Nuclear regulation offers a model for oil controls

This situation is eerily similar to that of nuclear energy in the 1970s, which led to the creation of an independent Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Back then, the Atomic Energy Commission's regulation of nuclear power plants had come under such strong criticism that Congress decided to sever the promotion and regulation function so that the AEC could have no influence over what the regulators would require. The NRC began operation in 1975. ..
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Iran Informs IAEA of Uranium Exchange Plan

The three-nation agreement calls for Iran to send 1,200 kilograms of low-enriched uranium to Turkey in exchange for nuclear material refined by other countries for use at a medical research reactor in Tehran...
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Texas may get nuclear waste from dozens of states

Texas was all set to be part of an agreement with Vermont to dump nuclear waste in a remote region of the Lone Star state, and for the most part people living near the site were OK with it. Now, though, that compact could mushroom to include waste from 36 other states, reinvigorating those who oppose the project to fight harder...
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GOP House candidate Bill Flores backtracks on loans for nuclear power plants

Republican congressional candidate Bill Flores backtracked Friday from disavowing the federal government's responsibility in guaranteeing loans for nuclear power plant construction. The policy change came after getting snared in a contradiction by his Democratic foe, Rep. Chet Edwards. The Flores camp said he supports using federal loan guarantees for some nuclear power plant projects, and the Republican reiterated that nuclear power needs to be expanded as part of a national energy plan...
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New Nuclear Energy Grapples With Costs

President Obama may be pressing for the nation to increase its supply of nuclear power, but the market is pushing in the opposite direction—at least in the view of one of the leading figures in the U.S. nuclear business. John Rowe, chief executive of Chicago-based Exelon, operator of the nation’s largest fleet of nuclear power stations, says the economics of the electricity business have changed sharply in just the past two years, dimming the prospects for a significant number of new nuclear reactors in the United States...
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Nulcear Reactors At Risk Due to Global Warming

As climate change throws Earth's water cycle off-kilter, the world's energy infrastructure may end up in hot water, experts say. From hydropower installations in the Himalaya to nuclear power plants in Western Europe, energy resources are already being impacted by flooding, heat waves, drought, and more...
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China in Talks With Russia, France on 4G Reactors

China National Nuclear Corp. may cooperate with France on research, with Russia on engineering and construction and with Japan on safety technology, Xu Mi, chief engineer at the China Institute of Atomic Energy, spoke to Bloomberg in an interview in Beijing. China wants to build its own brand of atomic technology for export, Xu Yuming, vice secretary general of China Nuclear Energy Association, said today...
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The nuclear option is back on the table in Europe

For 30 years Sweden stood proudly at the forefront of the world's antinuclear movement. Now, in one of the clearest signs of a nuclear-power renaissance sweeping the globe, it's striving to lift a decades-old ban on new reactors...
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Nuclear fuel recycling could take 20-30 years: US DOE official

The US would be able to implement a nuclear fuel recycling program in the
next 20 to 30 years if it committed to such a program now, Warren Miller, the
Department of Energy's assistant secretary for nuclear energy, said Wednesday...
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Repairs progress at isotope reactors

Major repairs to the National Research Unit (NRU) reactor at Chalk River in Canada and the High Flux Reactor (HFR) in the Netherlands are progressing well, according to the latest updates from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd (AECL) and NRG...
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NPT Proposal Scrubbed of Disarmament Dates

Nations at the 2010 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference yesterday issued a revised draft agreement that includes none of the dates contained in the initial proposal for convening nuclear disarmament talks...
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Senate's Climate Bill Encourages Development of Nuclear Power

The 987-page Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act, introduced to the Senate by John Kerry and Joe Lieberman on 12 May, leads with issues of nuclear power under the heading Encouraging Domestic Nuclear Power Generation. It is the most significant update to policy since the Energy Policy Act of 2005 which specified support for nuclear that has yet to really materialise....
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House Panel Approves $15 Billion for DOE Nuclear Operations

That dollar figure includes $7 billion for "nuclear weapons activities," a 10-percent increase from the present budget, according to House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee Chairman James Langevin (D-R.I.), whose panel has the first input on the president's requested nuclear budget. Those efforts ensure the safety and performance of the nation's nuclear arsenal....
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Senate's Climate Bill will Include $54B in Nuclear Loan Guarantees

Two U.S. senators will introduce climate-change legislation tomorrow that gives coastal states a share of revenue from expanded offshore oil and natural-gas drilling in a bid to win support for greenhouse gas limits...
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Record drop in US energy-related emissions

Energy-related carbon dioxide emissions in the USA dropped by 7% in 2009, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). This represents the largest fall since the EIA records began in 1949...
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Experts turn climate policy on its head

A new report says that greenhouse gas emissions reductions can only be achieved if they are the consequence of policies designed to improve quality of life...
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Constellation hoping feds back its new nuclear project

Federal energy officials say they can only afford to help finance one of three proposals to build new nuclear reactors in the U.S., and Constellation Energy Group Inc. executives are counting on it being theirs...
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Obama resubmits US-Russia nuclear energy deal

President Barack Obama planned to resubmit to Congress on Tuesday a nuclear power pact with Russia that his predecessor angrily canceled two years ago after Russia invaded neighboring Georgia...
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U.N. Chief Demands Test Ban Treaty Deadline

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon is pressing the international community to set a goal date for bringing the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty into force, the Associated Press reported Saturday...
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Negotiations Begin at NPT Review Conference

The monthlong session began May 3 at the United Nations in New York with several days of speeches by senior officials from many of the 189 treaty states, including Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The aim by the end of May is to issue a consensus document that would assess the standing of the nuclear nonproliferation regime and offer strategies for strengthening the system...
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White House says time right for climate bill

The White House said on Friday the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico showed the need for climate change and energy legislation, dismissing calls from a Republican backer of the bill to hold off...
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Dominion selects APWR for North Anna

Dominion has selected Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' (MHI's) Advanced Pressurized Water Reactor (APWR) for the potential third unit at its North Anna nuclear power plant in Virginia. The company had previously been considering building a GE Hitachi Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR) there....
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Tepco buys into STP expansion project

Japanese utility Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) has agreed to take a 9% stake in the project to construct two new reactors at the South Texas Project (STP), with an option to later increase this stake to some 18%....
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U.S. needs nuclear waste recycling

If you are a consumer of electricity in Michigan or elsewhere in the country, you might wonder what in the world is going on. After 27 years and $10 billion spent on scientific research, preparation of a site for the repository and actual construction of a tunnel beneath the Nevada desert, your government has decided this might have been the wrong solution...
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UAE nuclear effort a model says Sheikh Abdullah

In an address during the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review meeting, Sheikh Abdullah told delegates that the UAE was “taking further tangible steps to support the non-proliferation efforts of the international community” by building nuclear reactors under the supervision of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog...
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DOE cancels plutonium level change for SRS waste

"The Office of Environmental Management has decided not to move forward at this time with its February decision to direct contractors to start planning for higher concentrations of plutonium in waste canisters at the Savannah River Site," said Jen Stutsman, a spokeswoman at the department's Washington headquarters....
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Clinton, Ahmadinejad Trade Jabs at Nonproliferation Treaty Conference

The president of Iran and Washington’s top diplomat squared off yesterday over their nations’ respective nuclear programs at the outset of a monthlong conference in New York...
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U.S. launches fund drive for peaceful nuclear uses

The United States on Monday announced a drive to raise $100 million over the next five years to help the International Atomic Energy Agency broaden access to peaceful uses of nuclear energy...
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What Drillers Need to Learn from Nukes

Nobody died at Three Mile Island, and the nuclear power industry made smart changes. Deepwater Horizon is a turning point for the drillers...
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