I have heard Amory Lovins repeat the following statement at least three separate times. I believe that I have missed a few repetitions. Nuclear costs too much and it has excessive financial risk. In no new nuclear project around the world is there a penny of private capital at risk. (Source – http://a4nr.org/news-and-events/10.22.2006-torontostar) As mentioned…
A friend pointed me to an interesting video about “Global Dimming”. After watching for a while and then finishing by reading the transcript, I did some more reading and thinking. (There is a good article titled Global Dimming and climate models available on the excellent climate resource named Real Climate) I have just spent a…
I have been in several forums where Nuclear Regulatory Commission leaders have cautioned the nuclear industry about recruiting its employees. Their pitch is that such actions could cause a logjam where license applications and other regulatory actions will be slowed due to a lack of reviewing capacity. Apparently, regulatory capacity constraints are not limited to…
Last night I stayed in Crystal City after my day job to attend a talk given by Amory Lovins Winning the oil end game. The talk was based on his book by the same title which is available at http://www.oilendgame.com/. Most of you who read this know what I think about Lovins, his mathematics, and…
Bloomberg.com published an interesting article by Andy Critchlow on December 10, 2006 titled Saudi, Gulf States to Study Using Nuclear Technology (Update4). The article inspired me to write to the author. Here is what I told him: Dear Mr. Critchlow: I read with interest your article about the interest in nuclear power in Saudi Arabia…
The Energy Business Review Online published an article by Matthew Cowie on 8 December titled Carbon caps: German coal faces heat. Apparently the European Commission has figured out that a carbon trading scheme will only reduce carbon emissions if there is a tighter limit on the number of credits that can be issued. After reviewing…
Alternative Energy Holdings, Inc. has started a bit of a stir that has not yet been noticed by major media outlets. On December 1, 2006, the company issued a press release indicating that they had signed a letter of intent to build, own and operate a 1,500 MW nuclear powered electrical station near Bruneau, Idaho….
On show 39, Shane and I talked a bit about Polonium and the Litvinenko poisoning. A friend of mine sent me a link to a useful article in the Toronto Star titled Killer radiation safer than you think. If you want to learn more about the substance, its uses and risks, this is a good…
Thorium is a nuclear fuel source with a lot of potential. Kirk Sorensen blogs at Energy from Thorium; he talked with Rod and Shane on December 5, 2006 Thorium is a heavy metal that is not directly useful as a nuclear reactor fuel. In certain kinds of reactors, however, it can provide high quality heat…
Shane Brown and I had a great chat with Kirk Sorensen of Energy from Thorium fame. We talked about a number of different aspects of the technology including materials, fluoride salt chemistry, corrosion, breeding ratios, waste handling, and protactinium decay chains. We all agreed that we would be the life of any cocktail party with…
Amory Lovins appeared on the Charlie Rose show on November 28, 2006. Through the magic of Google Video, you can see the interview at Charlie Rose – Amory Lovins / Ian Schrager. At the beginning of the interview, Charlie began talking about how Amory had attended Oxford. I was impressed by the honest of Amory’s…
One of the free articles available today from the Wall Street Journal is titled Nuclear Power Revival Could Encounter Hurdles: Tight Uranium Supplies, Scarce Processing Facilities May Hurt Bush Energy Plan. The article paints an interesting picture where there is plenty of room to read between the lines, especially if you are an experienced negotiator,…