NEI Nuclear Notes

Presidential candidate John Edwards was endorsed by Friends of the Earth Action last Sunday primarily because of his stance against nuclear power . Mr. Edwards, accepting the endorsement, said: “I am opposed to the building of new nuclear power plants, which is different from the position taken by Senator Clinton and Senator Obama. FOEA’s president Brent Blackwelder had this to say: “Edwards is razor sharp and clear: we don’t want to go the route of nuclear power plants,” said Mr. Blackwelder, whereas Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton wanted to explore the nuclear option. “We intend to run an independent campaign to educate the voters,” Mr. Blackwelder said. The canvassing, advertisements and seminars will take place mostly in New Hampshire , where the nuclear issue has resonance because of the nuclear power plant at Seabrook, as well as in other states. Educate the voters? I wonder if they’ll include these educational facts on nuclear in New Hampshire ? In 200...

From Nuc Net : The world “will need all economic, environmentally responsible energy sources,” including nuclear energy, to ensure an adequate, reliable energy supply, the US National Petroleum Council concluded in a report released last week. US energy secretary Samuel Bodman requested the report, “Facing the Hard Truths About Energy,” to consider the future of oil and natural gas until 2030 in the context of the global energy system. The study relies on data from International Energy Agency and Energy Information Administration energy outlooks. While fossil fuels “will remain indispensable to meeting total projected energy demand growth,” the council said the US also must expand its use of nuclear energy, biomass and renewable energy sources. Global energy demand will increase by 50 percent to 60 percent by 2030. Political hurdles, infrastructure requirements and limited availability of trained energy-sector workers will strain the ability to meet this demand, the council said. Addit...