NEI Nuclear Notes

From today's Guardian : Shell is being forced by the Russian government to hand over its controlling stake in the world's biggest liquefied gas project, provoking fresh fears about the Kremlin's willingness to use the country's growing strength in natural resources as a political weapon. After months of relentless pressure from Moscow, the Anglo-Dutch company has to cut its stake in the $20bn Sakhalin-2 scheme in the far east of Russia in favour of the state-owned energy group Gazprom. The Russian authorities are also threatening BP over alleged environmental violations on a Siberian field in what is seen as a wider attempt to seize back assets handed over to foreign companies when energy prices were low. As we've noted before, this probably isn't a smart long-term strategy . In any case, Europe better start building more nuclear power plants, or else be at the mercy of Gazprom. Technorati tags: Energy , Electricity , Home Heating , Natural Gas , Oil , Russia ,...

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What does it take for young nuclear professionals to get involved in campaigns to inform the public about the benefits of nuclear energy? Just hearing for themselves the kind of propaganda that is spread by anti-nuclear groups is enough to spur many to action. Like their colleagues that attended events in Georgia , Tennessee, and Virginia , North American Young Generation in Nuclear (NA-YGN) members in New Jersey were stunned by the rhetoric and misinformation presented at the “ Clinic Symposium on Campaign to Close Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant ” at Rutgers University last Friday, December 8. Nuclear Notes’ previous posts on this event are here , here , and here . Prior to the event, NA-YGN contacted Richard Webster of Rutgers Environmental Law Clinic to request a seat on the panel. While they were not completely denied, Webster did put some restrictions on their participation that are questionable in light of the qualifications and actual remarks of the selected speakers. Webst...

A few days ago I visited a high school to talk to a nuclear science class. I was pretty impressed that there was such a class but even more impressed to find that the school has a fuel assembly mockup. I have to admit that I was puzzled by it, though. It was unlike anything I had seen before. Since the fuel rods were in a 17 by 17 array, I assumed that it was an early Westinghouse design. After the visit, a little digging through old reports proved that assumption was incorrect. The mockup is a Babcock & Wilcox Mark-C, and it is a nuclear rarity. All of the Babcock & Wilcox reactors currently operating in the U.S. use fuel assemblies from the Mark-B series, and all fuel assemblies in the Mark-B series have a 15 by 15 array of rods. Therefore, for devotees of nuclear fuel, "B&W" is almost synonymous with "15 by 15". Mark-C fuel was designed for a later model of Babcock & Wilcox reactor. These reactors are often called "205 plants" because ...

Progress Energy just issued a news release naming a potential nuclear power plant site in southern Levy County in Florida: The Levy County site, approximately 3,000 acres ( see map ), is located about seven miles inland from the Gulf of Mexico and eight miles north of the company's Crystal River Energy Complex in Citrus County, where Progress Energy operates a nuclear plant, as well as four coal-fueled units. The Levy County location was chosen based on an assessment of the major siting criteria: land, access to sufficient quantities of water (from the Gulf) and access to the electric transmission system, as well as an overall evaluation of environmental considerations. The proximity of the site to the company's existing nuclear plant also would provide opportunities for efficiencies in shared support functions. In the coming months, the potential site will undergo further detailed assessment. "Our commitment is to provide reliable and affordable energy to more than 1.6 ...

From The Auto Channel : RICHLAND, Wash. --– If all the cars and light trucks in the nation switched from oil to electrons, idle capacity in the existing electric power system could generate most of the electricity consumed by plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. A new study for the Department of Energy finds that "off-peak" electricity production and transmission capacity could fuel 84 percent of the country's 220 million vehicles if they were plug-in hybrid electrics. Researchers at DOE's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory also evaluated the impact of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, or PHEVs, on foreign oil imports, the environment, electric utilities and the consumer. "This is the first review of what the impacts would be of very high market penetrations of PHEVs, said Eric Lightner, of DOE's Office of Electric Delivery and Energy Reliability. "It's important to have this baseline knowledge as consumers are looking for more efficient vehicles, au...

From USA Today : Coal remains the fuel of choice for most power companies, producing just over half of the USA's electricity. Natural gas prices are highly volatile. Nuclear plants, though gaining favor, still face public opposition. And wind turbines and solar panels operate too intermittently to constitute the bulk of a utility's portfolio. From the St. Petersburg Times : CRYSTAL RIVER - As area residents wait to hear where Progress Energy will build its new nuclear plant, officials in Levy and Citrus remain confident that their counties will be chosen. An official announcement could come as soon as today. Many officials in each county hope their area will be the victor. With a power plant comes property tax revenue, jobs and increased commercial traffic. Think it might be time for USA Today to do a little more background research. Apparently that "public opposition" depends on what region of the country you're talking about. As for any imminent announcement ...