NEI Nuclear Notes

This is probably one of the most entertaining debates on nuclear energy I've seen in a long time ! By the way, their debate about $50 billion of loan volume in the Senate's "stimulus" package goes to "projects that avoid, reduce, or sequester air pollutants or anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and employ new or significantly improved technologies as compared to technologies in service in the United States at the time the guarantee is issued." The actual appropriations for the $50B in loan volume is $500 million because the Congressional Budget Office scores the cost of the program at one percent of loan volume . But like I said in a previous post , if the program works as designed and no projects default, then none of this money is needed. Also in the Senate's "stimulus" package but not mentioned in the debate is $95 billion in loan volume earmarked solely for commercially proven renewable energy pro...

Sometimes, you focus your eyes one place while all the action is happening somewhere else. (Where would magicians be without this idea?) In our case, we’ve been patiently waiting for Germany to  overturn their ill-considered nuclear ban while over in Sweden, they’re actually, um, overturning their ill-considered ban : Sweden is a leader on renewable energy but is struggling to develop alternative source like hydropower and wind to meet its growing energy demands. If parliament approves scrapping the [nuclear] ban, Sweden would join a growing list of countries rethinking nuclear power as a source of energy amid concerns over global warming and the reliability of energy suppliers such as Russia. While we’re still a touch wobbly on the notion of nuclear energy being used as emergency rations to fend off Russia, Sweden’s issues seem based on a desire to keep their carbon emissions down. To us, that gives nuclear energy a firmer basis for moving forward as part of a broader ene...

We are going through one of the most turbulent economic times this country has seen in decades. There's hardly a week nowadays that we don't hear at least several companies laying off employees. Since December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has grown by 3.6 million . However, the nuclear industry is one of the few industries in this country that is actually expanding during these turbulent times. A lot of the recent job growth in the nuclear energy industry was stimulated by the 2005 Energy Policy Act . NEI has been keeping close tabs on expansion in the nuclear energy industry. As of the end of 2008, we estimate that private investment in new nuclear power plants has created an estimated 15,000 jobs (pdf, check out pages 4-6 for the list of companies). From page 1: Over the last several years, the nuclear industry has invested over $4 billion in new nuclear plant development, and plans to invest approximately $8 billion in the next several years to be in a position ...

Here’s what the International Energy Agency has to say about carbon reduction ambitions in the Netherlands: The head of the International Energy Agency urged the Dutch government Monday to expand its nuclear power base, but the country's environment minister said that's not in the energy equation for now. Nobuo Tanaka, the IEA executive director, said the Netherlands will find it tough to reach its target of slashing carbon emissions 30 percent below 1990 levels within the next dozen years without building more nuclear power stations. We’ve made the same argument (a lot) about the most efficacious way to achieve carbon reduction. We do wonder why IEA focused on the Dutch. A look at its Web site shows it does reports (for a price) focused on individual countries and how plans shape up versus goals. IEA seems neutral on energy generators, so it isn’t recommending nuclear because that’s what it always does. Here’s a bit more on where the Dutch are on this issue : ...

We normally don’t spotlight our comments section: that’s your area to have at the topics addressed on the blog without a lot of pushback from us – though we’ll drop in to clarify a point now and then. But we were struck by the comments left by Nick Berning of Friends of the Earth about our post below: Contrary to your post's assertions, our release was clear that not all of the $50 billion is necessarily going to the nuclear industry. What we said is "much" of the money is "likely" to go to a nuclear industry bailout. The veracity of this claim is underscored by your organization's interest in ensuring the bailout is included in the final bill. This is a real head-scratcher, since Berning seems to think that weasel words like “much” and “likely” mitigates the actual quote from their President. Take it away, Brent Blackwelder : "Senators are supposed to be fixing the economy but instead they’re offering the nuclear industry a $50 billion g...

Greenpeace co-founder and current co-chair of the Clean and Safe Energy (CASEnergy) Coalition , Patrick Moore, will be appearing on C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning at 9:30 ET. (Extra bonus: Greta Wodele Brawner will be moderating.) We'll post the video once it becomes available. A live webcast can be seen here . Update : The Moore segment has been archived and can be seen here .

We had a little fun with the Heritage Foundation earlier today, but at least it was in the context of some good ideas they’re putting forward. We thought we’d try a little balance and see what’s up in the environmental activist sphere – an inexact match, since environmentalism is hardly the sole province of liberals. But while the Heritage Foundation couches their arguments in a comfy cocoon of ideological certainty, Friends of the Earth charges across the room blasting a shotgun in all directions. But that doesn’t mean they hit the target : Senate appropriators voted yesterday to add a preemptive, up-to-$50-billion bailout for the nuclear industry to economic stimulus legislation. The move was strongly criticized by Friends of the Earth President Brent Blackwelder. “The nuclear industry has given millions of dollars to politicians, an investment that appears to be paying off,” Blackwelder said. "Senators are supposed to be fixing the economy but instead they’re of...