NEI Nuclear Notes

PSEG President and Chief Operating Officer William Levis does not discount or play down the events in Japan: Levis acknowledged that the events in Japan went beyond what engineers there had planned for and said U.S. companies would have to re-evaluate the "design basis" for their own safety plans. "We'll go back and relook at this too, just to ensure ourselves that we've got this right," he said. But he does not back away, either: Levis said the crisis in Japan shouldn't affect plant license renewals in the U.S. because the renewals here relate to managing aging equipment. "There's nothing that happened in (Japan) that looks like it's related to aging management, so I would think that they would go on," Levis said, referring to license renewals. "But I also recognize that there is some need for caution and some additional questions that need to be asked." --- Neither is Rep. Chris Gibson (R-N.Y.) ...

One thing you have to give groups who base their existence on not liking something, they'll pull every rabbit out of the hat in order to have their way. This differs from advocacy groups, because being zealously against something comes far more naturally to the human animal than being zealously for something (Presidential elections aside, of course, and even they are usually motored by dissatisfaction with the status quo.) But the zeal frequently doesn't work - often foiled by a tin ear for nuance - and so it has come to pass for the San Luis Obispo group Mothers for Peace , which has been trying for two years to keep Diablo Canyon from storing their used nuclear fuel. Well, lately, anyway. They describe themselves as a “non-profit organization concerned with the local dangers involving the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant” and nuclear energy in general. Luckily, they also stand for "peace, social justice and a safe environment," so we must allow that their...

At Forbes , Public Service Enterprise Group President and CEO Larry Izzo is touting the benefits of nuclear energy in a balanced energy portfolio : [B]oth wind and solar will remain small parts of the energy mix for the foreseeable future. We will still need large power stations that can supply electricity with zero- or low-carbon emissions--and do so abundantly around the clock throughout the year and not just on sunny or windy days. Nuclear stations are the greenest option available to provide this power. The most widely discussed alternative--carbon capture and storage technology--needs to be developed but is a distant and uncertain prospect at this time. Looking further ahead, we can anticipate significantly greater demands on the electric grid as we move toward a low-carbon economy. Americans are on course to consume 40% more electricity by 2030. The greening of the transportation sector could conceivably increase this growth considerably more over time: A future in which people p...