NEI Nuclear Notes

Just to cross a T from last week’s earthquake: Dominion, the plant's operator, notified the NRC Friday that its analysis of ground shaking showed the quake could have exceeded its design parameters. An independent analysis by the government also had determined that was likely. Oh? But since nuclear power plants are built with margins of safety beyond the maximum expected shaking, the damage detected so far has been minimal. Oh! The NRC had already sent a seismic expert and a structural expert out to the facility, in addition to its inspector onsite. Let’s keep on eye on this one and see how it shakes out. --- The Paducah (Ken.) Sun looks at both North Anna and Nebraska’s Fort Calhoun (which found itself in the middle of a swollen Missouri River during much of the summer) and notes that both came through their respective bouts with mother nature unscathed. Conclusion : With debate growing more intense over the safety of nuclear power as part of the ...

This is the kind of editorial that pops up more frequently, from the Lexington Herald-Leader (actually, an op-ed in this case): Should Kentucky reconsider nuclear power, which now provides 20 percent of this nation's electricity? Maybe so. We're in no position to ignore any source of energy. But Japan's disaster reminds us nuclear power is an imperfect, unforgiving technology that can be dangerous and costly. And Kentucky, of course, provides a fairly good case study when one is of a mixed mind: Coal provides half the nation's power and more than 90 percent of Kentucky's power. Electricity has been cheap in this state, because many of the health and environmental costs of mining and burning coal have been ignored. That is changing, because it must. We’re not completely sure about “must,” but let’s hear out the argument: We must invest in research and technology to mine, drill and burn coal and oil more cleanly and efficiently. We must incorpor...

The news is good : No new Minnesota nuclear power plants are planned, but state senators overwhelmingly voted today to lift a 16-year-old moratorium on building one. “It is not a decision to construct a new nuclear power plant in the state of Minnesota...” Senate Majority Leader Amy Koch, R-Buffalo, said about the vote. “It is not a preference for nuclear power.” And that’s a pretty good rationale for lifting these bans on nuclear energy – about a dozen states still have them – because the safety records and electricity generation capacity of the plants have been good and because current thinking about energy suffers if nuclear energy is wedged out of the conversation. As Koch says, including it in deliberations doesn’t mean anything other than that. Well, hope springs eternal, never say never, and other similar clichés. Minnesota’s Prairie River and Monticello nuclear power plants (both operated by Xcel) now provide about 23 percent of the state’s electricity capacity, ...

The news is that Kentucky is en route to overturning its ban on building nuclear energy plants: Sen. Bob Leeper of Paducah said adopting the federal standard would allow Kentucky sites to be considered for next generation nuclear power plants which would help curb greenhouse gas emissions caused by coal-fired powered plants. This is simply another story that tells what is percolating around the states – either bans are falling or public service commission rules against paying for a plant as it is built are being overturned. We’re not sure we’d make the coal/nuclear divide quite so stark, but this is Kentucky and it explains the tilt of the story (which originally came from The Morehead News there). "With our coal reserves and gas reserves in Eastern Kentucky, to me, that's the wrong way to go." That’s state Sen. Walter Blevins , who voted against the bill. He really didn’t like the result. Blevins said since there were some negative votes, the Hou...

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...

Kentucky is close to repealing its 25-year moratorium on new nuclear plants. The State Senate has already approved the repeal but in an effort to stop this legislation, Joseph Mangano came out with his usual claims in an op-ed piece for Kentucky's Courier-Journal . Here's what Physical Insights had to say in response to Mangano's claims : Of course, some people, such as Joseph Mangano, executive director of the Radiation and Public Health Project, a name that those with their finger on the pulse of nuclear energy policy in the United States and elsewhere will have heard before, has other ideas : “One problem with nuclear reactors is what to do with the high-level waste they produce. This waste is actually a cocktail of chemicals such as Cesium-137, Iodine-129, Strontium-90 and Plutonium-239, each radioactive and cancer-causing.” There’s no way that it is appropriate to call these kinds of materials waste - they are radionuclides with useful and important technological, s...