In the news: July 1995

ByRod Adams

U. S. House votes against Yucca Mountain

(May 18, 1995) The House of Representatives voted to stop funding the permanent spent fuel repository currently planned for Yucca Mountain, Nevada. The budget for the site would reach zero in 1997 according to the House plan. It left open the possibility of using the Nevada Test site as a temporary storage site for temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel.

Maine Yankee to be repaired

(May 24, 1995) The directors of the Maine Yankee nuclear power station have approved a $40 million plan to repair cracked steam generator U-tubes. The tubes will be “sleeved” a process that involves inserting smaller tubes into the existing tubes.

Egypt welcomes private nuclear investors

(May 29, 1995) Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak stated that his government would welcome privately funded nuclear projects to supply the national grid. He stated that his government had no intention of becoming involved in a nuclear project as an investor or owner because of the capital required and the suspicion it might arouse about Egypt’s nuclear weapons intentions. Egypt had ambitious plans for nuclear power stations during the 1970s and 1980s but shelved them after oil prices fell sharply in 1985.

Department of the Interior transfers Ward Valley site

(May 31, 1995) Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt approved the transfer of federal land in the Mojave Desert to the state of California. The land will become the Ward Valley low-level radioactive waste storage site. The decision was announced three weeks after the National Academy of Sciences issued a report calling the risk of environmental damage from the site “highly unlikely.”

Czech engineering group offers expertise

(May 29, 1995) Skoda, a Czech company that installed 24 Soviet -designed VVER light-water reactors between 1980 and 1993, has announced its interest in providing reactors to North Korea. “We would be competitors to the South Korean solution, because North Korea will probably not accept the South Korean solution,” said chief executive Lubomir Soudek.

Rod Adams
Rod Adams

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.

Similar Posts

  • Letter from the Editor: Wasted Nuclear Knowledge

    ByRod Adams

    I spent 12 years in the U.S. Navy learning how to operate nuclear heated engines at sea. The most challenging and rewarding job during those years was serving as the Engineer Officer (what surface ships would call the Chief Engineer Officer) of the USS Von Steuben, SSBN 632 (GOLD). I have also spent several years…

  • Historical Repetition?: Will Nuclear Propulsion Follow Steam Propulsion?

    ByRod Adams

    These are not the comments of people with a vested interest in nuclear power. They are the words of professional mariners and historians who understand the importance of propulsion machinery in ocean commerce. The following is a sampling of comments on nuclear merchant ships from before 1973. Here are the observations of retired ship captain…

  • Nuclear Research Ship: Japanese Learn Nuclear Techniques at Sea

    ByRod Adams

    The Japanese nuclear ship Mutsu is designed not for show, but for research. She is currently being used by the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) as a test bed to validate computer models of the behavior of pressurized water reactors in an ocean environment. The Mutsu has a 10,000 shaft horsepower nuclear engine. The…

  • Why Did The NS Savannah Fail? Can She Really be Called a Failure?

    ByRod Adams

    (Post was originally published on July 1, 1995. It was updated on April 2, 2011 to include information and videos that were not available in when it was first written. The title has also been revised to open up a new discussion – was the NS Savannah a failure or a successful demonstration of a…

  • Marine Nuclear Propulsion: The Undeniable Facts

    ByRod Adams

    Many observers deny that the success of nuclear propulsion for warships has any relationship to the possibility of success in a commercial endeavor. They claim that the costs are far too high, that merchant ships do not obtain much benefit from high speed endurance, or that the public will not accept nuclear powered shipping. There,…