Wednesday, October 12, 2011

(Reuters) - Britain's nuclear regulator said he could shut down plants that fail to comply with recommendations put forward on Tuesday in response to Japan's Fukushima crisis.

The new nuclear options have the power to switch on our economy, too

Our stumbling progress toward a sensible energy policy took another lurch forward on Tuesday with the publication of the Weightman report.

RWE hails court doubts over nuclear fuel tax

Oct 9 (Reuters) - Germany's RWE (RWEG.DE) on Sunday hailed a ruling by a Munich court as giving further backing to the utility's legal challenge of the country's nuclear fuel tax.

RWE, EON Keep U.K. Reactor Spending After German Nuclear Ban

China's nuclear energy program continues in spite of Fukushima

UK energy secretary presents final report into Fukushima

London (Platts)--11Oct2011/704 am EDT/1104 GMT

UK Energy Secretary Chris Huhne Tuesday recommended proposing no limits on nuclear generation in the country nor any plant closures, ahead of his presentation to parliament of the final report by the chief nuclear inspector into events at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident in March, the Department of Energy and Climate Change said in a statement.

Chief Nuclear Inspector Mike Weightman's interim report, published May 18, recommended 25 areas for review, including the layout of existing plants and emergency response arrangements. It did not propose limits on generation or closing plants.

Delay Molten Salt cleanup for 50 years? That's subject to negotiations w/regulators

Following an engineering study of the Molten Salt Reactor earlier this year, there has been talk of postponing removal of highly radioactive fuel salts from the site -- possibly as long as 50 years. The Dept. of Energy's Site Specific Advisory Board recently raised questions about that plan, wondering -- among other things -- if there'll be a disposal facility available for the radioactive material decades from now.

Are Regulators And The Nuclear Industry Applying The Valuable Lessons Learned From Fukushima?

VIDEO UPDATE: October 11th, 2011
Are Regulators And The Nuclear Industry Applying The Valuable Lessons Learned From Fukushima?
Fairewinds Presentation to the San Clemente City Council. Fairewinds chief engineer Arnie Gundersen discusses three nuclear safety problems uncovered during the Fukushima accident that nuclear regulators and the nuclear industry wish they could ignore. Why isn't the industry designing nuclear plants to withstand the worst natural events? Why aren't nuclear regulators, governments, and citizens who live and work near a nuclear plant prepared for a nuclear accident? How much does the NRC value human life? Finally, Fairewinds' Gundersen concludes that the NRC is not implementing adequate safety changes because the NRC believes that a serious accident is impossible.

Watch Video Now

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

China's nuclear energy program continues in spite of Fukushima

from Next Big Future by noreply@blogger.com (bw)

NY Times - Jiang Kejun, a director of the Energy Research Institute at the National Development and Reform Commission, the top Chinese economic planning agency, said that the government was sticking to its target of 50 gigawatts of nuclear power by 2015, compared to just 10.8 gigawatts at the end of last year.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chair: Events Like Fukushima Too Rare to Require Immediate Changes

Saturday 8 October 2011

by: Gregg Levine, Truthout | News Analysis

NRC sets hearing on SCE&G application for nuclear license

Think Again: Nuclear Power

Japan melted down, but that doesn't mean the end of the atomic age.

NRC could expand emergency zones; Va. awaits decision as agency responds to quakes this year

FAS Roundup: September 2011

FAS Roundup: September 2011

I am excited to share with you a new report that FAS recently released regarding enhanced safeguards for Iran's Nuclear Program. Co-authored by Dr. Ali Vaez, Director of the Iran Project, and myself, this report analyzes options for enhanced safeguards to ensure that the Iranian nuclear program remains peaceful. Additionally, the report discusses elements of the Iranian nuclear program which would be acceptable for all sides involved in the debate (Iran, Russia, the United States and the International Atomic Energy Association). To read the report, click here.

This month, FAS experts have educated policy makers, the press, and the public about the urgent need for a more secure world. By giving today, you will build upon the following achievements and help us make the world safer:

Read about Britain's current nuclear weapons stockpile by Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists here.

Release of "Upsetting the Reset: The Technical Basis of Russian Concern Over NATO Missile Defense" written by Dr. Yousaf Butt, Scientific Consultant to FAS, and Prof. Theodore Postol, Professor of Science, Technology and National Security Policy in the Program in Science, Technology, and Society at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This report provides a technical assessment of the Phased Adaptive Approach (PAA) missile defense system proposed by NATO and the United States, and the concern of the Russian Federation over this system.
Listen to new editions of "A Conversation With An Expert" podcast, highlighting learning technologies in education and obstacles to the implementation of the Obama Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).

Do your part and visit the new FAS blog, Take Action. Each month, FAS will highlight a new security issue. Visit the blog and learn about our work concerning nuclear security.
Read the four part blog series jointly produced by FAS and the Union of Concerned Scientists regarding the 2012 FY Stockpile Stewardship Management Plan on the Strategic Security Blog. Hans M. Kristensen, Director of the Nuclear Information Project, participated in a conference call with FAS members regarding this plan; listen to the conference call or read the transcript here.
FAS experts in the news: Matt Schroeder, Director, Arms Sales Monitoring Project, quoted in United Press International, Associated Press and New York Times; Steven Aftergood, Director of Government Secrecy Program, quoted in the Seattle Times, Washington Times and NPR; Ali Vaez, Director, Iran Project, and Charles D. Ferguson, President, published an Op-Ed in the New York Times and The Atlantic. To see more articles featuring FAS and our experts, click here.

Is the Fukushima moratorium over?

France still sees nuclear appetite post-Fukushima

The Nuclear Diner is Now Open

The Nuclear Diner is now open for business!

All are welcome, twenty-four hours a day, at nucleardiner.com. Nuclear Diner is a place for everyone to discuss all aspects of nuclear power .

Nuclear issues are in the news every day: the Fukushima meltdowns and their aftermath; missile defense in Eastern Europe; followon to the New START Treaty, developments in Iran and North Korea, and the role of nuclear power in the energy economy, to name a few.

We need new thinking about those nuclear issues. We need to hear a wider variety of viewpoints, and the conventional wisdom needs to be challenged, and. Nuclear Diner provides a forum and blog open to registered participants for exploring the conventional wisdom and new ideas in policy and technical areas.

Molly Cernicek, Susan Voss, and Cheryl Rofer have worked on nuclear and related issues over several decades. They bring expertise in international relations, business, nuclear engineering, and chemistry to Nuclear Diner. But their ideas and opinions are not primary. The participants in Nuclear Diner will open up the discussion.

You can also follow @nucleardiner on Twitter.

"Projected Costs of Generating Electricity - 2010 Edition"

MIT study on the "Projected Costs of Generating Electricity - 2010 Edition"

Ed Markey, LNG and Antinuclear Activity

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

I have frequently wondered why Representative Ed Markey is such a powerful antinuclear activist. The mystery has not been just trying to understand why he is so actively opposed to nuclear energy, but how he accumulated so much legislative power so early in his career.A few days ago, I started piecing together some interesting connections that may (or may not) be entirely coincidental.

Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire