NEI Nuclear Notes

Here's Sparklite on the current electrical generating crisis in Ontario: Ontario is shutting down its coal generators while at the same time continuing to have trouble at its older nuclear stations, and it would seem that no plans proposed by the new pseudo-private Ontario Power Generation Corporation have been approved or even examined by the government. Be it natural gas or nuclear we need new plants! The Nuclear plant at Bowmanville is an example of what we should be building. While it has been in operation for years it is our newest nuclear plant and it operates reliably and safely and outputs vast amounts of electricity. Sparklite is referring to the Darlington Nuclear Generating Station in Bowmanville, Ontario, the home of four CANDU reactors with a combined capacity of 3,524 megawatts. And when it comes to natural gas, its use for heating and industrial purposes, as well as electrical generation, is placing unsustainable pricing pressure on gas markets. Technorati tags: N...

Hello all, I am honored to have been invited by Eric via Kevin McCoy to be an active participant in this important and ongoing dialogue. As I see it, my mission is three fold in nature: [1] I will do what I can to help enlighten those who are seeking answers. [2] I will help to educate those who are disseminating information that may be in need of clarification. [3] And I will do what I can to advance the peaceful use of nuclear technology. Blog at you soon.

In a post concerning the future of nuclear energy in South Korea, Randall Parker comes to this conclusion: My guess is that nuclear power in East Asia is going play out in a manner similar to the French pattern. The East Asia peoples won't take environmentalist objections seriously and instead will see nuclear as the cleanest, most reliable, and cost effective alternative to fossil fuels. The future of nuclear power in the United States is less clear. While some environmentalists are having second thoughts about their opposition so far coal looks set to meet the bulk of future growth in US demand with wind and nuclear playing smaller roles. At some point the price of photovoltaics will plunge and solar power may become the biggest energy providers. But until then nuclear looks like the most cost effective cleaner alternative to coal . We ran a short item on the same topic a little more than a week ago. Technorati tags: Nuclear Energy , Environment , Energy , Politics , Technology...

After reading the post," “Wind power beats nukes ,"it looks like we're on another mission to correct some bad data. The blogger in question cites The Australian's article" Doubts over "‘clean nuke power ": Nuclear power stations using high-grade uranium ores would have to run for seven to 10 years before they created enough power to cancel out the energy required to establish them. Wind power takes just three to six months to do the same. I knew I had heard this claim before several times. So as I read The Australian'’s article where the blogger got the info, I found that Dr. Diesendorf was behind the claim. Here's a previous post where we dealt with the Doctor's assertions: Nuclear power plants do not emit criteria pollutants such as SO2 and NOx or greenhouse gases during operations. This is a well known fact, but it hasn't stopped some anti-nuclear groups from making misleading statements regarding nuclear power. One of the most c...

Here are some of the news clips we're reading at NEI today. More on the U.S. nuclear energy agreement with India: Experts in the nuclear industry now predict that these improved nuclear relations with India could lead to better global access to nuclear technology and material, according to Business Line : Nuclear power industry experts feel that if things worked out well, this could be the beginning for India to not only gain global access to nuclear fuel, but also get new reactor technologies from the US and other countries. Countries such as Russia, UK and France have already indicated their willingness to participate in India's nuclear energy programme, but, due to the restrictions on India, this had so far not been possible. According to the experts, these countries can help India develop new generation reactors like pressurised water reactors and standardised boiling water reactors that use low enriched uranium as fuel, if India could achieve full civil nuclear energy coop...

Here are some of the news clips we're reading at NEI today. The United States' newly strengthened relationship with India is making waves in the global community. The Boston Globe reports that the United States has pledged to assist the nuclear power in meeting its energy needs: The Bush administration yesterday reversed a longstanding policy and pledged to provide India with civilian nuclear energy technology, a clear sign of the emerging alliance between the two nations after decades of acrimony over India's Cold War legacy as a leader of the Nonaligned Movement. India got what it has wanted most in recent years from the United States: promises of nuclear reactors and nuclear fuel to meet its ballooning energy needs. In return, India pledged to ''assume the same responsibilities and practices" as other countries with advanced nuclear technology, including separating its civilian and weapons facilities and programs. A recent analysis by Planet Ark reports th...

J. Patrick Looney became the assistant laboratory director for policy and strategic planning at the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory . Looney, a physicist who has served at the laboratory since February, assumed his new position July 1. He previously worked in the Office of Science and Technology Policy (part of the Executive Office of the President) as assistant director for physical sciences and engineering. Looney's new role was recently created to help increase funding for Brookhaven National Laboratory, which is funded mainly by DOE. Update: James Mangeno joined Longenecker & Associates July 7 as a senior project manager. Mangeno came to Longenecker & Associates, an international management consulting firm that serves the U.S. Department of Energy and utility customers, after 42 years of government service. Most recently, Mr. Mangeno was the first-ever senior adviser for environment, safety and health to the administrator of DOE's...