NEI Nuclear Notes

Despite our pre-Thanksgiving prep-for-bloat kind of lethargic mood, we thought we point you to a couple of interesting videos. Here's one from the BBC about the disassembly of the Sellafield Cumbrian plant. This isn't a nuclear power plant, but a plant at which plutonium was produced for bombs. We can't think of a nicer plant to go to pieces. Note: If you're not British, you'll have to listen quite closely to decommissioning manager Euan Hutton, who narrates, because he frequently disappears into a thicket of accent. Worth watching more than once to catch all he has to say. --- Well, all right, we can rouse ourselves from thoughts of gobblers and bog fruit to express dismay about Jim Riccio's sourpuss ding on NEI central. Of all people, he knows that advocacy organizations make the most positive case possible for the object of their advocacy and he also knows that credibility craters if NEI or Greenpeace or any other such entity spins facts into lies or hi...

Watching Australia come to grips with nuclear energy is like watching Mr. Hyde fighting not to become Dr. Jekyll - the struggle is intense but perhaps not wise. Let Ziggy Switkowski  (and doesn't that seem like a name right out of Laverne and Shirley!),  chairman of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation, explain it to you : MALCOLM Turnbull [leader of the Liberals, currently the political opposition] is correct in emphasising the need for bipartisan support if the nuclear journey is to proceed. The question is, why has it been so hard to build bipartisan support? There may be three reasons not to support nuclear power for Australia: * You don't believe in climate change or the need for a sustainable economy, so business as usual is fine. * You don't believe a small economy such as Australia's, with its 1.4 per cent contribution to global emissions, can make a difference, so why bother with clean energy? * Your planning horizon st...

Over at The Huffington Post , Greenpeace 's Jim Riccio offers up some red meat in his provocatively titled guest post, President Obama and Nuclear Power's Spin Campaign . Riccio accuses NEI of mischaracterizing President-elect Obama's support for nuclear power and dismisses the work done by the industry association as "propagandist." Back in July, at the start of the presidential campaign, another claim of mischaracterization was made; this time by the nonpartisan Factcheck.org in their article, A False Accusation About Energy . We’ve been through this. Obama has not said a flat-out "no" to nuclear, as the ad claims. Instead he has said he is in favor of nuclear energy if it is clean and safe, saying in his energy plan that "it is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if we eliminate nuclear power from the table." In October, The New York Times , in its presidential candidate Check Point series, had this to say, ...And contr...

Interestingly, Kentucky's Governor Steve Beshear pursued an energy policy during his campaign but was notably silent about nuclear energy being a part of that policy - you can see his campaign manifesto on energy issues here . But, boy, when he comes around, he comes around big. "We must begin the discussion now about whether nuclear energy should be a part of our energy portfolio," [Beshear] told reporters at a Capitol press conference. The governor's energy plan comes at a time when utility companies are looking at Kentucky for potential nuclear power plant sites. "Several companies have suggested that they would be interested in building nuclear plants in Kentucky," said Energy Secretary Len Peters. Here is the governor's plan (warning: sizeable pdf). You'll see that there are seven strategies - presumably to keep things lucky - and the seventh strategy is "Examine the Use of Nuclear Power for Electricity Generation in Kentu...

In looking for videos to include on NEI's newly created YouTube channel ( NEI Network ), we came across an excellent online resource there this week: Third Wave Digital . Third Wave is an advertising company that has created over 50 high quality animated clips that explain how a nuclear plant works. The videos were created for Progress Energy's Harris Plant Visitors Center. Be sure to check out the Third Wave's YouTube channel . And if you have any suggested clips for the NEI Network channel, please send them our way.

Dr. Joe Bonometti, with the help of thorium expert Kirk Sorensen , gave about an hour long "tech talk" at Google discussing liquid fluoride thorium reactors. Here's the video: Slowly but surely thorium is gaining greater and greater interest in the country. Atomic Insights has some thoughts on how to keep it going.

Time to scratch a name off your Energy Secretary candidate list? ABC 's Jake Tapper and Martha Raddatz are reporting that retired Marine General James L. Jones has emerged as the leading candidate to serve as the National Security Adviser for President-elect Obama . The former head of NATO and U.S. forces in Europe, Jones is currently president and CEO of the Institute for 21st Century Energy . A move to the NSA could provide synergies with the work done at the ITCE ; where energy policy is viewed as integral to national security. Click here for more NNN coverage on who will be in the Obama Cabinet .

Romania has pulled together a pretty impressive group of energy suppiers - including ArcelorMittal, CEZ, GDF Suez, Enel, Iberdrola and RWE Power - in order to knock together two new nuclear units to join the units at the Canadian built Cernavoda. Romanian Finance Minister Varujan Vosganian said the project would take nearly seven years to complete. "This is a very great step to increase Romania's energy security," Mr Vosganian was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency. We can only agree. The story doesn't mention whether Canada is building the new units, though the second unit, which is Canadian, only opened last year. There's a history there. --- While we'd like to say a few switches are getting thrown on at a the proposed plants we've mentioned here, we know we've got a bit of a wait ahead. So file this - and similar -  news in the back of your mind and we'll return to Romania in a few years to cut a ribbon and pop a cork. In...

The internet, as you may have heard, is jam packed with pages that purport to determine your perfect mate , your personality , your life span (based, I guess, on your intake of Omega-3 and asbestos). Typalizor says it will tell you your personality type by analyzing your blog and judging, well, we'd guess word choice. Here is how Typalizer judged Nuclear Notes (we were really expecting "Psychotic" since it would be taking in the writing of three frequent writers): INTJ - The Scientists The long-range thinking and individualistic type. They are especially good at looking at almost anything and figuring out a way of improving it - often with a highly creative and imaginative touch. They are intellectually curious and daring, but might be physically hesitant to try new things. The Scientists enjoy theoretical work that allows them to use their strong minds and bold creativity. Since they tend to be so abstract and theoretical in their communication they oft...

The Wolf Creek nuclear plant in Kansas just became the 50th reactor unit to receive a 20 year license renewal from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission . The plant is now licensed to operate until March 11, 2045. Congratulations to everyone involved! Only 54 units left to go .

Arizona's Fox News must have read my previous post . ;-) Here's a link to the video clip of the news channel discussing how the Palo Verde nuclear plant in Arizona uses waste-water to cool their reactors .

Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA) has emerged victorious from the Cannon Caucus Room this morning, defeating John Dingell (D-MI) in a 137-122 secret ballot vote, to gain chairmanship of the House Energy and Commerce Committee . More details to come.

Annette Carey does a good job in the TriCity Herald of covering a  public meeting that occurred there covering the possibility of recycling used nuclear fuel. Sponsored by the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP) in Pasco, Washington - the tri-cities also include Kennewick and Richland - the meeting directly addressed the elephant in the room: the Hanford site . Hanford might seem a big bullseye for controversy, yet the attendees seemed quite sanguine about its potential as a recycling center. Hanford still would be an ideal site for reprocessing used commercial reactor fuel for reuse, said several speakers at Monday's hearing. The Tri-City Development Council has consistently said cleanup of the Hanford nuclear reservation is its top priority, said Gary Petersen, TRIDEC vice president of Hanford programs. But reprocessing fuel could not only be good for economic development, but also help clean up Hanford by recycling the spent fuel sitting at Energy Northwest, he ...

Some interesting comments coming from President-elect Obama in his address to the bipartisan Governors' Global Climate Summit , scheduled to begin later this morning. It would appear that, despite the global financial crisis, cap-and-trade is still front and center. From the prepared remarks, In particular, I want to commend Governor Sebelius, Governor Doyle, Governor Crist, Governor Blagojevich and your host, Governor Schwarzenegger –all of you have shown true leadership in the fight to combat global warming. And we’ve also seen a number of businesses doing their part by investing in clean energy technologies. But too often, Washington has failed to show the same kind of leadership. That will change when I take office. My presidency will mark a new chapter in America’s leadership on climate change that will strengthen our security and create millions of new jobs in the process. That will start with a federal cap and trade system. We will establish strong annual targets that set u...

You don't get a very good result: Power suppliers are turning back the clock to use coal-fired plants as their main source of electricity in a bid to avert potential shortages this winter. Latest figures from the National Grid show that the fuel accounted for 42.5% of all power generation, overtaking natural gas production for the first time in years. This is happening in Great Britain. Why? The surge, from a usual level of little more than a third of total output, comes as the major networks seek to fill a gap caused by a slump in nuclear energy output at East Kilbride-based British Energy. This is because a couple of plants are closed to have their boilers changed. That's the closing of two count 'em two plants that have caused this result. It gets worse. If you've looked at the stories pointed to in the post about clean coal below, this next sentence will cause bitter and ashy laughter: The major power companies stress that the increased ...

My interview with journalist and author of Terrestrial Energy , William Tucker, is now up on NEI's YouTube Channel . Part one can be seen here . Part two, here . Favorite Q&A? Q. Have you ever convinced any friends to become supporters of nuclear energy? A. Ahhh! In fact of I have. I actually managed to convince my wife. [I] Thought that was a big accomplishment. Many thanks to Aaron Rosenberg from Hill & Knowlton for shooting the video and NEI 's Calvin Haden for the editing.

If you're ready to think deeply and able to absorb a lot of info on a Monday morning, check out Luke Weston on "clean" coal at Physical Insights . Luke's first post debunks the Australian coal industry's latest "clean" coal ad and his second post looks critically at how a demonstration coal plant sequesters CO2 . Enjoy!

The Hillary to State speculation drew most of the attention this weekend, but there was some Energy news. The AP is reporting that New Jersey Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Jackson has been named to the Obama-Biden transition team on Energy . Jackson joins Robert Sussman, a former deputy Environmental Protection Agency administrator, and 11 others. They will conduct a department review to provide Obama and key advisers with information they need to make policy, budgetary and personnel decisions prior to the inauguration. Per the Obama transition site , Jackson has been named a Team Lead for the EPA Review. Other Team Leads include Cecilia V. Estolano , CEO of the Community Redevelopment Agency of Los Angeles , and Robert Sussman , a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress . Some did play the cabinet parlor game this weekend: in the pages of Newsweek , Slate.com 's Jacob Weisberg lobbies for Al Gore to become Energy Secretary . The genius principle should ...

There's been a veritable flood of good press on nuclear energy coming out of Wisconsin. The goal, of course, is to get the state's ban on new plants overturned. Now, a few good editorials don't make a Spring or even bring the swallows back to Capistrano, but we were interested to see this pickup of a Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal editorial: We also think that it's time to lift the state's moratorium on talking about additional nuclear energy. Dr. Patrick Moore of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition, CASEnergy, made a good case in Madison last week for nuclear power. His basic argument is that although wind can provide some relief (and solar, far less) from the greenhouse gas emissions of coal plants, neither can provide the base load power provided by coal. Nuclear can, and at least it should be on the table. As should renewables, biomass and conservation. Actually, the moritorium is about new plants; Wisconsinites can yak it up about nuclear energy all t...

Add a new name to the list: the AP offers up former Indiana Congressman Philip Sharp . Sharp is currently serving as president of the nonpartisan, nonprofit Resources for the Future . And in a feature titled " The New Team ," The New York Times fills in the backstory of an Energy Secretary candidate first reported by the Washington Post 's Steve Mufson last week: (Ret.) General James L. Jones . Click here for more NNN coverage on who will be in the Obama Cabinet .

We're still waiting on a copy of the transcript, but Katie Fehrenbacher over at earth2tech is reporting on an interesting exchange between former U.S. Energy Secretaries from Day One at the Forbes Energy Conference . While [James] Edwards and [John] Herrington were riled up over cap and trade, [Spencer] Abraham 's biggest issue was actually with people who fight both climate change and nuclear power. It’s impossible to fight both, and nuclear will need to be a big part of the clean power equation, Abraham said.

That's according to Black & Veatch's latest annual survey to electric utilities (pdf). Here are the highlights: Continuing the survey trend from past years, utility personnel believe strongly that nuclear energy is the best investment to meet environmental requirements. Nuclear demonstrated not only the highest level of support this year (77% of all respondents and 80% of all IOUs), but also a sustained increase in the level of support over the three years of the survey. While nuclear remains the preferred technology within the industry, it continues to meet considerable resistance among environmental and political groups making such investments difficult for utilities. Wind and solar rank second and third as preferred technologies: 56% and 54%, respectively. Wind has retained its relative ranking over the 2006 to 2008 period, while interest in solar has accelerated rapidly. While not at significant levels, interest in tidal resources has also increased substantially over ...

In a November 7 posting , the Wall Street Journal's Environmental Capital blog provides an excellent summary of the various "messages" observers believe voters sent about their desires on energy policy during this election. While some clean energy advocates believe the voters expressed a clear mandate for clean energy, exits polls suggest that the voters' message may be more nuanced (i.e., mixed) than advocates would like. It seems the voters were far more interested in the candidates' economic proposals than their energy proposals, according to exit polls cited in the posting. While both candidates promised action on climate change, the public's concerns about economic security appear to trump concerns about longer term challenges, such as climate change, making voters less eager to bear the costs that will fall on the public when government-mandated carbon controls are implemented. Whether "election haruspicy " interests you or not, the Environme...

Wisconsin has been rethinking its ban on new nuclear energy plants for awhile now : Wisconsin's 24-year-old moratorium on nuclear power plant construction is wrong. The foundation for removing the moratorium has already been laid. Earlier this year, the Governor's Global Warming Task Force recommended that the state modify the moratorium, lowering barriers to plant construction. That recommendation followed the a decision in 2007 by the Legislature's special committee on nuclear power to support eliminating the moratorium altogether. That's from the Wisconsin State Journal in Madison and what can we say? We agree. But: So far, however, adamant nuclear power opponents have blocked attempts to remove the moratorium, which has prevented the state from adding to the three nuclear reactors that generate 20 percent of the state's electricity. So perhaps its time to pull out the big - well, we won't say guns. How about, as Jessamyn West might p...

The parlor game of cabinet speculation continues... The Houston Chronicle lobbies for their hometown Mayor. The next secretary of energy needs expert understanding of the fossil fuel industry — without being owned by it or wedded to its dominance. This official must shepherd America from dependence on oil, and toward alternatives, without crippling the economy. As mayor of the nation's conventional and alternative energy capital, Houston Mayor Bill White is uniquely qualified for this post. He has the executive experience, having served as deputy energy secretary for President Bill Clinton; he is also a warrior against pollution and environmental depredation, who was nevertheless backed by Houston's energy industry and has long worked on guiding Houston's economy to greater diversity. The Politico is reporting that former eBay SVP, Steve Westly , is " emerging as a strong dark horse candidate for energy secretary. " Westly co-chaired Cleantech and Green Busin...

One of the dangers of snooping around the internet for interesting stories is that we have to hope the reporting is accurate. That's tough, because journalistic standards differ between countries and the press elsewhere often has a different role in society than what we're used to. Usually, the news sources we use are pretty reliable, but not always. If the initial story doesn't really pass the smell test or we can't confirm it, we just drop the story. (Sometimes, the smell can be pretty raw.) For example: Vietnam is set to build their first nuclear plants and have them running by 2020. Viet-Nam only began talking about nuclear energy in the last couple of years, so this seems an oddly premature announcement. Well, we're not the only doubting Thomas': Prof. Dr Tran Dinh Long, deputy chairman of the Vietnam Electricity Power Association, warned that building a nuclear power plant would require strict technical demands. “It is not as easy as ...

One thing you can say about nuclear power plants - or any industrial structure - is that they are not inspiring pieces of architecture. Obviously, the message they want to project is one of functionality, not aestheticism. But people actually do work at plants and many more see them from their cars and boats. So why not spruce them up? Given the cost of the average new plant, why not splash out a little extra and have a chance of getting your plant into a glossy magazine? So it is that World Nuclear News has invited its readers to submit plant designs. We suspect the most imaginative entries come from people who know how to use Bryce and 3DS Max rather than architects, but they do indicate tremendous imagination and a desire to plant plants on the plants, er, we mean, give nature a certain run of the grounds. The design pictured above, by Aleš Buršič, shows this at work. Another design, shown at the WNN site, shows a cooling tower covered with a grassy drop cloth. We sus...

Forbes magazine editor-in chief and publisher, Steve Forbes, a former presidential candidate in 1996 and 2000 , looks at the future Obama administration in this week's issue . The pull quote: Though an Obama Administration won’t try to lift the ban on drilling for oil and gas in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, the next President will allow the removal of more and more barriers to offshore drilling. Even more amazing will be his support of new nuclear power plant construction. Obama will let congressional Democrats and Republicans take the legislative lead, but he will quietly make it clear that he’ll sign virtually any pro-nuclear legislation they can pass—while publicly pretending to be mighty reluctant to do so. (H/T to P.P.)

The Department of Energy is funding the University of Idaho with $732K to prove the feasibility of using highly magnetic nanoparticles to reprocess used nuclear fuel . If successful, scientists at the University of Idaho will kill three birds with one nanoparticle by recovering usable nuclear fuel, making nuclear waste easier and safer to dispose of, and accomplishing the task in an environmentally friendly way. Here's some heavy science for you: The fundamental technology that makes the process possible is the ability to make the MNPs. These are tiny pieces of pure iron nanoparticles coated with a layer of iron oxides, commonly known as rust, just two nanometers thick. Because of their iron core, the MNPs are 10 times more magnetic than commercially available nanoparticles that typically are made entirely of iron oxide. The trick to using nanoparticles made of pure iron is the thin coating of iron oxide, which prevents the core from completely oxidizing into rust. The particles c...

A great piece in The Washington Post today on the Calvert Cliffs Plant in Lusby, MD offering a plant tour to local residents. Once routinely offered to school and community groups, plant tours were halted after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorists attacks. The October visits by relatives of plant employees and neighbors who live within a five-mile radius were the first since security has been upgraded at the plant, said Jim Spina, vice president at Calvert Cliffs. "Regardless of your stand on nuclear power, you were invited," Spina said, noting that the tours were conducted to help the public understand nuclear power and how the plant operates. Plant employees doubled as tour guides, answering questions on topics such as the amount of electricity produced by the loud, churning turbines and how Calvert Cliffs officials handle opposition to the proposed third reactor. "It is a great public relations thing," Chuck Lockerby of Drum Point said after a tour. Lockerby, who bo...

Politico's Mike Allen reports that Robert F. Kennedy Jr . is being "strongly considered" to head the EPA. NBC's Political Director, Chuck Todd , knocked down the story earlier this morning on MSNBC . (Apologies, no transcript or video available.) Jim Efstathiou at Bloomberg.com is reporting a very different short list, The names most mentioned by officials at leading U.S. ecology groups include Kathleen McGinty , the former secretary of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection , Mary Nichols of California's Air Resources Board and Ian Bowles of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection . Governor Kathleen Sebelius of Kansas was cited as a "wild card'' choice by a person familiar with transition issues. Click here for more NNN coverage on who will be in the Obama Cabinet .

Margaret Kriz at National Journal's energy blog asked this question to several energy industry leaders : How Will New Leadership Impact Policy? Executives from the wind, petroleum, and gas industries, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club and others weighed in including NEI's CEO Skip Bowman . Be sure to stop by.

With the possible exception of Redskins-Monday-Morning-Quarterbacking and the Veep stakes , few DC parlor games attract more interest than guessing who will fill a new president's cabinet. Towards that end, we'll be feeding the frenzy (chumming the waters?) these next few weeks by passing along pundit speculation; paying special attention to the position of Energy Secretary. From a Washington Post online chat earlier today, Energy Wire 's Steve Mufson weighed in. At the Energy Department, a lot of people have mentioned to me Gov. Ed Rendell from Pennsylvania. I’m not sure why he would want to do that, but there it is. The department mostly handles nuclear weapons and waste issues. The energy policy bit is smaller and largely about setting appliance standards. One new task it will have: Promoting carbon capture and storage so that coal plants won’t emit huge amounts of greenhouse gases. That might create a desire for an expert in that area to be deputy secretary, maybe s...

Last week, the senior Senator from New York, Chuck Schumer , stopped by the Charlie Rose show and surveyed the Senate landscape under an Obama administration . A transcription follows, but mere text on a page does disservice to the actual exchange - occurring at the 13:40 mark in the video below. Charlie Rose : What else will we see in terms of legislation in the House and Senate? Chuck Schumer : You will see a really serious energy policy that will wean us away from fossil fuels. Charlie Rose : Okay, but tell me what that means. What is going to wean us away? Chuck Schumer : It means, it's going to mean changing the tax laws. We developed... Charlie Rose : Incentives to... Chuck Schumer : All kinds of alternative energies. All kinds. I would say with President Obama, nuclear energy is on the table. Okay? People don't realize that. It's in his platform. Charlie Rose : Add to nuclear energy? Chuck Schumer : Mmm hmmm. Mmm hmmm. [Affirmative]. With Senator Obama, all kinds of...

Should you ever find yourself in Lodz Poland, by all means stop by the Hotel Alicja. Here's some pictures of the hotel - and no, we don't know why they have a horse in their bar - it certainly seems tidy and comfy. I've seen pictures much like this at Expedia or other travel sites for hotels in this country. However, for whatever reason, they've left off one telling angle from the exterior of the hotel : So now we know how they keep the buffet table nice and toasty. This isn't what it looks like. Poland doesn't have a nuclear power plant -  the Zarnowiec plant was left uncompleted in 1972 - plus the tower seems a bit squat. We couldn't quite figure out what kind of plant the tower belongs to - maybe one of our Polish readers can fill us in - but we have to say that we'd be tickled to end up at this hotel after viewing the pictures at their site and then running into this tower. It would be almost as entertaining as finding a horse in the bar...

About every summer, nuclear energy opponents like to dust off their talking points by rehashing the claims that nuclear plants can't survive in the summer. This is due to the fact that droughts can possibly affect a plant's ability to cool themselves during operation. NEI then dusts off our prepared talking points in response and then the debate usually takes off in all directions . A key rebuttal piece to the opponents that often gets lost or forgotten in the debate is the fact that the largest nuclear plant in the U.S., Palo Verde , is in the middle of the desert and uses wastewater to cool itself. So it was great to read a post by Kate Galbraith at NYT's Green Inc highlighting this plant's features. “This is a desert here. We don’t have any choice,” said Jim McDonald, a spokesman for Arizona Public Service, which operates the Palo Verde plant and owns the largest share of it. He believes it is the only nuclear plant in the country to reuse treated wastewater — whic...

Meet Angela Saini from the UK. Hat tip to Jim Muckerheide!

"Nuclear power is a dead-end in California, and we shouldn't be wasting resources on such an expensive and problematic energy option," said Bill Magavern, director of Sierra Club California. "We have far cleaner, cheaper and safer energy resources like solar, wind and geothermal, and we should be investing in those." Well, that's not very positive, is it? After all, the Santa Anna wind doesn't blow all the time, and although they do have some very large deserts, they unfortunately lurk under moonlight half the time. But California, which gets about 15% of their electricity from nuclear energy - from two plants in the state plus another over in Arizona - is becoming uneasy about reaching their carbon emissions goal. Consequently, nuclear energy keeps entering the conversation. This story from the Sacramento Bee rounds up the attitudes about nuclear energy in the state. Once you've got the Sierra Club out of the way, things start looking up....

Meet Neurovore : Although I am not pursuing nuclear physics as a formal field of research, I have always been an avid hobbyist of nuclear technology as well as other topics of scientific study. After following the blogs of several prominent nuclear advocates such as Kirk Sorensen and Rod Adams , I have decided to create a blog of my own in order to keep track of the upcoming developments in nuclear energy... Welcome! I guess I should humbly acknowledge that I was beaten to the punch once again by Rod Adams and Dan Yurman . You guys are getting too good! Also, another blogger to meet is Chuck Muth at Yucca Facts . He's deep into the debate surrounding Yucca Mountain and definitely writes some hard-hitting posts. The purpose of this website is to provide factual and scientific information on the proposed nuclear waste repository being built at Yucca Mountain in southern Nevada. The authors of the site are not advocates for the project; however, we believe that much of the inform...