Last week Ketan Joshi (@KetanJO) published a piece titled Nuclear power’s tense contradiction. Ketan is a thoughtful science and technology writer who earned a science degree (neuroscience and psychology) from Sydney University and has worked in the renewable energy industry. He is also deeply interested in politics and identifies with the left. His article is…
The witnesses testifying at Tuesday’s hearing on Energy Innovation in front of the House Committee on Science, Space & Technology provided forceful and specific examples of the important role that the Department of Energy has played in supporting commercially valuable research and development. They shared their thoughts about ways to improve outcomes, streamline processes, and…
In July 2017, District Court Judge Manish Shah, U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois, handed a decisive victory to nuclear energy supporters and plant owners in a case that challenged Illinois’s right to choose the mix of fuels used to produce power inside its borders. The plaintiffs opposed the “Future Energy Jobs Act” recently passed…
During his successful campaign to become South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in promised to dramatically increase South Korea’s natural gas consumption. Within weeks of taking office, he took several concrete steps towards fulfilling that promise. He announced the near-term closure of 10 coal plants, he allowed the operating license to expire as scheduled for South Korea’s…
The nuclear industry’s strategy of working in individual U.S. states to obtain support for financially stressed plants has stalled. Despite successfully implemented efforts in New York and Illinois to provide assistance that is narrowly targeted at a handful of especially vulnerable units, no other state has been able to get a support measure out of…
Nuclear energy in the Republic of Korea is being threatened as a result of the May 9 presidential election of Moon Jae-in. Since at least 2012, when he suffered a narrow election defeat, Moon has advocated a halt to nuclear plant construction, prohibiting license extensions and achieving a “nuclear zero” policy by 2060. With the…
The Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA), S. 512, is a draft bill reported out of the Senate Environmental and Public Works Committee on March 22 that directs both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and U.S. Department of Energy to make significant changes in the way they treat nuclear energy technology development. While it…
Inside the U. S. nuclear energy industry, there is a high level of respect and admiration – along with a barely suppressed tinge of jealousy – for the way that the Republic of Korea (aka South Korea) has steadily developed its world class nuclear power plant manufacturing and construction industry. Starting from zero operating plants in…
The Beaver Valley (PA) Times has published an important article titled Group forms to oppose bailout of struggling nuclear power industry. That article needs to be read and retained by those of us who believe that existing nuclear plants are important pillars of the U.S. electricity supply network that is often called “the grid.” The…
Attendees at the 7th Annual International SMR and Advanced Reactor Summit in Atlanta, GA were intensely curious about the effect of Westinghouse’s decision to enter into a Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization effort. They are also working hard to learn whatever lessons might be available to help them avoid similar situations. What About That Westinghouse News?…
In late March, Senator Lisa Murkowski and her staff played host to some of the leading thinkers in the growing community of people who believe that nuclear energy is too important to fail without trying to do things both differently and better. The occasion of the meeting was the introduction and release of a new…
The first few words of the first bullet in the Department of Energy’s (DOE) section of the Trump Administration’s Budget Blueprint seem purposely chose to instigate maximum conflict. Provides $120 million to restart licensing activities for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository This phrase, describing a spending item that represents just 0.4% of a $28…