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Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire - Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry. Nuclear Activities
Friday, January 11, 2013
JENKINS: Hot young prospect to replace old San Onofre reactors
JENKINS: Hot young prospect to replace old San Onofre reactorshttp://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jan/10/san-onofre-nuclear-reactors-general-atomics/
Thorium fuel cycle - Knight Science Journalism at MIT
| thorium fuel cycle - Knight Science Journalism at MIT Here's a beguiling headline and story that just ran in the UK: The Telegraph (Jan 6) Ambrose Evans-Pritchard: China blazes trail for 'clean' nuclear power from ... ksj.mit.edu/tracker/tag/ |
China Moving to Thorium as Safe Nuclear Fuel ... - Energy Tribune
China Moving to Thorium as Safe Nuclear Fuel ... - Energy Tribune
IT'S a commodity of which we possibly have the world's largest resource but it looks -- yet again -- that China is going to beat Australia to the punch.
www.energytribune.com/.../
IT'S a commodity of which we possibly have the world's largest resource but it looks -- yet again -- that China is going to beat Australia to the punch.
www.energytribune.com/.../
70 years ago – Dr. Enrico Fermi
70 years ago – Dr. Enrico Fermi
In Chicago 70 years ago, a team of scientists lead by Nobel Prize winner, Dr. Enrico Fermi, created the first controlled nuclear fission.Dr. Fermi envisioned a future that needed abundant nuclear energy for the production of energy and isotopes. He calculated that the uranium resource could be used much more efficiently with a fast reactor.
He had demonstrated and proven the power of splitting the atom and the technical ability to harness/generate massive amounts of power/electricity.
Plus, faced with an unsustainable inefficiency of the uranium resource, he designed a fission system, the sodium fast reactor.
http://www.usa-cargo.info
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Second cover assembly underway at Fukushima
Second cover assembly underway at Fukushima
Second cover assembly underway at Fukushima
The installation of steel columns next to Fukushima Daiichi unit 4 marks the start of construction of a cover that will aid in the removal of fuel. This is the second cover to get underway at the site.http://energyandnuclear.com/2013/01/10/second-cover-assembly-underway-at-fukushima/Innovation Should Be Central to Next Energy Secretary’s Agenda
Innovation Should Be Central to Next Energy Secretary’s Agenda
Now
that President Obama has nominated candidates to head the CIA and the
Departments of Defense, State, and Treasury in his second term,
attention now shifts to his choices for the rest of the Cabinet,
including Energy Secretary.
http://theenergycollective.com/cliftonyin/169131/energy-innovation-next-energy-secretary-agenda?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=The+Energy+Collective+%28all+posts%29
http://theenergycollective.com/cliftonyin/169131/energy-innovation-next-energy-secretary-agenda?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=The+Energy+Collective+%28all+posts%29A Revolution in Nuclear Power?
A Revolution in Nuclear Power?
Jiang Mianheng, the son of a former Chinese leader, has just dumped $350 million into an ongoing project by China’s National Academy of Sciences to develop a new kind of nuclear reactor with a new type of fuel. The project has been underway for almost two years now, but this new cash infusion is sure to accelerate timelines and excite proponents of what has been called the “clean” nuclear power: thorium. The Telegraph has the story:http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2013/01/09/a-revolution-in-nuclear-power/Nuclear is clean energy Leslie Kemeny
Nuclear is clean energy
Read more: http://www.canberratimes.com.au/opinion/nuclear-is-clean-energy-20130110-2cinm.html#ixzz2HcpwcssP
The New Global Power Map
The New Global Power Map
Aviezer Tucker, Foreign Affairs
The energy map of the world is being redrawn -- and the global geopolitical order is adrift in consequence.http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/138597/aviezer-tucker/the-new-power-map
The energy map of the world is being redrawn -- and the global geopolitical order is adrift in consequence.http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/138597/aviezer-tucker/the-new-power-map
Will Shell have their Arctic Exploration License Revoked?
Will Shell have their Arctic Exploration License Revoked?
Shell
has been in the news a lot lately for the disastrous set of events that
plagued the theoretically simple task of towing the Kulluk deep water
drill rig from Arctic waters down to a safe harbour in Seattle.In truth
Shell’s entire Arctic venture has been a mess form start to end, with
constant problems and accidents that have gradually reduced confidence
in Shell’s ability to operate in the Arctic.Ken Salazar, the US Interior
Secretary Ken Salazar, has ordered a 60 day internal assessment of
Shell’s operations in the Beaufort…Read more...http://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Will-Shell-have-their-Arctic-Exploration-License-Revoked.html
US and Russian Geopolitical Battle will Decide Fate of Czech Nuclear Power Plant
US and Russian Geopolitical Battle will Decide Fate of Czech Nuclear Power Plant
The
upgrade of Temelin, a nuclear power station, has become the backdrop of
a power struggle between the Unites States and Russia. Worryingly, a
discussion on Czech energy policy is being silenced by the competition
of foreign strategic interests.As Germany and other European states turn
away from nuclear power, the Czech Republic is looking to select the
winner of the largest nuclear tender in its history. The deal worth
around 250 – 300 billion Czech crowns (i.e. 15 billion dollars) concerns
the upgrade of the Temelin power station. The…Read more...http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/US-and-Russian-Geopolitical-Battle-will-Decide-Fate-of-Czech-Nuclear-Power-Plant.html
Will New Chinese Nuclear Reactor Design Crush Western Competition?
Will New Chinese Nuclear Reactor Design Crush Western Competition?
Since
the 11 March 2011 Japanese Fukushima Daiichi nuclear catastrophe, the
global nuclear civilian power industry has absorbed the negative
publicity and is set to grow over the next several decades.According to a
May 2012 report issued by the U.S. government’s Energy Information
Administration, “Nuclear generating capacity additions began in the
1950s and now top 346 gigawatts worldwide. The first nuclear reactor to
produce electricity was a very small experimental reactor in the United
States in 1951. Currently, 30 countries have…Read more...http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Will-New-Chinese-Nuclear-Reactor-Design-Crush-Western-Competition.html
NRC Staff Recommends Filters for BWR Mark I and II Vents
NRC Staff Recommends Filters for BWR Mark I and II Vents
NRC staff has recommended requiring engineered filters to the containment vents for early-model boiling water reactors as a post-Fukushima response.A staff paper (SECY-12-0157) released this week for the commission’s consideration said an alternative performance-based approach to filtering preferred by industry and by the NRC’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards would work but take too long to implement.
The commission had directed agency staff (SRM-SECY-11-0137) to consider whether adding external filters at the same time as reliable hardened containment vents for Mark I and II boiling water reactors would help limit significant radiation releases from severe accidents.
The staff response said the option to require the installation of vent filters “would provide the most regulatory certainty and the timeliest implementation.”http://safetyfirst.nei.org/news/nrc-staff-recommends-filters-for-bwr-mark-i-and-ii-vents/
The FLEX Solution: America’s Nuclear Industry Responds to Fukushima
The FLEX Solution: America’s Nuclear Industry Responds to Fukushima
Earlier today, the Nuclear Energy Institute released a five-minute video explaining the comprehensive and tailored response strategy that it is implementing across the industry to enhance nuclear plant safety in the face of extreme natural events.To produce the high-definition video, NEI acquired first-of-its kind footage of the deployment of new emergency response equipment at U.S. nuclear energy facilities. The video also features animation and interviews with industry leaders and technical staff discussing nuclear plant safety.http://safetyfirst.nei.org/safety-and-security/the-flex-solution-americas-nuclear-industry-responds-to-fukushima/
Japan to clamp down on Fukushima clean-up firms
Japan to clamp down on Fukushima clean-up firmshttp://www.businesstimes.com.sg/breaking-news/asia/japan-clamp-down-fukushima-clean-firms-20130109
Installment of cover for fuel removal begins at Fukushima plant reactor
Installment of cover for fuel removal begins at Fukushima plant reactorhttp://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20130109p2a00m0na001000c.html
NEI Press Release Re: FLEX Strategy
Nuclear Energy Institute FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEI Video Explains FLEX Strategy to Respond to Extreme Events
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The
Nuclear Energy Institute today released and posted to its YouTube
channel a five-minute video explaining the comprehensive and tailored
response strategy that it is implementing industrywide to enhance nuclear plant safety in the face of extreme natural events.
To produce the high-definition video, NEI acquired first-of-its kind footage of the deployment of new emergency response equipment at U.S. nuclear energy facilities. The video also features animation and interviews with industry leaders and technical staff discussing nuclear plant safety. The diverse and flexible (“FLEX”) response strategy developed by industry addresses the major challenges encountered at the Fukushima Daiichi power station following the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami: the loss of power to maintain effective reactor fuel cooling. Additional on-site portable equipment is being acquired to help ensure that every U.S. nuclear energy facility can respond safely to extreme events, no matter what the cause. The equipment ranges from diesel-driven pumps and electric generators to ventilation fans, hoses, fittings, cables and satellite communications gear. It also includes support materials for emergency responders. “The FLEX equipment is used to provide water and power in the event of an emergency. This is very, very important. If you can keep the reactor core cool, the plant is always safe, and safety is our number one priority at all of our plants,” Dominion Nuclear’s president and chief nuclear officer, David Heacock, says in the video. “We have backups, and then we have backups for the backups.” “We always put safety first,” says Ed Halpin, senior vice president and chief nuclear officer of Pacific Gas & Electric Co. “We recognize that we have been given a special trust through our (operating) license, and that trust is to protect the health and safety of the general public.” The video also describes the industry’s development of two regional centers that will stage critical safety equipment that can be sent to any U.S. nuclear energy facility in the event of an extreme event at America’s nuclear energy facilities. The regional response centers will be located near Memphis and Phoenix and will supplement equipment sharing protocols already in place among energy companies that operate U.S. reactors. These facilities will be able to deliver additional safety equipment to nuclear energy facilities within 24 hours. Nuclear energy facilities operating in 31 states provide electricity to one of every five U.S. homes and businesses. “Nuclear energy is a vital part of the U.S. electricity portfolio and because of that our industry has a history of seeking and making continuous safety improvements,” said Scott Peterson, senior vice president at NEI. “Our industry has worked proactively almost from the moment the tsunami struck Japan to capture and apply lessons learned. This video provides background on the FLEX strategy that is a tangible byproduct of this ongoing effort.” |
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