh. Fall temperatures normalized by the end of the week for the country which sent prices declining. Even though PJM West’s prices fell by more than $3/MWh, the hot weather in the region at the beginning of the week kept prices 10% higher than the four week average and 26% higher than the last 52 week average (see pages 1 and 3). Gas prices at the Henry Hub rose from $6.54/MMBtu to $6.70/MMBtu. Gas prices are expected to increase as winter approaches and hit a seasonal peak of $8.27 per MMBtu in January 2008 (EIA’s STEO, see pages 1, 3 and 5). Estimated nuclear plant availability fell to 82 percent last week with no reactors beginning refueling outages. Three reactors (San Onofre 3, Susquehanna 1 and Waterford 3) were down for planned maintenance. Palo Verde 2 was off-line due to a leak in its coolant system...

Presidential candidate John Edwards was endorsed by Friends of the Earth Action last Sunday primarily because of his stance against nuclear power . Mr. Edwards, accepting the endorsement, said: “I am opposed to the building of new nuclear power plants, which is different from the position taken by Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. FOEA’s president Brent Blackwelder had this to say: “Edwards is razor sharp and clear: we don’t want to go the route of nuclear power plants,” said Mr. Blackwelder, whereas Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton wanted to explore the nuclear option. “We intend to run an independent campaign to educate the voters,” Mr. Blackwelder said. The canvassing, advertisements and seminars will take place mostly in New Hampshire , where the nuclear issue has resonance because of the nuclear power plant at Seabrook, as well as in other states. Educate the voters? I wonder if they’ll include these educational facts on nuclear in New Hampshire ? In 200...

Facing rising electric rates and a dangerous over-reliance on Russian natural gas, the Baltic nation is fighting to keep the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant from closing in 2009 .

Back in August, we linked to a news item that talked about Republican Presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani expressing his support for nuclear energy at a campaign stop in New Hampshire . Well, after a little bit of a delay, here's the actual video clip: For the rest of our archive on Mayor Giuliani, click here .

Details from Knox News .

Visit The Far Side of Technology . UPDATE : More from Quad4B , Exit 78 and Ian Muir .

Here's a clip for all the anti-nuke activists who say we're running out of Uranium. From Reuters : High uranium prices will spur exploration that could more than triple known global deposits, avoiding a shortage as China ramps up its nuclear capacity, a top executive with the International Atomic Energy Agency said. Yury A. Sokolov, the agency's deputy director general, said new technologies could also help boost reactor efficiency, curbing growth in fuel demand even when output expands. "High prices stimulate exploration. If you explore more, you will find more -- in Africa, Australia, maybe some additional resources in China," he told Reuters in an interview late on Monday on the sidelines of a nuclear conference.

in more than one instance, we've referred to the incredible challenge that China faces as it rapidly industrializes. On the one hand, its economic development is pulling millions out of poverty and helping its citizens enjoy a standard of living that many in the industrialized world have come to take for granted. On the other hand, there's no doubt that China is powering its industrial development with millions upon million of tons of coal -- a development that's problematic for the rest of the world, as well as the Chinese people, when it comes to air quality and the emission of greenhouse gases. One way to combat that would be to encourage the China to develop its domestic nuclear power industry, an initiative that earned an interesting supporter over the weekend -- Eleanor Clift of Newsweek . Here's what she had to say on this weekend's edition of the McLaughlin Group (transcript not yet available online): [T]hey have huge problems -- problems with pollution,...

From Nuc Net : The world “will need all economic, environmentally responsible energy sources,” including nuclear energy, to ensure an adequate, reliable energy supply, the US National Petroleum Council concluded in a report released last week. US energy secretary Samuel Bodman requested the report, “Facing the Hard Truths About Energy,” to consider the future of oil and natural gas until 2030 in the context of the global energy system. The study relies on data from International Energy Agency and Energy Information Administration energy outlooks. While fossil fuels “will remain indispensable to meeting total projected energy demand growth,” the council said the US also must expand its use of nuclear energy, biomass and renewable energy sources. Global energy demand will increase by 50 percent to 60 percent by 2030. Political hurdles, infrastructure requirements and limited availability of trained energy-sector workers will strain the ability to meet this demand, the council said. Addit...

Details from World Nuclear News .

Shortly after we posted a video response by Elizabeth King to a new appeal from the "No Nukes" crew , we saw a number of other folks hop onto YouTube to post their own responses. One person posted the audio of a Dennis Miller interview with Dr. Patrick Moore . Someone else posted a clip from Penn & Teller's Showtime program on nuclear energy . But best of all, a computer science student posted a point by point counter to the original video : It's always good to find out that you're not alone out there. In the meantime, be sure to stop by the YouTube page where the original "No Nukes" video is hosted and be sure to leave a comment. UPDATE : Rod Adams recorded a video of his own .

I'm sure by now many of you have seen the video produced by NukeFree.org , starring Bonnie Raitt, Graham Nash and Jackson Browne -- some original no-nukers -- asking Congress to alter language in legislation that makes provisions for loan guarantees supporting new nuclear plant construction. Click here for a CNN op-ed. Here at NEI we had a good laugh over some of their claims and decided to do something about it. So I got together with Elizabeth King, NEI's manager for economic policy -- it's safe to say she's a loan guarantee expert -- to record the following video response : Perhaps we should be cheered that others have seen the video, and are less than impressed . UPDATE : More folks who are less than impressed with what they've seen: The Fourth Checkraise The Pajamahadin Instapundit We should probably note that it was Rod Adams who had us pegged first. Click here too. ANOTHER UPDATE : Here's an interesting wrinkle: The CNN.com commentary that the musi...

This morning I had a good laugh after reading this : Truck maker Volvo has announced that it will cease buying Swedish nuclear power at the end of this year. Volvo has signed a deal with Vattenfall ensuring that it does not receive energy from nuclear power sources, which it said did not sit well with the company's environmental goals. Environmental goals, huh? Are they not an auto company whose products consume fossil fuels which create emissions? Last I heard, trucks, buses and cars still emit CO 2 during operation even if they burn biofuels. Seems to me they should be concerned more with their products and less with where their electricity comes from. Especially when you see below where Sweden gets its electricity. Here’s their webpage on environmental commitment : We constantly strive to improve energy efficiency in our own operations. And we currently plan for CO2 emission free production in all of our plants. More on a different page : The main approach is to gradually swit...

In today's installment of our interview with Dr. Patrick Moore of the CASEnergy Coalition , Dr. Moore talks about his own conversion on the question of nuclear energy: As always, to join CASEnergy, click here . Look for another clip this afternoon.

After reading a BBC piece on the revival of the American nuclear energy industry , Tech Talk, the blog over at IEEE Spectrum, had this to say: For now, though, the rehabilitation of the nuclear genie is almost complete. We will all now have to witness, once again, whether its promises can ever be matched by its performance. That's a curious conclusion. One wonders if the folks at Tech Talk have been paying close attention to the significant gains in reliability and efficiency at American nuclear plants, including an average industry-wide capacity factor of about 90% .

Details from the Moscow Times .

Just a message board posting that made me smile.

From Thomson Financial : EDF chief executive officer Pierre Gadonneix backed greater use of nuclear power as a way of combating climate change, saying that politicians must be more active in making it acceptable to public opinion, which remains the main obstacle. He said the contribution of wind power to limiting CO2 emissions would remain small. Nuclear power makes up nearly 80 pct of EDF's power production. The company has an interest in wind power projects through its renewable energy unit, EDF Energies Nouvelles.

Know that we were on the cusp of an election in the Canadian province of Ontario in which energy was a big issue, I asked Dr. Patrick Moore about the energy situation there, and how nuclear energy is playing a role as the provincial government seeks to shut down all of its coal plants: As always, to join CASEnergy, click here . Look for another clip tomorrow morning.

Here's a summary of what went on in the energy markets last week: Electricity peak prices increased between $3-13/MWh at all hubs. Generation outages and the lingering heat in the West drove prices at the Palo Verde and SP 15 hubs up by more than $10/MWh. Higher spot gas and hot temperatures also sent the Entergy, PJM West and ERCOT hubs up by more than $7/MWh. Peak prices at all the hubs last week were higher then the averages for the last four weeks and last 52 weeks (see pages 1 and 3). Gas prices at the Henry Hub rose from $6.26/MMBtu to $6.54/MMBtu. Tropical storm fears and an increase in demand due to warmer than normal temperatures contributed to the increase in gas prices at the Henry Hub (see pages 1 and 3). Nuclear plant capacity availability averaged 85 percent last week. Three reactors began refueling outages last week while two began maintenance (see pages 2 and 4). Cushing OK WTI oil prices fell $0.55 to $81.70/barrel two weeks ago. Continued low surplus production ca...

In today's installment of our interview with Dr. Patrick Moore of the CASEnergy Coalition , he addresses the link between nuclear energy and low CO2 emissions: As always, to join CASEnergy, click here . Look for another clip this afternoon.

Over at Gristmill , David Roberts is up to his nuclear energy-bashing best again, but this time, the readers of his blog aren't putting up with it: Since Roberts is not antinuclear, it will no doubt be happy news to him that although no new power reactor has started up in 2007 in the USA*, its operating total has nonetheless increased from 103 to 104. [...] [Y]you recently posted an analysis of how to shut down nuclear power and fight climate change at the same time, and all the analysis included were % reductions/increases each year, except they weren't even exponential functions. A goal is not the same as a plan. What conceivable reason could you have to believe that there was useful content in this? Be sure to stop by and add your two cents. As always, please be respectful.

More than 30 years after voting to phase out nuclear energy, Sweden finds that it just can't get along without it .

Over at both MyDD and DailyKos , a diarist named TomP something of a voters guide to the positions of the leading Democratic candidates for President on nuclear energy. MyDD DailyKos There's really not much here that we haven't covered at NEI Nuclear Notes . But what caught my eye was that the diarist, who is against the expansion of nuclear energy, included a link to the NEI Web site in his diary.

A couple of weeks back, our President and CEO, Skip Bowman, sat down for a Q&A with ZDNet : Q. Has the performance of nuclear plants improved? In the past, uptime and other factors were problems? Bowman: Beginning about 15 years ago there was a major, major upswing in key performance indicators of safety and capacity factors. Capacity has to do with the total amount of electricity generated divided by the total amount of electricity that could be generated if the plant were online 24/7. That number went from like 75 percent 15 years ago to 90 percent today. Also, we're very proud of the safety record, but at the same time we realize that we have to keep our eye on the ball and that complacency is a bad thing. As soon as we start being proud of ourselves, danger lurks around the next corner. There's plenty more, be sure to check it all out right now .

Details from the BBC .

Earlier this evening Nuclear News Flashes from Platts moved a news item that didn't gibe with a lot of what I've read about public opinion and new nuclear plant construction : --A NEW POLL FOUND 65% OF RESPONDENTS WOULD OPPOSE A NEW NUCLEAR PLANT in their community. The results of the survey of 1,000 randomly selected respondents in the US were released October 10 by the Saint Consulting Group. The survey was conducted by the Logit Group in early August. The poll found that 58% of respondents would oppose an oil, coal, or natural gas plant. The poll found 76% would support a wind plant, while 53% would support a hydro plant and 50% would support a biofuels plant. "Support and opposition to all types of power plants tracks fairly consistently across all geographic regions of the US, with the Midwest the most receptive region to new power plant construction," the Saint Consulting Group said. The survey has a margin of error of 3.1%. After a blizzard of evening email tr...

In a post over at The Weather Channel's Climate Blog , Dr. Heidi Cullen, the channel's climate expert, is examining public acceptance of nuclear energy: With nuclear power, it all boils down to waste disposal. Understandably, many Americans are nervous about waste disposal, with only 28 percent believing that radioactive waste could be safely stored out into the distant future. Interestingly, the survey found that almost two-thirds of the roughly 1200 surveyed, believe reprocessing spent nuclear fuel is worth pursuing. Reprocessing spent fuel, which is done in France, reduces the life span of most toxic wastes from 100,000 years to 1,000 years. [...] Because of the growing national concern about global warming, new energy policies will force us to factor in the cost both to the economy and the environment. Personally, I kind of like the notion of applying the Hippocratic Oath of ‘first do no harm' to our energy choices. The question is, can we get to a point where doing no...

Earlier today, we linked to a clip of Dr. Patrick Moore talking about "independent thinkers" and nuclear energy. In this afternoon's clip, Moore turns to the issue of those who are reflexively anti-nuclear, including groups like the one he helped found, Greenpeace : As always, to join CASEnergy, click here . Look for another clip tomorrow morning.

Visit Say Anything . UPDATE: More from NAM Blog .

Yesterday, I posted a link to a clip of Dr. Patrick Moore talking about his work with the CASEnergy Coalition . In today's installment of that same interview, Moore talks about the number of "independent" thinkers that are supporting an expanded role for nuclear energy in the world's energy mix as part of a larger effort to constrain the emission of greenhouse gases while still supplying affordable and reliable electricity: As always, to join CASEnergy, click here . Look for another clip this afternoon.

It's called the Tender Scarlette. Read all about it at Hybrid Cars . Of course, because it's French, it might as well be a nuclear powered jeep.

From Mid Hudson News : State Assemblyman Joel Miller of Poughkeepsie has proposed a college curriculum be developed to train students in the field of nuclear energy. Miller, a Poughkeepsie Republican, met recently with State University of New York officials to discuss his proposal to establish a school or curriculum along with other colleges and private businesses, to offer courses in nuclear science, nuclear engineering, civil engineering and other related fields. “It will not only produce the people we need to advance into the nuclear age, which we have been hiding from for the last 35 years, but it also advances medicine. It would be very good for the economy of New York State,” he said. Miller, who noted officials of Indian Point owner Entergy were at the meeting, said his idea was well-taken by the SUNY officials.

Arriving here at the office this morning, everyone at NEI was shocked at the news of the passing of Robert McGehee, the chairman and CEO of Progress Energy. McGehee suffered a stroke in London this weekend while there to attend an EEI Financial Conference. He was 64. Mr. McGehee was a member of NEI's Executive Committee and had previously served as vice-chairman. A veteran of the U.S. Navy, McGehee attended submarine school alongside our President and CEO, Skip Bowman. Needless to say, our thoughts and prayers are with the McGehee family at this time. Please keep them in yours.