86th Carnival of Nuclear Energy

Today we have the privilege of hosting the 86th carnival of nuclear blogs in its almost two year history.

To start off the New Year, Gail Marcus at Nuke Power Talk took on the press by criticizing the sensationalist headlines on nuclear issues and the misleading impressions they left in 2011. She blasted several outlets including AP’s blunder analyses and noted that there are plenty more examples that could be cited.

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Dan Yurman with his new look at Idaho Samizdat reviewed a book on the Integral Fast Reactor (IFR) written by the two leading engineers at the Argonne National Laboratory -- Dr. Charles E. Till and Dr. Yoon Il Chang.

The IFR was a fast reactor system developed at Argonne National Laboratory in the decade 1984 to 1994. The IFR project developed the technology for a complete system; the reactor, the entire fuel cycle and the waste management technologies were all included in the development program.

The book makes a special point of being accessible to non-specialists and is a landmark in the sustainable energy literature.

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Yurman was also at the ANS Nuclear Cafe and delved into the details of the Energy and Water Appropriations Bill for 2012 which was recently passed by Congress. Nuclear energy research at the Department of Energy was largely spared from major cuts and fared far better than some other high profile DOE programs. Meanwhile, in the UK, nuclear R&D funding is languishing, in the view of the House of Lords, prompting a stern report from the Science Committee.

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Meredith Angwin at Yes Vermont Yankee gave the breakdown on each of the lawsuits involving VY. As many are awaiting on the Judge's ruling on the major lawsuit, Yes Vermont Yankee reviewed all five legal cases that concern the plant. There's the main lawsuit, the operator's lawsuit, the state's lawsuit about the water permit, the Mark 1 contention (now settled), and the bill of attainder law that the state passed (unenforceable). Angwin summarized the issues and even amused about the absurd qualities of many of the contentions.

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Cheryl Rofer at the Nuclear Diner summarized Japan’s interim report on the Fukushima accident. The Investigation Committee, appointed by the Japanese government, issued a report which looked at communications failures and suggested how the reorganized nuclear regulator should operate. The report also contains some information on the accident sequence but the investigation is still incomplete.

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Will Davis at Atomic Power Review has tirelessly chased those who have deliberately misrepresented the facts of the Fukushima accident as well as blasted a few who just did it accidentally. Now, news of an upcoming symposium on the reporting of the accident offers him hope that things could change in the future.

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Rod Adams at Atomic Insights was reminded on his New Years Day of the great benefit of having abundant energy. While he was using fossil fuels to water ski, he noted that they will eventually all be consumed. Studies peg natural gas production in the U.S. drying up in 90 years which, when you look at the big picture, is just a brief period of human history. Other fossil fuels are estimated to deplete sooner. The alternative? A dense source of plentiful energy right in front of us: nuclear (see chart on right from Clean Energy Insight).

Here’s Rod:

We need more low cost power in this world. We have been gifted with an abundance of incredibly energy dense materials along with the knowledge of how to use them for the benefit of mankind. It would be a wonderful way to start a New Year if a growing number of decision makers recognized the incredible opportunities that God (nature if you will) has provided just when we need it the most.

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Last but not least, NEI’s Mark Flanagan detailed how France and the U.S. are upgrading and modifying their nuclear plants to improve safety after the Fukushima accident. Mark also discussed ways the World Association of Nuclear Energy is increasing its power as well as gave a brief mention of natural gas fracking that is causing small earthquakes, oy.

That is all for the week’s carnival, hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for next week’s at the ANS Nuclear Café.

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...

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...

Nuclear Utility Moves Up in Credit Ratings, Bank is "Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy"

Some positive signs that nuclear utilities can continue to receive positive ratings even while they finance new nuclear plants for the first time in decades: Wells Fargo upgrades SCANA to Outperform from Market Perform Wells analyst says, "YTD, SCG shares have underperformed the Regulated Electrics (total return +2% vs. +9%). Shares trade at 11.3X our 10E EPS, a modest discount to the peer group median of 11.8X. We view the valuation as attractive given a comparatively constructive regulatory environment and potential for above-average long-term EPS growth prospects ... Comfortable with Nuclear Strategy. SCG plans to participate in the development of two regulated nuclear units at a cost of $6.3B, raising legitimate concerns regarding financing and construction. We have carefully considered the risks and are comfortable with SCG’s strategy based on a highly constructive political & regulatory environment, manageable financing needs stretched out over 10 years, strong partners...

NEI Nuclear Notes

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