Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire - Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry. Nuclear Activities
Saturday, December 30, 2023
Japan Marks Progress to Open Kashiwazaki-Kariwa | Neutron Bytes
Japan Marks Progress to Open Kashiwazaki-Kariwa | Neutron Bytes: Japan Marks Progress to Open Kashiwazaki-Kariwa South Korea Awards Contract to Build Two 1400 MW PWRs Spain to Pull the Plug on Seven Reactors by 2035 UK Struggles with Goals for Nuclear Energy Ene…
China-Linked Group Gives Millions to US Climate Groups | NTD
China-Linked Group Gives Millions to US Climate Groups | NTD: China-Linked Group Gives Millions to US Climate Groups
Friday, December 29, 2023
Inside the world's first reactor that will power Earth using the same nuclear reaction as the Sun | Euronews
Inside the world's first reactor that will power Earth using the same nuclear reaction as the Sun | Euronews: We go behind the scenes at the world’s largest nuclear fusion device attempting to harness energy from the same reaction that powers the Sun and stars.
Support for nuclear has grown dramatically, says global agency chief | Reuters
Support for nuclear has grown dramatically, says global agency chief | Reuters: Global energy security concerns and the drive to meet net zero targets have led to a sharp turnaround in support for nuclear, Director-General of the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) William D. Magwood IV tells Reuters Events.
Discussing Fossil Future with students from the John Locke Institute, Pt. 2
Discussing Fossil Future with students from the John Locke Institute, Pt. 2: More answers to intelligent pre-college students’ questions about energy, climate, and environment. This time, with economics professor Bryan Caplan.
IAEA Highlights and Achievements in 2023 – A Year in Review | IAEA
IAEA Highlights and Achievements in 2023 – A Year in Review | IAEA: From nuclear energy making history at COP28, to new programmes in food security and water resource management, to conducting safeguards in war zones, to driving safety and security around the world — including helping prevent a nuclear accident in Ukraine — to improving access to nuclear technology, this was an eventful year for the IAEA.
Top “Nuclear Explained” Reads in 2023 | IAEA
Top “Nuclear Explained” Reads in 2023 | IAEA: The IAEA ‘Nuclear Explained’ series offers easy-to-understand explanations of major topics in nuclear science and technology. See the top five ‘Nuclear Explained’ articles read by global audiences this year.
Transition from large-scale nuclear to SMRs gains momentum in US - ShareCafe
Transition from large-scale nuclear to SMRs gains momentum in US - ShareCafe: The central theme driving the energy transition and decarbonisation efforts revolves around the objective of maximising the use of electricity and sourcing this electrical power from renewable and low-carbon origins.
US Finalizes $1.1 Billion Award to PG&E For California Reactors
US Finalizes $1.1 Billion Award to PG&E For California Reactors: The Energy Department has finalized an award of as much as $1.1 billion to PG&E Corp. to keep two nuclear reactors in service at its Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant, according to a notice made public Friday.
China blocks exports of rare earth technology
China blocks exports of rare earth technology: Move follows Western efforts to restrict the country's access to microchip technology
11 Most Promising Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Stocks According to Analysts - Insider Monkey
11 Most Promising Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Stocks According to Analysts - Insider Monkey: In this piece, we will take a look at the 11 most promising hydrogen and fuel cell stocks according to analysts.
Portable Nuclear Reactor Now A Reality
Portable Nuclear Reactor Now A Reality: Scientists have found a way to pocket the immense power of nuclear reactors creating a portable machine to produce the energy anywhere in the world.
2023 Ignited a New Era For Nuclear Fusion. 2024 Could Be Even Brighter
2023 Ignited a New Era For Nuclear Fusion. 2024 Could Be Even Brighter: This year, the National Ignition Facility repeated its energy gain achievement multiple times, making fusion scientists more optimistic than ever.
COP28 climate pledge to dump fossil fuels as energy is start | Fort Worth Star-Telegram
COP28 climate pledge to dump fossil fuels as energy is start | Fort Worth Star-Telegram: Climate pledge to move away from fossil fuels is huge. There’s just one problem | Opinion
Thursday, December 28, 2023
United States Geological Survey reports 3.7 magnitude earthquake east of Jonesboro
United States Geological Survey reports 3.7 magnitude earthquake east of Jonesboro: Officials with the United States Geological Survey reported an earthquake in northeast Arkansas Wednesday morning.
What Will Happen When the Grid Goes Down - by John Droz jr.
What Will Happen When the Grid Goes Down - by John Droz jr.: A WAKEUP warning about what you can and should do
If COP28 Keeps Its Word, It Leads To More Nuclear Energy
If COP28 Keeps Its Word, It Leads To More Nuclear Energy: If the global community triples its use of renewables and sends fossil fuels packing — per COP28 — then the natural extension is more nuclear energy.
Wednesday, December 27, 2023
How Electric Vehicles Are Losing Momentum with U.S. Buyers, in Charts - WSJ
How Electric Vehicles Are Losing Momentum with U.S. Buyers, in Charts - WSJ: How Electric Vehicles Are Losing Momentum with U.S. Buyers, in Charts
EV sales grew nearly 50% this year but have plateaued in recent months
How China Is Quietly Dominating the Global Car Market - Bloomberg
How China Is Quietly Dominating the Global Car Market - Bloomberg: The US Hasn’t Noticed That China-Made Cars Are Taking Over the World
The country is poised to become the No. 2 exporter of passenger vehicles, surpassing the US and South Korea and risking new tensions with trading partners and rivals.
Japan lifts operational ban on world's biggest nuclear plant | Reuters
Japan lifts operational ban on world's biggest nuclear plant | Reuters: Japan's nuclear power regulator on Wednesday lifted an operational ban imposed on Tokyo Electric Power's Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant two years ago, allowing it to work towards gaining local permission to restart.
Why Oil Traders Shouldn’t Discard Israel-Hamas War Risk | OilPrice.com
Why Oil Traders Shouldn’t Discard Israel-Hamas War Risk | OilPrice.com: The Red Sea, and specifically the Bab-el-Mandeb strait has become a risky chokepoint for Western vessels, and traders should not yet discard the risks for oil supply
Tuesday, December 26, 2023
Breakthrough Institute 2023 Annual Report | The Breakthrough Institute
Breakthrough Institute 2023 Annual Report | The Breakthrough Institute
The folllowing is a letter from Breakthrough Institute's Executive Director, Ted Nordhaus, reflecting on 2023. At the bottom of this page you can find a link to Breakthrough's 2023 Annual Report.
On Conflict and Progress
This year at the Breakthrough Institute brought a fair amount of controversy, even for a place that has never shied away from it. In April, Breakthrough’s Ashley Nunes and I published a widely read essay in theWall Street Journal’s Week in Review section expressing skepticism that mass adoption of electric vehicles was as close at hand as many environmentalists and progressive Democrats believe. In June, we were the first, and one of the few, pro-nuclear organizations to publicly oppose the confirmation of Jeff Baran, a long-time obstructionist commissioner, to a third five-year term on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In July, Alex Trembath and I published a long essay on the risks of technocratic hubris in the wake of the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. And in August, Breakthrough’s Patrick Brown published a widely covered peer-reviewed paper in Nature and follow-up essay in The Free Press that sparked a global debate about publication bias in the climate science literature.
Each of these episodes was polarizing—even for some of our friends, funders, and allies. Discomforting as this was, we were not surprised: paradoxically, disrupting deeply polarized debates around climate change, clean energy, and food and agriculture is itself polarizing and frequently requires challenging strongly held views about the nature of climate risk, the pace of technological change, and the role of government in addressing the former and driving the latter. Explicitly and unapologetically defending a science-based, non-apocalyptic view of climate risk and the human future, a meliorist view of technology, and a skeptical view that technological change can primarily be achieved via regulatory fiat or that emissions reductions can be driven by behavioral change is not for the faint of heart!
But over the long term, that controversial work has consistently held up, whether it related to the central role that public investment in technology, innovation, and infrastructure would play in climate mitigation efforts; the need for nuclear energy and intensive, technological agriculture; or the limitations of renewable energy and organic farming. Already, the same is proving true of this year’s controversies.
Six months after we sounded the alarm, automakers are slashing prices and scaling back their electric vehicle production plans, as demand has softened and inventories have risen. Barely a year into the Inflation Reduction Act, rising costs and regulatory barriers have sidetracked efforts to rapidly scale up clean technology and infrastructure. New projections for global emissions, meanwhile, increasingly show strong divergence from the high emissions and warming scenarios that the most widely cited climate impacts literature in high-profile publications like Nature is largely predicated upon. And our willingness to take a controversial stand on the Baran renomination appears to have killed it for the moment and has significantly improved the prospects for significant regulatory reform at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Simply being right, of course, is not enough. With the gap between the Biden administration’s climate ambitions and what it can deliver with traditional clean energy subsidies and environmental regulations growing and public sentiment turning sharply against many of its energy policy priorities, there is going to be a need to chart a different course on nuclear, permitting, electric vehicles, and the power sector. With a growing office in Washington, DC, we are now better positioned than ever to offer not only vision and leadership in that endeavor but the policy details as well.
Deconstructing conventional environmental politics must always be in service of reconstructing an alternative framework and agenda. We remain committed to de-escalating the climate culture wars, to championing quiet climate policy that charts a non-millenarian course of action, and to building a new politics of abundance in place of limits-based environmentalism and technocratic progressivism. Doing that will frequently invite controversy and reaction. But we continue to believe that, over the long term, being willing to do so is the key to building a successful ecological politics capable of making a future that is better for people and nature a reality.
INFOGRAPHIC: Climate Scientists’ Credibility Hurt | The Epoch Times
INFOGRAPHIC: Climate Scientists’ Credibility Hurt | The Epoch Times: As climate experts warn of looming catastrophe, faulty past forecasts hurt their message.
Monday, December 25, 2023
A year of green gaslighting - spiked
A year of green gaslighting - spiked: 2023 proved that the war on cars is no conspiracy theory.
Sunday, December 24, 2023
US Officials Turned Regime Change Tactics Developed Abroad Against Trump, Evidence Suggests
US Officials Turned Regime Change Tactics Developed Abroad Against Trump, Evidence Suggests: US intelligence and security agencies appear to have used the “color revolution” playbook, including “lawfare” and street protests
Nuclear power: The USA wants to build a different type of reactor - Breaking Latest News
Nuclear power: The USA wants to build a different type of reactor - Breaking Latest News: Molten salts are used as a coolant at the CEA Cadarache nuclear research center in France. Nicolas…
Nuclear power's future opposed by some progressive groups | National News | kpvi.com
Nuclear power's future opposed by some progressive groups | National News | kpvi.com: (The Center Square) - One nuclear power plant can produce the same amount of electricity as 2,077 wind turbines. And some of the larger wind turbines are taller than the