Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Thursday, May 23, 2024

California utility PG&E to spend $6 billion on wildfire safety | Reuters

California utility PG&E to spend $6 billion on wildfire safety | Reuters

Senate committee discusses growing energy demands, nuclear’s role -- ANS / Nuclear Newswire

Senate committee discusses growing energy demands, nuclear’s role -- ANS / Nuclear Newswire

New National Cancer Centre in Mauritius to Deliver Advanced Nuclear Medicine in the Country and Region | IAEA

New National Cancer Centre in Mauritius to Deliver Advanced Nuclear Medicine in the Country and Region | IAEA

Michigan nuclear science students are on a mission to save the world - mlive.com

Michigan nuclear science students are on a mission to save the world - mlive.com

Mysterious element promethium finally reveals its chemical properties | New Scientist

Mysterious element promethium finally reveals its chemical properties | New Scientist

US Government Backs Nuclear Energy for Data Centers

US Government Backs Nuclear Energy for Data Centers

Counterflow: Long Duration Energy Storage: Reality Check

Counterflow: Long Duration Energy Storage: Reality Check

X-energy Canada and Invest Alberta Collaborate to Develop Economic Opportunities in Support of Potential Xe-100 SMR Projects — X-energy

X-energy Canada and Invest Alberta Collaborate to Develop Economic Opportunities in Support of Potential Xe-100 SMR Projects — X-energy

Past DOE Nuclear Energy Officials Roundtable -- ANS / Webinars

Past DOE Nuclear Energy Officials Roundtable -- ANS / Webinars

Wednesday, May 22, 2024

PG&E customers face more increases in monthly utility bills: new plan

PG&E customers face more increases in monthly utility bills: new plan

Desalination breakthrough uses sun, not electricity, to clean seawater

Desalination breakthrough uses sun, not electricity, to clean seawater

Diablo Canyon faces multiple hurdles in effort to keep reactors in operation

Diablo Canyon faces multiple hurdles in effort to keep reactors in operation

Nevada's U.S. Senators face uphill battle in repurposing Yucca Mountain | Nevada | thecentersquare.com

Nevada's U.S. Senators face uphill battle in repurposing Yucca Mountain | Nevada | thecentersquare.com

Was there really a nuclear explosion in RI? Here's the history

Was there really a nuclear explosion in RI? Here's the history

No NATO trainers in Ukraine - micheletkearney@gmail.com - Gmail

No NATO trainers in Ukraine - micheletkearney@gmail.com - Gmail

Asian neighbors wary of China’s plans to deploy floating nuclear plants

Asian neighbors wary of China’s plans to deploy floating nuclear plants

UK Plans Large Nuclear At Wylfa In North Wales | Neutron Bytes

UK Plans Large Nuclear At Wylfa In North Wales | Neutron Bytes

Tuesday, May 21, 2024

The Race to End Fossil Fuel Production - CounterPunch.org

The Race to End Fossil Fuel Production - CounterPunch.org

TSMC Might Use More Nuclear Power For Chip Manufacturing If Taiwan's Law Is Revised

TSMC Might Use More Nuclear Power For Chip Manufacturing If Taiwan's Law Is Revised

How would a US-Saudi civil nuclear deal work, and what are the challenges? | The Times of Israel

How would a US-Saudi civil nuclear deal work, and what are the challenges? | The Times of Israel

French, Russia, Chinese firms vie to build Ghana's first nuclear power plant | Reuters

French, Russia, Chinese firms vie to build Ghana's first nuclear power plant | Reuters

The US is banning the import of Russian nuclear fuel. Here’s why that matters. - Atlantic Council

The US is banning the import of Russian nuclear fuel. Here’s why that matters. - Atlantic Council

Netanyahu’s response to the ICC invokes another genocidal biblical reference – Mondoweiss

Netanyahu’s response to the ICC invokes another genocidal biblical reference – Mondoweiss

Control room commissioned at Chinese SMR : New Nuclear - World Nuclear News

Control room commissioned at Chinese SMR : New Nuclear - World Nuclear News

A new push for U.S. uranium | Western Colorado | gjsentinel.com

A new push for U.S. uranium | Western Colorado | gjsentinel.com

Rolls-Royce signs £15m deal to test mini-nuclear reactors in Sheffield

Rolls-Royce signs £15m deal to test mini-nuclear reactors in Sheffield

Iran’s new leaders stand at a nuclear precipice

Iran’s new leaders stand at a nuclear precipice

ORISE report focuses on nuclear engineering degrees and enrollments -- ANS / Nuclear Newswire

ORISE report focuses on nuclear engineering degrees and enrollments -- ANS / Nuclear Newswire

Sunday, May 19, 2024

google.com/url?q=http://emailtrack.mg.unz.com/c/eJwczk1ygyAUAODTwA4HeKCyYGHSeg_EpzARkuFnMunpO-0Jvm-3-yYkeIpWTGIUchq1oMFKD05JvikzeTXp49jGHcCAEdvhtJlptJJLxbUwQvEJxCAGzb--19sNFmG0We53ong6h55_Bv9M9LKhtVclsBC5Erm-XfMBy3D20olcM74rketWoq_Mh5gd23t6VdYCssuVE2tjvbJW0NVeIlYWMwuxtmf50GQBFJ9BzrTYFH3AC9sDXcn4IYqfycXrf9HsH3TF_Ki_AQAA__9cDU6k&source=gmail&ust=1716216102990000&usg=AOvVaw3G1IZzI8DMKNk-VSgZqstM

google.com/url?q=http://emailtrack.mg.unz.com/c/eJwczk1ygyAUAODTwA4HeKCyYGHSeg_EpzARkuFnMunpO-0Jvm-3-yYkeIpWTGIUchq1oMFKD05JvikzeTXp49jGHcCAEdvhtJlptJJLxbUwQvEJxCAGzb--19sNFmG0We53ong6h55_Bv9M9LKhtVclsBC5Erm-XfMBy3D20olcM74rketWoq_Mh5gd23t6VdYCssuVE2tjvbJW0NVeIlYWMwuxtmf50GQBFJ9BzrTYFH3AC9sDXcn4IYqfycXrf9HsH3TF_Ki_AQAA__9cDU6k&source=gmail&ust=1716216102990000&usg=AOvVaw3G1IZzI8DMKNk-VSgZqstM

Congress must stop Biden from fueling a Saudi nuclear bomb   | The Hill

Congress must stop Biden from fueling a Saudi nuclear bomb   | The Hill

[Salon] Who REALLY killed the US solar panel industry?

[Salon] Who REALLY killed the US solar panel industry? Sat, May 18, 8:53 PM (9 hours ago) https://x.com/NuryVittachi/status/1791310900387086603 Who REALLY killed the US solar panel industry? The answer will come as a surprise. No, it wasn’t China. The US did the harm itself. The solar industry in America was decimated BECAUSE an earlier incarnation of the US government introduced tariffs against Chinese solar panels. That was from 2012 onwards—more than a decade ago. . . . UNEXPECTED RESULTS The aim was to protect the domestic US solar industry. But the results were not as the administration expected, to say the least. The global market share of the US solar industry plunged from approximately 9% in 2010 down to just 2% today. And did the tariffs hurt the Chinese makers of panels? It may have done in the short term, but they quickly recovered. China's global market share of the industry rose from 59% in 2010 to 78% today. The issue, clearly, wasn’t the sticker price. It was all the other factors. Consumers in the US and around the world wanted dependable, well-designed products, made quickly and delivered efficiently. That’s what manufacturers in competitive industries have to aim to achieve--but not manufacturers in protected sectors. It’s interesting to note that even US experts predicted the result—although they were not listened to. The new tariffs were “a heavy blow to America's solar industry”, Jigar Shah, head of the anti-tariff Coalition for Affordable Solar Energy, said to the Reuters news agency in 2012. . . . . AND THE SUBSIDIES, TOO And all this happened despite enormous efforts spent by the US to revitalize the industry. On top of the tariffs designed to hurt the Chinese competitors, President Barack Obama's “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” gave billions of dollars to the US solar industry. Most notably, there was a US$535 million loan guarantee to the solar company Solyndra. And of course more recently, in 2022, Joe Biden's “Inflation Reduction Act” did the same thing all over again. It “unleashed a US$16 billion flood of promised investments in solar manufacturing” in the words of Bloomberg. . . . DISABLING THE COMPETITION What exactly is the logic problem? The US government acts as if competition is bad. If a competitor appears, you try to disable them any way you can. But by taking that position, you have already lost the war. That’s because competition is not a bad thing, but the opposite: it’s a good thing. It’s what spurs companies to invest in R&D, innovate with product features, and trim prices for the consumer. By leaping to the use of tariffs, Biden (like Trump and Obama) entrench the lack of competitiveness among US solar panel builders. (Next up: The entrenchment of uncompetitiveness among car makers in the west.) . . . . THE BIGGER ISSUE That’s the business story, but of course there’s a far bigger ethical issue here. Humanity is facing an existential need to transition out of fossil fuels—and the Biden response is to make good, well-made clean energy products more expensive for customers. That doesn’t make a lot of sense. The irony, of course, is that the US, which prides itself on being the capital of capitalism, is making a series of moves against international free trade. And at the same time, the Chinese are benefiting by responding to competitive pressures the way that good capitalists do.