NEI Nuclear Notes

We Support Lee takes a look back 30 years at the protest at the Seabrook Nuclear Power Plant: The Seabrook facility now provides 1,244 MW of emissions-free electricity for New England. It is now owned by FPL, which is Fortune's Most Admired Electric Utility . FPL is a leader in addressing climate change through emissions reduction . FPL participates in the community and with education, doing such things as training Texas students in wind turbine technology. Pretty good record if you ask me.

Yesterday, UPI ran a profile of Christine Whitman, co-chair of the CASEnergy Coalition : Former New Jersey governor and federal environmental chief Christine Todd Whitman is heading one of a growing number of coalitions urging the United States to keep -- and increase -- nuclear energy as part of its energy mix. She`s touring the country with the new mantra that nuclear power is safer and more efficient than ever before -- and, thanks to federal subsidies and potential climate-change legislation, economically competitive. 'It`s 20 percent of our energy now and I think we ought to make sure it stays at least at 20 percent if not 25,' Whitman said during an interview with United Press International. 'It`s not going to be the answer for everything and the be-all-end-all only form of power,' she said. 'But if you care about climate change and you care about air quality, nuclear power is really the only form of base power that doesn`t produce some of the regulated emissi...

Details from Huliq.com .

We've talked about this before, but now the provincial government of Alberta is considering a policy resolution on whether to use nuclear energy in its oilsands region .

From NEI : America’s nuclear power plants continued to operate at high levels of efficiency and safety in 2006, according to industry performance indicators compiled by the World Association of Nuclear Operators. For the seventh consecutive year, the U.S. nuclear energy industry’s unit capability factor topped 90 percent. The median capability factor for 103 reactors of 91.5 percent, when measured on an operating cycle basis, was within four-tenths of a percentage point of the 91.9 percent record set in 2005. Unit capability factor is the percentage of electricity actually produced compared to the maximum electricity a plant could supply to the electrical grid. These sector-leading levels of efficiency at nuclear power plants produced 787.2 billion kilowatt-hours (kwh) of electricity last year, second only to the record-high of 788.5 billion kwh of electricity produced in 2004. To view charts of the WANO performance indicators for U.S. nuclear power plants on NEI’s Web site, click here...

The blogger behind AustinPermie is in the midst of making up her mind about nuclear energy . Here's something she wrote recently about Patrick Moore that I think every supporter of nuclear energy ought to keep in mind: As a poli sci person, I have to say that all the negative sites I've seen on Moore's position, makes it seem like a big campaign angry at the 'defection' of one of its champions. Laden with editorial venom is unfortunately not conducive for a real debate. Interesting. Stop by and be sure to offer your thoughts, but, as always, please be polite. For Part I of her post, click here .

Just off the wire : UniStar Nuclear, a jointly developed enterprise between Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG) and AREVA Inc., today notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that a location adjacent to Constellation Energy's existing Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, Md., has been selected as the site for UniStar Nuclear's first combined construction and operating license (COL) application. The application, which will feature UniStar Nuclear's chosen technology, the U.S. Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR), will serve as the reference document for all future UniStar Nuclear COL applications to the NRC. The identification of a specific site is the first step in a multi-step process required before a COL application can be submitted to the NRC. It does not, however, represent a commitment on the part of Constellation Energy to construct a new nuclear plant at the Calvert Cliffs site. "Moving ahead with our reference application is an important step in reali...