NEI Nuclear Notes

The Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER) and the Nuclear Policy Research Institute (Dr. Helen Caldicott ’s organization) just released an Executive Summary of Carbon-Free and Nuclear-Free: A Roadmap for U.S. Energy Policy . It is a book that will be published in October 2007 detailing recommendations on how the U.S. ’ can meet future energy demand while reducing carbon emissions. The joint project sets out to answer three questions: Is it possible to physically eliminate CO2 emissions from the U.S. energy sector without resort to nuclear power, which has serious security and other vulnerabilities? Is a zero-CO2 economy possible without purchasing offsets from other countries – that is, without purchasing from other countries the right to continue emitting CO2 in the United States ? Is it possible to accomplish the above at reasonable cost? My answers are yes, yes and no. To the first question, it is possible to eliminate CO2 and nuclear from the energy sector -- ...

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In coverage of TVA's decision to complete the Watts Bar 2 nuclear reactor , we saw a familiar charge get aired by anti-nuclear activists concerning nuclear energy and total life-cycle emissions. First, here's an account from Knox News : Anti-nuclear activists criticized the description of nuclear power as “clean,” pointing to the nuclear waste created and the energy-intensive process of mining and enriching uranium for nuclear fuel. “Nuclear power is not clean, and the idea that you all found no significant impacts on your environmental impact statement is a joke,” said Earth First! activist John Johnson, referring to a federally required environmental study released in June. Next, here's a familiar face in the Chattanooga Times Free-Press : Helen Caldicott, president of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute and founder of Physicians for Social Responsibility, is one of the most vocal critics of TVA's decision. "I'm afraid this may be the beginning of a renai...

SnowDhalia , a neighbor of the Seabrook Nuclear Power Station (pictured at left), is talking about how she changed her mind about nuclear energy : I'm a liberal-environmentalist type, and until a few years ago, I thought my life was pretty good except for one thing: this damn nuclear power plant. It could blow at any moment, was my thought. How would we all escape? When my mother came to visit me from the Midwest, she'd squirrel away a large amount of cash, so when catastrophe struck, I wouldn't have to be stuck in a line at the ATM. I could just stuff my son and my dog in the car, hit the Mass. Pike and get out of Dodge. Then something happened: I actually learned what nuclear power was. Being married to a nuclear engineer helps, apparently. Read the rest right now. UPDATE : Physical Insights likes what he's reading.

In the immediate aftermath of last month's earthquake in Japan that led to the shutdown of the Kashiwazaki - Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant , it was hard to find reliable English language sources of information. Now, thanks to our friends at the Japan Atomic Industrial Forum ( JAIF ), we have a comprehensive list of Web sites and sources you can rely on. JAIF English home page Kashiwazaki - Kariwa NPS and Niigata Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake consolidates useful links to correct information. Japan Nuclear Technology Institute ( JANTI ) English home page Report on the impact of the Niigata - Chuetsu Offshore Earthquake on the Kashiwazaki - Kariwa Nuclear Power Plant Tokyo Electric Power Company's English home page Press Releases section provides first-hand information on the updated plant status and impact of the earthquake. Nuclear Safety Commission The NSC views on, and future actions to take for, the impacts due to the Niigata -ken Chuetsu - oki Earthquake in 2007 ( PD...

From an NEI press release : More than 80 percent of Tennesseans living within 10 miles of the Watts Bar nuclear power plant would accept construction of a new reactor at the plant site or completion of the Watts Bar Unit 2 reactor, according to a public opinion survey conducted in July for the Nuclear Energy Institute. The telephone survey of 300 randomly selected adults found that 88 percent of respondents would agree with a decision by the Tennessee Valley Authority to complete the Watts Bar Unit 2 reactor on which construction was halted in 1985. Sixty-eight percent “strongly agreed” and 20 percent “somewhat agreed,” while only 11 percent disagreed. Eighty-three percent of plant neighbors said that, if a new power plant were needed to supply electricity, they would accept a decision to add a new reactor “at the site of the nearest nuclear power plant.” Only 14 percent of respondents said construction of a new reactor at the nearest plant site would not be acceptable. The survey was ...

From the AP : The Tennessee Valley Authority's board of directors voted unanimously Wednesday to begin a five-year plan to finish a second nuclear reactor at the Watts Bar Nuclear Plant on the Tennessee River. The plant, about 50 miles south of Knoxville at Spring City, was the last new nuclear plant to come on line in the United States when it fired up one of its two planned reactors in 1996. The plan to finish it is expected to cost about $2.5 billion, likely funded by the public utility's revenues and adding debt. It was approved after a $20 million internal study on the feasibility of finishing the reactor determined it was already about 60 percent complete. More great news, even better coming on the heels of the Unistar announcement last week. Congrats to everyone at TVA.