Skip to main content

Reading the Morning Nuclear News

From Fox News (which can be intensely partisan, but this is by former Senators Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) and Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire). They have a plan, which I’ve extracted here (read the story for the rest of it):

Before we close more nuclear power plants, we need a national conversation

What might be done to ensure that existing nuclear energy plants are preserved? … [W]e have laid out a framework of possible solutions that might be considered by policymakers.

First, markets should appropriately value existing nuclear energy plants for their reliability… 

Second, electric transmission lines could better link nuclear energy plants to the markets that need their power…

Finally, nuclear energy plants could be recognized for the fact that they emit no carbon… 

The whole thing is worth a read.

From the Business Standard:

China launches nuclear power expansion scheme

Scheme? Let the evil laughter and overwrought rubbing of hands commence.

They write letters, this one to the Morris County N.J. Daily Record:

Don’t underestimate nuclear power

… So, it’s absurd that EPA’s clean power plant rule assigns scarcely any value to nuclear power’s key role in reducing carbon emissions. The rule as it is currently written is rigged against nuclear power. It counts only 6 percent of a nuclear plant’s generation toward a state’s carbon intensity goal, instead of the plant’s full production of zero-carbon energy.

Well, rigged is a little strong, but it’s pretty right-on. We wrote about nuclear value earlier this week; If Daily Record reader James McGovern dropped by (or read Bayh and Gregg’s editorial), great. If not, still great. Keep writing letters to your local newspaper.

One more headline, from ABC (not the American network):

Business groups want Government to 'get out of the way' of nuclear power

This isn’t from the United States, but I’ll give you a hint: every kangaroo there hates nuclear energy, though they waltz Matilda over the country’s considerable uranium exports.

The peak business group in South Australia, Business SA, is pushing for a debate to be held on the merits of building a nuclear power reactor in the state.

The organization's chief executive, Nigel McBride, has welcomed the comments from senior figures within the Federal Government.

"I do welcome what is, to me, a very important sign from the Prime Minister that this Government is not closed to what could be a significant game-changer in our fight for affordable energy," he said.

We’ve noted Australia’s intense nuclear distaste over several years, so let’s not get our hopes up. But it really is getting stuck with a terrible carbon dioxide emission profile that it can’t seem to find a way to improve. We can think of a way – so has Nigel McBride.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Wednesday Update

From NEI’s Japan micro-site: NRC, Industry Concur on Many Post-Fukushima Actions Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues • There is a “great deal of alignment” between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry on initial steps to take at America’s nuclear energy facilities in response to the nuclear accident in Japan, Charles Pardee, the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co., said at an agency briefing today. The briefing gave stakeholders an opportunity to discuss staff recommendations for near-term actions the agency may take at U.S. facilities. PowerPoint slides from the meeting are on the NRC website. • The International Atomic Energy Agency board has approved a plan that calls for inspectors to evaluate reactor safety at nuclear energy facilities every three years. Governments may opt out of having their country’s facilities inspected. Also approved were plans to maintain a rapid response team of experts ready to assist facility operators recoverin...

Fluor Invests in NuScale

You know, it’s kind of sad that no one is willing to invest in nuclear energy anymore. Wait, what? NuScale Power celebrated the news of its company-saving $30 million investment from Fluor Corp. Thursday morning with a press conference in Washington, D.C. Fluor is a design, engineering and construction company involved with some 20 plants in the 70s and 80s, but it has not held interest in a nuclear energy company until now. Fluor, which has deep roots in the nuclear industry, is betting big on small-scale nuclear energy with its NuScale investment. "It's become a serious contender in the last decade or so," John Hopkins, [Fluor’s group president in charge of new ventures], said. And that brings us to NuScale, which had run into some dark days – maybe not as dark as, say, Solyndra, but dire enough : Earlier this year, the Securities Exchange Commission filed an action against NuScale's lead investor, The Michael Kenwood Group. The firm "misap...

Activists' Claims Distort Facts about Advanced Reactor Design

Below is from our rapid response team . Yesterday, regional anti-nuclear organizations asked federal nuclear energy regulators to launch an investigation into what it claims are “newly identified flaws” in Westinghouse’s advanced reactor design, the AP1000. During a teleconference releasing a report on the subject, participants urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to suspend license reviews of proposed AP1000 reactors. In its news release, even the groups making these allegations provide conflicting information on its findings. In one instance, the groups cite “dozens of corrosion holes” at reactor vessels and in another says that eight holes have been documented. In all cases, there is another containment mechanism that would provide a barrier to radiation release. Below, we examine why these claims are unwarranted and why the AP1000 design certification process should continue as designated by the NRC. Myth: In the AP1000 reactor design, the gap between the shield bu...