Thoughtful Indian Columnists

This struck me as a little funny:

The Dec. 14 hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform will look at how well the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is working as it tackles high-profile reforms in the wake of Japan's Fukushima nuclear disaster -- and the long-standing issue of what to do with toxic nuclear waste.

"There have been reports and information that the commission is not always working well together," a committee aide said.

No comment on the substance of the hearing, but perhaps NRC could return the favor and hold a meeting on how well Congress is getting along.

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Kuwait, Bahrain and Egypt have stalled their plans because of heightened safety concerns triggered by the Fukushima meltdown caused by a 9-magnitude earthquake and a 49-foot tsunami.

Well, that makes sense – hey, wait a minute there!

But they have also been hit by the pro-democracy uprisings that have plunged the Arab world into political turmoil and an uncertain future.

Well, there’s that, too.

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Mind you, this comes from an Indian site called Oil Price:

Nor are the Kudankulam protests New Delhi’s only headache. In Maharashtra, locals are demonstrating against the proposed 9,900 megawatt Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant. Even worse, the costs of such projects are coming under scrutiny, as thoughtful Indian columnists are now questioning the need for foreign reactors that are four times more expensive than indigenous ones.

Love to see those numbers.

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Russian pragmatism at its very best (probably through Google Translate):

"Anyway, it is impossible to be expecting a global refusal from nuclear energy, as both Europe and we have winter, and everyone wants to leave (live?) with heating and light," Khaitun said.

That’s Head of the Centre of Energy Policy at the Institute of Europe of Russia's Academy of Sciences Alexei Khaitun. I must admit, there are better arguments out there.

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Wednesday Update

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NEI Nuclear Notes

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