During one phase of my professional career, I realized that I needed to learn more about manufacturing and operating a business. A typical person with my upbringing – son of a school teacher and an engineer – might have decided that the best way to fill in that knowledge hole was to go back to…
I have been musing a bit this morning about the impact of the cost of money for nuclear projects in the United States compared to the cost of money for other energy investments. I have a spreadsheet model that I built based on the methodology described in Appendix 5.A — Calculation of the Levelized Cost…
If you happen to know anyone at the Maryland PIRG, NIRS, Counter Punch or other groups who are gloating about the recent Constellation Energy announcement that they are not interested in moving forward with building the Calvert Cliffs Unit 3 nuclear plant at the present time, show them this video from Southern Company’s Plant Vogtle….
There is an article in the October 12, 2010 issue of the New York Times titled Offshore Wind Power Line Wins Praise, and Backing. In that article, Matthew Wald describes an announcement by by Google and a New York financial firm named Good Energies indicating plans to build an undersea cable along the eastern seaboard…
I am a college football fan and love spending time with my family gathered around the TV – or at live games at my alma mater. While watching the games, I sometimes cause family members to groan or roll their eyes when I comment on the commercials. Paying attention to commercials is also one of…
On September 26, 2010, I posted an article titled Radiation Hormesis – A Profound Truth That Might Induce a Few More Converts to Support Nuclear Energy in which I described how Lawrence Solomon of Energy Probe had been convinced by science that the low levels of radiation associated with nuclear power plant operation and uranium…
On Monday, October 4, 2010, the ANS Nuclear Cafe published a DC Perspective column discussing the complex topic of loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants. It is not exactly a page turning topic; understanding the nuances requires a good deal of research into legal language and an understanding of the way that decisions get…
The United States has been operating small nuclear power plants continuously since the early 1950s. These reactors have been used for research and development, power generation, and ship propulsion. There have been tens of thousands of people associated with the design, development, manufacture and operation of these smaller reactors. The enterprise has accumulated an admirable…
During the past few days, I have spent several hours watching videos recorded during the Rocky Mountain Energy Epicenter 2010. That conference was jointly sponsored by the Colorado Oil and Gas Association and the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists. The videos have fascinated me; they provide support for my theory that activism and legislative efforts…
Don Gillispie, the CEO of Alternative Energy Holdings, Inc., is an aggressive businessman who is bootstrapping a “penny stock” company on a quest to build two large, 1700 MWe nuclear power plants in Payette County Idaho. His company is also working on developing partnerships that can produce desalination plants that produce clean water using atomic…
The Energy Policy Act of 1992 included language directing research and development of the Advanced Liquid Metal Reactor (ALMR) with Actinide Recycle System. The above video is an explanatory (some might use the word “promotional”) production that explains the program and its goals from the perspective of the mid 1990s. As many nuclear energy insiders…
On Monday, September 27, 2010, Michael Brune, the Executive Director of the Sierra Club, participated in a live interview on Daily Kos. During that interview and in the on-line question and answer period, he talked about the Sierra Club’s participation in current campaigns to increase regulations on coal ash, to halt mountain top removal coal…