NEI Nuclear Notes

Well, President Jimmy Carter was one. His panels were taken down by his successor, ronald Reagan, and ended up at Unity college in Maine. An environmental activist, Bill McKibben, decided to take them back to the White House last month to see if the current occupant, Barack Obama, might reinstall them. But he had a problem: As McKibben's party made its way from Maine to Washington, D.C., they had just one "nagging concern": They hadn't heard any confirmation from the White House that Obama would see them. But this has kind of a soft human interest angle, so why not? In the end, McKibben and company did end up with a meeting, with two unnamed "environmental bureaucrats," but the Carter panel and the Sungevity donation were refused. Sungevity was going to donate a “full solar system” – I’m not sure what that means – a system capable of running the entire White House? In any event, no go. The response? Not too good: The Obama administr...

Making the rounds in his farewell tour , President Bush stopped by the American Enterprise Institute yesterday afternoon and was asked about the progress of the nuclear renaissance during his administration. Mr. DeMuth : Let me ask you two questions, if I may, about energy policy. The first is, are you satisfied with the progress in recent years in reviving nuclear energy? The second is about ethanol. The question says, "Ethanol subsidies are popular with politicians of both parties, but not with ordinary folk outside the state of Iowa." (Laughter.) Does this have something to do with the timing of the first presidential primary? The President : Sounds like some of my friends in Texas asking that question. (Laughter.) Mr. DeMuth : You can talk about nuclear power. The President : Yes. (Laughter.) The country needs to overcome its fear about nuclear power if we want to have ample electricity so we can grow and be good stewards of the environment. Part of the problem with nucl...

In a statement released earlier today, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice announced that President Bush has rescinded the U.S. - Russia 123 Agreement . Per Reuters , President George W. Bush on Monday froze a lucrative civilian nuclear pact with Russia, the first big penalty imposed on Moscow after its war with Georgia but one that can be reversed. "The president intends to notify Congress that he has today rescinded his prior determination regarding the U.S.-Russia agreement for peaceful nuclear cooperation, the so-called 1-2-3 Agreement," said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. While Bush's decision to withdraw the agreement from congressional review was seen as punitive, it was also meant to preserve the deal, a senior U.S. official said. That official said the administration wanted to ensure the accord did not go to a vote in Congress, where it could have been rejected following Russia's military action in Georgia. If rejected, it would be difficult for a new...

From Deutsche Welle , more on German Chancellor Angela Merkel's call to restore Germany's nuclear energy program: Although Merkel has long championed a three-way mix in electrical power generation—fossil, renewables and nuclear—she has in the past been cautious in openly advocating a reverse in official government policy to phase out nuclear power by 2021. That all changed at a top-level weekend meeting of her Christian Democrats (CDU) and its Bavarian sister-party, the Christian Social Union (CSU), in the Bavarian town of Erding. The anti-nuclear decision, passed into law by the government of her Social Democrat predecessor Gerhard Schroeder, was "absolutely wrong," Merkel said as the meeting ended Monday. At a joint press conference, French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his country's interest in partnering with Germany: "The desire of the French is to work with our German friends to produce nuclear energy". President Bush begins his final, ei...

In a Rose Garden press conference this morning, President Bush acknowledged American's growing anxiety over the economy and faulted the Congress for inaction. The pull quote : As electricity prices rise, Congress continues to block provisions needed to increase domestic electricity production by expanding the use of clean, safe nuclear power. Instead many of the same people in Congress who complain about high energy costs support legislation that would make energy even more expensive for our consumers and small businesses.

The Bush Administration released its FY'08 Budget yesterday . NucNet has all the details on the budget request for the Department of Energy .