Eric McErlain at NEI Nuclear Notes pointed me to an interesting discussion that is going on at MetaFilter about nuclear power in response to Judith Lewis’s article in the LA Weekly. You can find the discussion at http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/46540. I was impressed by the civil nature of the discussion and the intelligence of the comments, even those where the author has a negative view of nuclear power plants.
Rod Adams is Managing Partner of Nucleation Capital, a venture fund that invests in advanced nuclear, which provides affordable access to this clean energy sector to pronuclear and impact investors. Rod, a former submarine Engineer Officer and founder of Adams Atomic Engines, Inc., which was one of the earliest advanced nuclear ventures, is an atomic energy expert with small nuclear plant operating and design experience. He has engaged in technical, strategic, political, historic and financial analysis of the nuclear industry, its technology, regulation, and policies for several decades through Atomic Insights, both as its primary blogger and as host of The Atomic Show Podcast. Please click here to subscribe to the Atomic Show RSS feed. To join Rod's pronuclear network and receive his occasional newsletter, click here.
A friend shared a link to a well written, fact-based opinion piece by Donald Jones published in TheStar.com titled No Future For Wind In Ontario. According to Jones’s by-line, he is a retired professional engineer with 35 years of experience in CANDU reactor design. Here are some quotes from the piece that are particularly important:…
The German government is seriously considering imposing a significant tax on nuclear fuel rods that is expected to provide the government with approximately 9.2 billion euros of additional revenue over a four year period. This new tax might initially make nuclear reactors less economically competitive compared to fossil fuel alternatives, but it could very well…
The first three units of the first German off-shore wind farm have gone operational. It apparently ran into some First of a Kind (FOAK) challenges that provide some interesting numbers. When complete, the facility will include 12 very large turbines that each have a maximum power capacity in optimum wind of 5 MW. Based on…
The Energy Collective has an article titled Why We Must Make Clean Energy Cheap that has generated a thoughtful discussion. I encourage you to read through the comments and perhaps add your own contribution to the exchange.
Of course, the title to this article is rhetorical. I know exactly why Europe is turning to coal – Europeans needs power, they cannot depend solely on importing gas from Russia, Iran and Algeria, there are some Europeans that comprise a very strong and financially well supported anti-nuclear movement, and European consumer needs are vastly…
The US Department of Energy has a stockpile of approximately one ton of Uranium 233 that was produced as part of several experimental programs including the Molten Salt Reactor Experiment and the Light Water Breeder Reactor. According to a March 3, 1997 decision by the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, the stockpile is held in…