Some NEI Goodness for Your Reading Pleasure

We here at Nuclear Notes don't link a lot to the massive resources created by NEI because our purpose is to explore the world of nuclear energy (and other renewable energy sources) both within and without the purview of NEI central. And most of our visitors are, or should be, familiar with NEI and its work. However, that doesn't mean NEI isn't an extremely important advocate for the cause of nuclear energy or that we shouldn't let you in on some of its offerings.

First, we noticed that Market Watch has posted one of NEI's Fact Sheets. Here is how they describe it:

The Nuclear Energy Institute has developed a two-page fact sheet to assist reporters covering energy issues at the Democrat National Convention in Denver. It provides information explaining why commercial nuclear power is a vital part of the American energy portfolio needed to meet rapidly growing electricity demand in clean and reliable fashion. NEI is the nuclear energy industry's policy organization.

And so it is. The data there is all good and a boon for those looking for a stack of factoids to throw around at parties without becoming a bore. Here's a couple to get you started:

Nuclear power provides 19 percent of America's total electricity but 74 percent of America's carbon-free generation.

The United States has the world's largest commercial nuclear program, with 104 nuclear reactors in 31 states.

No one will throw a drink in your face if you tell them that! Look at the site to see the rest (and show Market Watch this is interesting to you.)

NEI can also be found at the Democratic National Convention (and next week, it'll be hanging out at various St. Paul haunts, too - we'll get around to that then) and has produced some ads to go into the conventioneers copies of the National Journal. These were done as big jpegs to make them readable and printable, so go over here to pick them up - they're the first entry on the page. Print a bunch and hand them out to your friends.

Well, that's enough logrolling. Well, almost enough. That last link takes you into NEI's site. Lots of linky goodness, loads and loads of information for you nuclear beginners right up to you engineer types. Excellent resources for school papers, reporters needing to do research - oh, anyone, really. Okay, that's enough.

Fluor Invests in NuScale

You know, it’s kind of sad that no one is willing to invest in nuclear energy anymore. Wait, what? NuScale Power celebrated the news of its company-saving $30 million investment from Fluor Corp. Thursday morning with a press conference in Washington, D.C. Fluor is a design, engineering and construction company involved with some 20 plants in the 70s and 80s, but it has not held interest in a nuclear energy company until now. Fluor, which has deep roots in the nuclear industry, is betting big on small-scale nuclear energy with its NuScale investment. "It's become a serious contender in the last decade or so," John Hopkins, [Fluor’s group president in charge of new ventures], said. And that brings us to NuScale, which had run into some dark days – maybe not as dark as, say, Solyndra, but dire enough : Earlier this year, the Securities Exchange Commission filed an action against NuScale's lead investor, The Michael Kenwood Group. The firm "misap

An Ohio School Board Is Working to Save Nuclear Plants

Ohio faces a decision soon about its two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse and Perry, and on Wednesday, neighbors of one of those plants issued a cry for help. The reactors’ problem is that the price of electricity they sell on the high-voltage grid is depressed, mostly because of a surplus of natural gas. And the reactors do not get any revenue for the other benefits they provide. Some of those benefits are regional – emissions-free electricity, reliability with months of fuel on-site, and diversity in case of problems or price spikes with gas or coal, state and federal payroll taxes, and national economic stimulus as the plants buy fuel, supplies and services. Some of the benefits are highly localized, including employment and property taxes. One locality is already feeling the pinch: Oak Harbor on Lake Erie, home to Davis-Besse. The town has a middle school in a building that is 106 years old, and an elementary school from the 1950s, and on May 2 was scheduled to have a referendu

Wednesday Update

From NEI’s Japan micro-site: NRC, Industry Concur on Many Post-Fukushima Actions Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues • There is a “great deal of alignment” between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry on initial steps to take at America’s nuclear energy facilities in response to the nuclear accident in Japan, Charles Pardee, the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co., said at an agency briefing today. The briefing gave stakeholders an opportunity to discuss staff recommendations for near-term actions the agency may take at U.S. facilities. PowerPoint slides from the meeting are on the NRC website. • The International Atomic Energy Agency board has approved a plan that calls for inspectors to evaluate reactor safety at nuclear energy facilities every three years. Governments may opt out of having their country’s facilities inspected. Also approved were plans to maintain a rapid response team of experts ready to assist facility operators recoverin

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