NEI Nuclear Notes

This happened last Wednesday : The federal government has approved the Cape Wind project. U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar made the announcement at the State House in Boston on Wednesday, with Gov. Deval Patrick by his side. We wrote about this four months ago, when Salazar suggested this decision was coming. This key to the project outlines its contours – in sum, 170 MW of average capacity utilizing 140 turbines covering about 25 square miles of ocean. And it should provide electricity for about 75 percent of the cape and island folk (or about 200,000). Here’s Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick: This day has been long in coming. For nine years, the Cape Wind project has undergone the closest scrutiny by state and federal agencies and by the public. There are thoughtful views on all sides of this question and they have been acknowledged and considered seriously. But today’s decision affirms that on balance Cape Wind is good for our environment and good for our e...

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?