Experts: CO2 record illustrates 'scary' trend

EDT May 11, 2013 | http://www.usatoday.com/story/weather/2013/05/11/co2-scary-trend/2152717/

Story Highlights

• Carbon levels are rising 100 times faster than at the end of the last ice age
• "We are altering the composition of our atmosphere at an unprecedented rate," Al Gore says
• China spews the most CO2 and its emissions are growing 10% a year

WASHINGTON (AP) — The old saying that "what goes up must come down" doesn't apply to carbon dioxide pollution in the air, which just hit an unnerving milestone.
The chief greenhouse gas was measured Thursday at 400 parts per million in Hawaii, a monitoring site that sets the world's benchmark. It's a symbolic mark that scientists and environmentalists have been anticipating for years.
While this week's number has garnered all sorts of attention, it is just a daily reading in the month when the chief greenhouse gas peaks in the Northern Hemisphere. It will be lower the rest of the year. This year will probably average around 396 ppm. But not for long — the trend is going up and at faster and faster rates.

Peer-Reviewed Survey Finds Majority Of Scientists Skeptical Of Global Warming Crisis

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2013/02/13/peer-reviewed-survey-finds-majority-
of-scientists-skeptical-of-global-warming-crisis/

How Is Expanding Oil and Gas Production Consistent with Addressing Climate Change?

How Is Expanding Oil and Gas Production Consistent with Addressing Climate Change?

from The Energy Collective - The world's best thinkers on energy & climate by Geoffrey Styles

An all-of-the-above approach to energy encompassing oil and gas, along with renewables, carbon sequestration, nuclear power and efficiency is fully consistent with addressing climate change.http://theenergycollective.com/geoffrey-styles/222686/how-expanding-oil-and-gas-production-consistent-addressing-climate-change?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=The+Energy+Collective+%28all+posts%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Editorial: The high price of nuclear fantasies

http://www.tampabay.com/opinion/editorials/editorial-the-high-price-of-nuclear-fantasies/2120324

Nasa and Ohio University research on molten salt reactors for space.

Nasa and Ohio University research on molten salt reactors for space.

http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/05/nasa-researching-100kw-4mw-and-60-mw.html

EPA guidelines to balance risks during a radiation and other crisis

EPA guidelines to balance risks during a radiation and other crisis, because other things besides radiation can be the greater danger

http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/05/epa-publishes-guidelines-to-help.html

Still no decision on fault line under Tsuruga nuclear plant as deadline nears

http://japandailypress.com/still-no-decision-on-fault-line-under-tsuruga-nuclear-plant-as-deadline-nears-1028646

Lack of nuclear energy, a big deficit for Turkey

http://www.turkishpress.com/news.asp?id=384913

LLEWELLYN KING: How to Move the Nuclear Project Forward

LLEWELLYN KING: How to Move the Nuclear Project Forward

By Llewellyn King
http://www.nucleartownhall.com/blog/llewellyn-king-how-to-move-the-nuclear-project-forward/

IAEA chief backs sending experts to check Iran's Bushehr plant

IAEA chief backs sending experts to check Iran's Bushehr plant Al-Arabiya Iranian officials and the Russian company that built Bushehr, Iran's only nuclear power reactor, said it was unscathed by last month's earthquake. But that has not stopped fears about safety in a country that sits on major fault lines, especially as ...http://english.alarabiya.net/en/News/middle-east/2013/05/11/IAEA-chief-backs-sending-experts-to-check-Iran-s-Bushehr-plant-.html

Rosatom invites EDF to participate in Turkey's first nuclear plant

Rosatom invites EDF to participate in Turkey's first nuclear plant Power Engineering International The Russian state atomic power company is seeking partners for its new nuclear reactors, and has already invited EDF (Euronext: EDF) to help build Turkey's first nuclear power plant. Rosatom is ready to reduce its stakes in the planned Akkuyu nuclear ...http://www.powerengineeringint.com/articles/2013/05/Rosatom-invites-EDF-to-participate-in-Turkeys-first-nuclear-plant.html

Utility investigating vibrations that caused shutdown of nuclear reactor

http://www.timesdispatch.com/business/energy/article_aa6ca549-7e2c-5876-b09c-1d996f8a4bfb.html

Regulatory Oversight of Safety Culture in Nuclear Installations - IAEA TECDOC 1707

Regulatory Oversight of Safety Culture in Nuclear Installations - IAEA TECDOC 1707

link for download: http://www-pub.iaea.org/MTCD/Publications/PDF/TE_1707_web.pdf ;

http://www-pub.iaea.org/books/IAEABooks/10435/Regulatory-Oversight-of-Safety-Culture-in-Nuclear-Installations

4 days ago

Radiation Fears Continue F. Daiichi Wastewater Build-up

From The Hiroshima Syndrome/ Fukushima Commentary

 

Radiation Fears Continue F. Daiichi Wastewater Build-up

 

The wastewater build-up problem at Fukushima Daiichi increases with every day that passes. ALPS will remove all but one of the residual radioactive isotopes. Tritium cannot be removed by ALPS. The total activity of all the Tritium at F. Daiichi is one one-hundredth of the natural Tritium in the Pacific Ocean. Regardless, the Tritium will keep Tepco from discharging the water into the sea.

http://www.hiroshimasyndrome.com/fukushima-commentary.html

$1.9 billion wind project coming to Iowa

$1.9 billion wind project coming to Iowa

from Grist by John Upton

Shutterstock / David LeeThis wind turbine in Iowa is going to get a lot more company. America’s wind energy boom is about to deliver the biggest economic investment in Iowa’s history — and blow a whole lot of cheap, clean electricity into the appliances and lightbulbs of the state’s residents.http://grist.org/news/1-9-billion-wind-project-coming-to-iowa/?utm_source=syndication&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=feed

Guest Post: The Obama Administration's Natural Gas Policy Is Tragically Misguided

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-05-10/guest-post-obama-administrations-natural-gas-policy-tragically-misguided

NASA researching 100KW, 4MW and 60 MW thermal molten salt reactors for space

NASA researching 100KW, 4MW and 60 MW thermal molten salt reactors for space

from Next Big Future by noreply@blogger.com (brian wang)http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/05/nasa-researching-100kw-4mw-and-60-mw.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2Fadvancednano+%28nextbigfuture%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Ohio State University has performed some computational studies of molten salt reactors for NASA space applications.

They looked at 4 MW thermal and 60 MW thermal reactors and flow dynamics and basic design.

Molten salt reactors are an appealing technology for space because of their high temperature and low pressure operation, controllability, and high fuel burn up, among other features.

The proposed research will investigate how molten salt reactor technology can be used to power sub-100 kWe reactors for science missions and for MWe class reactors for human exploration. Both of these applications are cited as relevant to current US goals in space in NASAs Draft 2010 Space Power and Energy Storage Roadmap, and will greatly assist in space exploration. Specifically, sub-100 kWe reactors are a potential solution to the Pu-238 shortage, and molten salt reactor technology can address the issue of controlling small reactors. MWe class reactors require large amounts of fuel and benefit greatly from operating at high temperatures. A MWe molten salt reactor is capable at operating at high temperatures and would require less fuel than its traditional solid fuel counterpart.

There is a 53 page undergrad thesis

NRC Insists Palisades Leak Not Dangerous

NRC Insists Palisades Leak Not Dangerous

from Nuclear Energy News

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is putting out a clarification about the amount of radioactivity that was in the water that leaked from the Palisades nuclear plant into Lake Michigan.

Original enclosure (mini-45ad385a42f4c231aee2af09db1a2cd6)

http://www.wsjm.com/pages/16322043.php? 

Climate Change's 'Evil Twin' Ocean Acidification

Climate Change's 'Evil Twin': Ocean Acidification by Andrea Germanos "The rapidly acidifying Arctic Ocean caused by absorbing the world's CO2 emissions have pushed us beyond 'critical thresholds,' with widespread impacts to be felt for 'tens of thousands of years' even if we stopped emissions, say scientists."http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2013/05/06

Two decades and counting…

Two decades and counting…

Posted on 18 February 2013 by Barry Brook

Guest Post by Geoff Russell. Geoff is a mathematician and computer programmer and is a member of Animal Liberation SA. He has published a book on diet and science, CSIRO Perfidy.
While the French have been generating electricty for ~80 grams of CO2 per kWh for two decades, the Germans are still putting out ~450 grams/kwh and Australia is close to world’s  worst practice ~850 grams/kwh. The anti-nuclear movement has corrupted green thinking and cost us two decades and thousands of lives in the battle to avoid dangerous climate change … and counting.

http://bravenewclimate.com/2013/02/18/two-decades-and-counting/

Federal regulators to begin intensive inspection of Browns Ferry nuclear plant next week

http://blog.al.com/breaking/2013/05/federal_regulators_to_begin_in.html

Japan's Liberal Democrats pledge to restart nuclear reactors - Nikkei

http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/05/10/liberaldemocrats-nuclearreactors-nikkei-idINDEE9490ER20130510

Experts Weigh In: Joseph Mangano Study Hopelessly Flawed

Experts Weigh In: Joseph Mangano Study Hopelessly Flawed

For the nuclear industry, safety is the top priority, and it goes to great lengths to minimize radiation exposure to the public and employees. So exhaustive are these measures that nuclear power plants only account for .1% of the annual radiation that a typical American is exposed to. Nearly half come from medical exposures.http://neinuclearnotes.blogspot.com/2013/05/experts-weigh-in-joseph-mangano-study.html

Heat-Trapping Gas Passes Milestone, Raising Fears

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/11/science/earth/carbon-dioxide-level-passes-long-feared-milestone.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Crash course in outrage management

From Atomic Insights:

Crash course in outrage management

http://atomicinsights.com/2013/05/crash-course-in-outrage-management.html

Nuclear professionals have a moral imperative to improve our ability to manage and reduce outrage to a level that is more commensurate with the demonstrably low hazard of our technology. Our technology should be serving people, not causing them to live in fear or causing them to avoid beneficial applications because they have been taught to worry about what might happen if magical forces make layers of steel, water and concrete disappear or if “hot particles” somehow find their way, undetected, into their bodies.

Atomic Show $203 - Globally distributed atomic conversation

Atomic Show $203 - Globally distributed atomic conversation

http://atomicinsights.com/2013/05/atomic-show-203-globally-distributed-atomic-conversation.html

All around the world, renewable energy advocates are promoting studies that claim it is feasible to replace our current energy system with one that is completely dependent on renewables - they want people to believe we do not need to use either fossil fuels or nuclear energy. 

Attempting to transition away from fossil fuels to an "all renewable" energy system is fraught with cost and reliability challenges. Germany is running into substantial challenges and is burned 5% more lignite - brown coal - in 2012 than it did in 2011. Recently completed studies that including a range of scenarios in Australia and California indicate the magnitude of the challenge of trying to do without both nuclear energy and fossil fuel.

NRC faculty development grant funds thorium research

NRC faculty development grant funds thorium research - College of ...
Bernards' funded-research focus is an investigation into the development of a portable nuclear power generation system that would use thorium rather than ...
engineering.missouri.edu/.../nrc-faculty-development-grant-fu...

Nuclear News Round Up (6th May – 10th May 2013)

6th May 2013

• Assystem Nuclear Engineering Vacancies – Abu Dhabi

7th May 2013

• Scotland’s oil and gas sales reach ‘record levels’
  
• EDF Energy shuts nuclear reactor in Lancashire
  
• First selection of Atmea1 nuclear reactor

9th May 2013

• Plans whoosh on for commercial liquid air energy plant
  
• GDF SUEZ Energy UK signs energy from waste deal

10th May 2013

• Vegetable and fat to power new Sussex plant
  
• I&C collaboration celebrates China first

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ASCE Sees $94 Billion Energy Infrastructure Investment Gap by 2020

ASCE Sees $94 Billion Energy Infrastructure Investment Gap by 2020

The United States has received yet another disappointing mark for overall performance, this time in the energy infrastructure sector. The American Society of Civil Engineers’ (ASCE) 2013 report card for America’s Infrastructure gave the US a D+ for Energy Infrastructure, stressing the need for a national energy policy that adapts to future energy needs, a… Keep reading →http://breakingenergy.com/2013/05/10/asce-sees-94-billion-energy-infrastructure-investment-gap-by-2020/?utm_source=Breaking+Energy&utm_campaign=240f658309-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f852427a4b-240f658309-407304281

Senators Seek GAO Investigation of Nuclear Research Program Costs

Senators Seek GAO Investigation of Nuclear Research Program Costs

Senators have sought GAO investigation of the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor research program, in view of the constrained budget environment that could cut funding for U.S. fusion energy programs. On May 3, 2013, Sens. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), and Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) wrote to the Government Accountability Office (GAO) seeking information… http://breakingenergy.com/2013/05/10/senators-seek-gao-investigation-of-nuclear-research-program-costs/?utm_source=Breaking+Energy&utm_campaign=240f658309-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f852427a4b-240f658309-407304281

NASA researching 100KW, 4MW and 60 MW thermal molten salt reactors .

NASA researching 100KW, 4MW and 60 MW thermal molten salt reactors ...
Next Big Future
They looked at 4 MW thermal and 60 MW thermal reactors and flow dynamics and basic design. The proposed research will investigate how molten salt reactor ...http://nextbigfuture.com/2013/05/nasa-researching-100kw-4mw-and-60-mw.html

Atoms for peace: Now what?

http://www.mercedsunstar.com/2013/05/09/2998582/atoms-for-peace-now-what.html

Climate milestone is a moment of symbolic significance on road of idiocy

The only way forward is back: to retrace our steps and seek to return atmospheric concentrations to around 350ppm

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/georgemonbiot/2013/may/10/carbon-dioxide-milestone-climate-change

Egypt and South Korea sign agreement on nuclear power programme

http://www.dailynewsegypt.com/2013/05/10/egypt-and-south-korea-sign-agreement-on-nuclear-power-programme/

North Korean Nuclear Weapons Matter Of When, Not If, Experts Say

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/10/north-korea-nuclear-weapons_n_3251870.html

South Africa To construct New Nuclear Power Plants

South Africa To construct New Nuclear Power Plants Energy Tribune The South African government has signalled intent to pursue construction of a new nuclear power plants (NPPs) and increase the amount of nuclear-generated electricity in the country to 9.6 GW by 2030, a cabinet Minister said on Wednesday.http://www.energytribune.com/76692/south-africa-to-construct-new-nuclear-power-plants-2#sthash.sgXes5G3.dpbs

Sundance Film Festival: Pro-Nuclear Documentary

Sundance Film Festival: Pro-Nuclear Documentary

Uranium Investing News - ‎18 hours ago‎

Nuclear Street reported on a new documentary by Robert Stone that has raised contentious questions among environmentalists. Stone commented: It's no easy thing for me to have come to the conclusion that the rapid deployment of nuclear power is now the ...http://uraniuminvestingnews.com/14357/sundance-film-festival-pro-nuclear-documentary.html

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

President, Waterkeeper Alliance; Senior Attorney, NRDC

How Big Oil Uses the Republican Party to Subvert American Democracy

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-f-kennedy-jr/oil-industry-republicans-congress_b_3252170.html?utm_hp_ref=daily-brief?utm_source=DailyBrief&utm_campaign=051013&utm_medium=email&utm_content=BlogEntry&utm_term=Daily%20Brief

PwC: Utilities Shed Merchant Assets

http://breakingenergy.com/2013/05/09/pwc-utilities-shed-merchant-assets/

Warren Buffett Is Making A $1.9 Billion Bet On Wind

Read more: http://pixel.newscred.com/px.gif?key=YXJ0aWNsZT0zYzI5ZWI1ZjFhYTgzODU3Mjg5ZWY1NzExZWMyZGRmYyZvd25lcj1lOTllZDJiYjAxYjQzNmJkZWEyOWQ2NjAyYTg2NTY4NSZub25jZT05ZjY2OTllOS03NjA4LTQ2ZTMtYjllMi1kYmNiMWJkYzFlYzImcHVibGlzaGVyPThjMDBmYmVlNjFkNWJjZjBjNjA5MmQ4YjkyZWJiY2Ex#ixzz2Sus4FOmv

http://www.businessinsider.com/buffetts-midamerican-invests-in-wind-2013-5

Obama meets privately with utility CEOs

On Wednesday, the White House put out a press release indicating President Obama met privately with electric utility executives, trade association representatives and members of his response team.
Obama spoke with the utility executives about the lessons learned from Hurricane Sandy and discussing best approaches and responses to future extreme weather events.
In attendance on the utility side were:http://www.utilitydive.com/news/obama-meets-privately-with-utility-ceos/129488/

• Tom Kuhn, President of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI)
• David Owens, Executive Vice President of Business Operations at EEI
• Brian Wolff, Senior Vice President at EEI
• Jo Ann Emerson, CEO of National Rural Electric Cooperative Association
• Joe Nipper, Senior Vice President-Government Relations at the American Public Power Association (APPA)
• Joy Ditto, Director of Legislative Affairs at APPA
• Jim Burpee, President and CEO of the Canadian Electric Association
• Nick Akins, President and CEO of American Electric Power
• Tony Alexander, President and CEO of FirstEnergy
• John Bilda, General Manager at Norwich Public Utilities
• Kevin Burke, Chairman, President and CEO of Consolidated Edison
• Mel Coleman, CEO of North Arkansas Electric Corp.
• Chris Crane, President and CEO at Exelon
• Anita Decker, Chief Operating Officer for the Bonneville Power Administration
• Ken DeFontes, president and CEO of BGE
• Leo Denault, chairman of the board and CEO at Entergy
• Charles Freni, Senior Vice President of Customer Services at Central Hudson
• Mark Gabriel, administrator of the Western Area Power Administration
• Lew Hay, executive chairman at NextEra Energy
• Tom King, President of U.S. Business National Grid
• Bob Kump, CEO at Iberdrola
• Ralph LaRossa, President and Chief Operating Officer at Public Service Electric and Gas Company
• Ron Litzinger, Principal Executive Officer and President of Southern California Edison
• Len McMillan, Vice President of Operations and Maintenance at Hydro One
• Lee Olivier, CEO at NSTAR
• Paul Pallas, Electric Department Superintendent of Rockville Centre, N.Y.
• Mary Powell, CEO at Green Mountain Power
• Bob Powers, executive vice president and chief operating officer of American Electric Power
• Gil Quiniones, President and CEO at New York Power Authority
• Joe Rigby, Chairman of the Board, President and CEO of PEPCO
• Eric Silagy, President of Florida Power & Light
• Bill Spence, Chairman, President and CEO at PPL
• Jim Torgerson, President and CEO at UIL Holdings
• Keith Trent, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Regulated Utilities at Duke Energy
• Geisha Williams, Executive Vice President of Electric Operations at PGE
• Rod West, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer at Entergy

And here are the members of Obama's staff that attended:

• Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett
• Deputy Chief of Staff Alyssa Mastromonaco
• Deputy Assistant to the President for Energy and Climate Change Heather Zichal
• Acting Secretary of Energy Daniel Poneman
• Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Patricia Hoffman
• Deputy Assistant Secretary of Energy Bill Bryan
• Administrator of the U.S. Energy Information Administration Adam Sieminski
• Other, unidentified members of Obama's response team

Green Button: Enabling Energy Innovatio

Green Button: Enabling Energy Innovationhttp://energy.gov/articles/green-button-enabling-energy-innovation

Building steam in Chinese nuclear

Building steam in Chinese nuclear (http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN_Building_steam_in_Chinese_nuclear_1005131.html)
Steam generators have been installed at new nuclear power reactors in Ningde and Fangjiashan in Fujian and Zhejiang provinces respectively.

IID, Abengoa Upgrading Transmission Grid To Accommodate Renewable ...

 IID, Abengoa Upgrading Transmission Grid To Accommodate Renewable ...
Renew Grid
The Path 42 project is part of a plan to extend the power grid being developed by IID, the sixth largest electrical utility in California, in order to increase the capacity of the network and enable access to new sources of renewable energy in California.http://www.renewgridmag.com/e107_plugins/content/content.php?content.9865

Hanford Nuclear Waste Vitrification Plant "Too Dangerous" - Slashdot

Hanford Nuclear Waste Vitrification Plant "Too Dangerous" - Slashdot
Noryungi writes "Scientific American reports, in a chilling story, that the Hanford, Washington nuclear waste vitrification treatment plant is off to a bad start.
science.slashdot.org/.../hanford-nuclear-waste-vitrification-pla...

A threat to the peaceful use of nuclear energy

A threat to the peaceful use of nuclear energy
Youngstown Vindicator
In an address to the U.N. General Assembly at the height of the Cold War, he made a commitment to the peaceful use of nuclear energy. That commitment is now being threatened: by activists who oppose building a storage depository for nuclear waste and ...http://www.vindy.com/news/2013/may/10/a-threat-to-the-peaceful-use-of-nuclear-/?newswatch

US NRC Blog Update: Emergency Preparedness on a Smaller Scale: Research Reactors

Emergency Preparedness on a Smaller Scale: Research Reactors When you think of the NRC’s role in emergency preparedness, nuclear power plants probably come first to mind. While we certainly pay a lot of attention to commercial reactors, we also oversee emergency plans for plants that make nuclear fuel, permanently shut down plants and sites that store spent power plant fuel. Yet another area of emergency preparedness we oversee involves research and test reactors. These “non-power” reactors don’t generate electricity, but they contribute to almost every field of science. These small facilities play important roles in research, testing and education on college campuses, and at government agencies across the country. The NRC requires research and test reactors to maintain the same sort of emergency plans that large commercial reactors do. The NRC requires that these plans include, among other things, how to assess and classify abnormal events, how to respond to events, and how to establish planning zones for environmental monitoring and protective actions if needed. The plans are very simple for research and test reactors since they are relatively small compared to a commercial nuclear power reactor. In fact, the largest NRC-regulated research reactor is about 75 times smaller than the smallest commercial reactor. Research and test reactor planning zones range in size from the building the reactor sits in to only about a half-mile radius around the facility – much smaller than the 10-mile emergency zone for power reactors. Research and test reactors are required to train personnel and hold emergency preparedness exercises, and the NRC routinely inspects the plans to make sure they meet our requirements. Should anything ever occur at these small non-power reactors, the NRC makes sure the facility staff know what to do and how to react to make sure people living or working or attending school in the area are safe, and that the environment is not impacted. It’s just another facet of what the NRC does on a large scale every day. Moderator | May 10, 2013 at 2:08 pm | Tags: emergenchy preparedness, NRC, research reactors | Categories: Emergency Preparedness and Response | URL: http://wp.me/p1fSSY-14n

ANS Update: Friday Nuclear Matinee: The 5th Annual Texas Atomic Film Festival

Friday Nuclear Matinee: The 5th Annual Texas Atomic Film Festival

By pbowersox on May 10, 2013 01:00 am

It’s that end-of-semester time of year, and that means it’s time to showcase this year’s Texas Atomic Film Festival!  Each year engineering students at UT–Austin communicate some rather difficult and technical nuclear concepts – and blow off some steam in a … Continue reading →
Read in browser »

More to read:

Kewaunee: What does the future hold?
Energy and Equality
Outrage management – calming people concerned about low risks
Carnival of Nuclear Energy 155
A Boy And His Atom – The World’s Smallest Movie

Environmentalists Demand Another Climate Policy if Keystone XL is Approved

Environmentalists Demand Another Climate Policy if Keystone XL is Approved

from OilPrice.com Daily News Update by peixej@oilprice.com (Joao Peixe)

If the President Obama approves the Keystone XL pipeline, then it could create an opportunity for environmentalists to force a deal that will ensure another major climate policy is approved.The White House insists that a decision will be made soon, and that the 1,700 mile pipeline will only be approved if it is in the economic, environmental, and security interests of the United States. Obama’s administration has attempted to reduce the pressure of the decision by stating that it is merely “a simple permit application on an infrastructure…Read more...http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Environmentalists-Demand-Another-Climate-Policy-if-Keystone-XL-is-Approved.html

Global Markets Hot for U.S. Coal

Global Markets Hot for U.S. Coal

from OilPrice.com Daily News Update by corporate@oilprice.com (Jen Alic)

US coal giants have been hit hard, unable to compete with natural gas at home, but overseas this market is getting hotter by the minute. Illinois is a key coal state benefitting from this development, with the latest reports showing that it exported a record 13 million tons of coal last year. This is a major increase over the previous years, with only 5.5 million tons of exports in 2011 and 2.5 million tons in 2010. So now production is back on the rise. Illinois’ production is up 25% over 2011, and counting—despite that fact that US…Read more...http://oilprice.com/Energy/Coal/Global-Markets-Hot-for-U.S.-Coal.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+oilpricecom+%28Oil+Price.com+Daily+News+Update%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant Weekly Review

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant Weekly Review

from Nuclear Power Industry News by Nuclear Street News Team

Tokyo Electric Power Co. is drilling wells to divert groundwater around its severely damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Meanwhile, the company also predicted a slight increase in radiation levels at the plant boundary and the demolition of a cover surrounding unit 1.

Developments this week related to the nuclear plant blacked out following Japan's 2011 earthquake and tsunami include ...
...(read more)http://nuclearstreet.com/nuclear_power_industry_news/b/nuclear_power_news/archive/2013/05/10/fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-plant-weekly-review-051002.aspx

Is Cheap Natural Gas Also Killing Nuclear?

Is Cheap Natural Gas Also Killing Nuclear?

from RealClearEnergy - Homepage by David Unger, CS Monitor

David Unger, CS Monitor
A nuclear plant in Wisconsin closed Tuesday, after nearly four decades of power generation. Earlier this year, owners of a plant in Florida opted for retirement over rehabilitation. The fate of the San Onofre nuclear plant in California hangs in the balance.Differing factors play a role these plants' demise – age, regulations, leaks, and regional market conditions, to name a few. But one unifying pressure on these nuclear plants and others is the abundance of cheap, American natural gas.http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Energy-Voices/2013/0508/Natural-gas-glut-crimps-nuclear-power?nav=92-csm_category-topStories

Marcellus Makes Pennsylvania Positively 'Saudi'

Marcellus Makes Pennsylvania Positively 'Saudi'

from RealClearEnergy - Homepage by Javier David, CNBC

Javier David, CNBC
Pennsylvania – currently famous for Philadelphia cheese steaks, Hershey's chocolate and ketchup – is in the midst of a transformation that may yet put the state on the map for another American staple: natural gas.The Marcellus Shale, a 600-mile formation brimming with natgas, is wedging itself into the conversation of the U.S. energy boom, to the Keystone State's benefit.Last week, energy giant Chevron announced a plan to purchase 61 acres of land around Pittsburgh – one of several Western Pennsylvania communities targeted for Marcellus ...http://www.cnbc.com/id/100720973

China’s Iraq Oil Strategy Comes Into Sharper Focus By Chris Zambelis

China’s Iraq Oil Strategy Comes Into Sharper Focus

By Chris Zambelis

March 19 marked the ten-year anniversary of the United States invasion of Iraq that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. Although the international community continues to focus on the violence plaguing post-war Iraq and the country’s oil production capacity, changes in Iraqi foreign policy in the post-Saddam era have received far less attention. Endowed with the world’s fifth largest proven reserves of crude oil and sizeable natural gas deposits, Iraq is a critical source of energy for the world (U.S. Energy Information Administration, Iraq Country Data, April 2013). It is no surprise that China, a major energy importer whose reliance on Middle East oil continues to grow, is watching developments in Iraq closely. Although years of economic sanctions, war and mismanagement have devastated Iraq’s energy sector, an influx of foreign investment and efforts by the Iraqi government to improve the energy infrastructure have boosted Iraq’s oil production to the highest levels in decades. A search for customers has inevitably led it to China, which imports an estimated 500,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) from Iraq (Xinhua, April 5). Indeed, Iraqi Oil Minister Abdul Kareem al-Luaibi recently announced that Iraq is pursuing a major long-term agreement with Beijing to deliver oil to China: “The Chinese companies are considered as strategic partners to Iraq in aspects of extracting and marketing crude oil through their active participation to develop the Iraqi oilfields” (Xinhua, April 5; Bloomberg, April 3, Reuters, March 5). 

 

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US Nuclear Regulatory Commission outlines priorities for next 25 years

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Unexplained malfunction under investigation

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US slaps sanctions against Iranian nuclear supply companies

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