Nuclear Power posts, articles, and infographics

Detangling two fast moving stories about nuclear

February 3, 2012 by Dan Yurman
with 177 views

A series of breaking news reports, followed by energetic denials, create confusion about the status of two new nuclear reactor projects Two fast moving stories caught people by surprise this week. First, the Salt Lake City Tribune reported that a key investor in the privately-held Blue Castle nuclear reactor project was being... [read more]

Black Swan theory and the anti-nuclear sentiment

February 1, 2012 by Barry Brook
with 348 views

Black Swan Theory, as explained by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in his 2007/2010 book, The Black Swan, describes an event which is a disproportionally-rare occurrence, is unpredictable, but has a high-impact when it does occur. According to Taleb, Black Swan events include the September 11 attacks, the rise of the Internet, World War I and the... [read more]

How to manage the nations nuclear waste

January 26, 2012 by Dan Yurman
with 178 views

It calls for leadership by Congress and the White House to resolve the current impasse Spent fuel in wet storageThe Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future released its final report on Jan 26 to the U.S. Energy Secretary, detailing comprehensive recommendations for creating a safe, long- term solution for managing and... [read more]

NRC’s Waste Confidence Update

January 25, 2012 by Dan Yurman
with 345 views

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission announced in early January it is starting work on an update to the Waste Confidence decision. With the Obama administration’s successful bid to terminate the Yucca Mountain repository project, one of the agency’s key assumptions for the update is that interim storage of spent fuel will be the norm... [read more]

Vermont Yankee Lives to Power Another Day

January 20, 2012 by Steve Skutnik
with 458 views

The Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, supplier of 73% of Vermont's emission-free electricity (and approximately one-third of the state's total electricity), won its day in federal court today, thus granting it the right to keep the doors open and the lights on (for the rest of the state). Vermont resident Meredith Angwin has been... [read more]

Covert Bombing Kills Iranian Nuclear Scientist

January 19, 2012 by Dan Yurman
with 472 views

An Iranian nuclear scientist was killed in Tehran on January 11 by a bomb that was magnetically attached to his car. A driver, who doubles as a body guard, was also killed in the blast. The scientist was identified as Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, age 32, who was a departmental manager at the Natanz uranium enrichment plant. According to... [read more]

Enlightenment and Renaissance: Which Should Come First for Nuclear

January 13, 2012 by Meredith Angwin
with 210 views

Several months ago I blogged about an engineering presentation at Dartmouth. Dr. Swartz presented a talk with the provocative title: If Vermont Yankee Had an Accident Like Fukushima.Swartz concluded that the "worried well" would be the major problem after any type of nuclear accident. Civilians would not receive radiation at a dose... [read more]

The Politics Over Davis-Besse

January 9, 2012 by Dan Yurman
with 357 views

Concrete cracks in the containment structure aren't the reason for anti-nuclear fervor by Rep. Dennis Kucinich U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-OHThe ongoing saga of anti-nuclear opposition to the continued operation of FirstEnergy's (NYSE:FE) Davis-Besse nuclear reactor located on the shores of Lake Erie is linked to a gift to voters... [read more]

2012 Budget Increases Nuclear Energy Research Funding

January 6, 2012 by Jesse Jenkins
with 370 views

Before adjourning to watch yule logs and eat holiday hams, Congress actually managed to pass a 2012 budget bill. ITIF's Matthew Stepp provided us with an early analysis of the bill's impact on energy innovation funding. Funding for key Department of Energy (DOE) innovation offices are up by a modest 2.5 percent relative to the 2011... [read more]

Details Emerge About Failures at Fukushima

January 2, 2012 by Dan Yurman
with 1,218 views

Interim Fukushima report lists lapses 27 Dec 2011 (NucNet): Japan’s response to the crisis at the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant was flawed by poor communication and delays in releasing data on dangerous radiation leaks at the facility, a government-appointed investigative committee has found. A 507-page interim report released... [read more]

Global Energy Prize and Breakthrough Institute

December 28, 2011 by Barry Brook
with 186 views

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at the 2008 International Global Energy Prize award ceremony The Christmas to New Year period is traditionally ‘hibernation mode’ for blogs, when page views and comment counts plummet (my hits have dropped about 70% compared to early December!). I suppose this is a time when people find better things to... [read more]

Predictions, Speculations, & Random Ideas for 2012

December 27, 2011 by Dan Yurman
with 1,212 views

Another fearless look ahead Each year this blog posts its fearless outlook for the coming year. For 2012 I will add the caveat that while no one can predict the future, there are plenty of pointers to how things might work themselves out over time. That's what this blog is reporting here. Japan A... [read more]

GE-Hitachi Proposes to Burn U.K. Plutonium Stockpile

December 22, 2011 by Dan Yurman
with 697 views

GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy has proposed to the U.K. government to build an advanced nuclear reactor that would consume the country’s stockpile of surplus plutonium.The technology is called PRISM, which stands for Power Reactor Innovative Small Module. If accepted, it would be very different than the other proposals to process... [read more]

Lawrence Berkeley National Lab: Breakthrough Study of Low Radiation Dose Effects

December 21, 2011 by Rod Adams
with 322 views

The Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory issued a press release on December 20, 2011 titled New Take on Impacts of Low Dose Radiation: Berkeley Lab Researchers Find Evidence Suggesting Risk May Not Be Proportional to Dose at Low Dose Levels.The press release summarizes the results of a paper that has been published in the Proceedings of... [read more]

Areva US CEO Jacques Besnainou Talks Shop

December 20, 2011 by Dan Yurman
with 707 views

Recent decisions by Luc Oursel on capital spending top the list of discussion issues Jacques BesnainouJacques Besnainou, the CEO of U.S. Areva, based in Bethesda, MD, told a group of nuclear energy bloggers in an telephone conference call Dec 19 that the time line for getting the capital to begin the construction phase of the Eagle Rock... [read more]