Title: Idaho Samizdat: Nuke Notes

Update on Areva’s Eagle Rock enrichment plant

Published on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 22:38:00

Progress reported on $2 billion loan guarantee and NRC license applicationAn Areva executive says the Department of Energy has completed the due diligence on a $2 billion federal loan guarantee for the gas centrifuge Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility planned to be built 18 miles west of Idaho Falls, ID. Sam Shakir (right), head of Areva Enrichments Services, told a conference call of nuclear energy bloggers Feb 5. “. . . the term sheet for a conditional commitment is ready for approval by Secret read more..

2011 DOE nuclear R&D budget

Published on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 23:40:00

Situation not as dire as predicted, but overall funding level is unchanged Two weeks ago advocates of funding for nuclear energy R&D came unglued when a trade newsletter reported that the budget for this work for 2011 has been slashed to ribbons by OMB. Notices of the death of the nuclear R&D budget, as laid out in a strongly-worded letter from Energy Secretary Chu, might now be seen as premature, but his advocacy must have weighed in the balance. Someone in the White House had a lig read more..

A Conversation with Stewart Brand

Published on Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:52:00

Live Webcast with a Pioneering Environmentalist February 18, 1 PM EST / 10 AM PSTClick here for free registrationIn Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto, (Amazon) lifelong environmentalist Stewart Brand (right) lays out what has been called “a mind-blowing vision for the planet's salvation: migration to the cities, power generated by mini-nuclear reactors, healthier crops through genetic engineering.” Brand, who created the 1960s and 1970s classic Whole Earth Catalog, believes read more..

Areva peers into the future of nuclear energy

Published on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 16:24:00

And finds technology to build fast reactors An alliance of oil refining firms, chemical companies, and reactor vendors is working on development of a 300 MW fast reactor to swap out the use of several million barrels a day of crude oil for process heat. The industry consortium is working on building a first-of-a-kind high temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) with commercial prospects by 2022. While the Department of Energy has been pursuing development of this technology at the Idaho Nationa read more..

Open letter to President’s Science Advisor

Published on Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:08:00

February 1, 2010 Dr. John P. Holdren Director, Office of Science & Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President Washington, D.C. cc. Dr. Steven Chu, Secretary, Department of Energy 24 member Committee—National Academies “America’s Energy Future” Members of Congress Dear Dr. Holdren: Peace on earth and preservation of the marvels of nature will not be achieved without a sound energy policy. This must include well-managed and well-governed thermal- and fast-neutron n read more..

Cameco in hunt for acquisitions

Published on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 13:23:00

Proceeds from sale of stake in gold firm fuel drive for growth This report is based on an article in Fuel Cycle Week, V9N360, January 20, 2010, published by International Nuclear Associates, Washington, DC. Stock prices referenced in this article are in the currency of the country of origin and cited as of market close January 19, 2010. What will Cameco (TSE:CCO) do with the C$1.5 billion it has amassed from the sale of Centerra—and with the extra $500 million that will soon roll in from an read more..

The Atomic Show #149

Published on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:54:00

Pro-nuclear bloggers react to the President’s State-of-the-Union address During the 2010 State of the Union Address, President Obama took the handcuffs off of the nuclear industry revival when he said: “But to create more of these clean energy jobs, we need more production, more efficiency, more incentives. And that means building a new generation of safe, clean nuclear power plants in this country.” On January 31, 2010, Rod Adams gathered a large group of active bloggers and nuclear read more..

Next generation of nuclear reactors in Europe

Published on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 20:08:00

Leading nuclear fuels and materials science expert talks about what has to be done to get ready to build them(NucNet): NucNet Editor Mathieu Carey talks to Dame Sue Ion OBE * about the future of materials science and the emergence of China and India as global nuclear energy players. NucNet – Firstly, you have spoken very positively about the future of material science worldwide and its increased importance to the nuclear energy industry.Ion – Yes, there are two reasons why it is important. F read more..

Next generation of nuclear leadership in Europe

Published on Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:50:00

The people who will run Europe’s new reactors are learning their skills now (NucNet) (WNN): A group of major European nuclear companies announced the launch of the European Nuclear Energy Leadership Academy (ENELA). In the wake of Europe’s nuclear energy renaissance, the purpose of the Academy is to train post-graduates and high potential employees with different backgrounds to become leaders in European nuclear corporations and institutions. Broad scope of training options The Acade read more..

DOE’s Warren (Pete) Miller is good news for the nuclear renaissance

Published on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 20:38:00

Guest column -- Lane Allgood, Executive Director, Partnership for Science & Technology (PST) (Facebook) Tel: 208-313-4166 Idaho Falls, IDDuring his presidential campaign, Barack Obama pledged to end our addiction to foreign oil, reduce the country’s dependence on fossil fuels, deal with climate change, and create millions of new energy sector jobs that can’t be shipped overseas. To many of us, the only way for the President to show he was serious about achieving these goals was through read more..

Chu names blue ribbon panel on spent nuclear fuel

Published on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 19:00:00

The group has real expertise. Let’s hope they do real work and don’t hand it off to staff.Secretary of Energy Steven Chu announced Jan 29 a Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future. The Commission, led by Lee Hamilton and Brent Scowcroft, will provide recommendations on managing spentnuclear fuel and fission waste products.In its first year in office, the Obama administration decided not to proceed with the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository. This was a political decision ba read more..

Obama to triple nuclear loan guarantees

Published on Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:10:00

Bloomberg wire service reports the increase will be requested in the 2011 budgetTwo people familiar with the Department of Energy budget for 2011 have told the Bloomberg wire service that the President’s budget for 2011 will include a request to add $36 billion to the nuclear energy loan guarantee program. Bloomberg also reported that Southern’s Vogtle plant, which plans to build two Westinghouse 1,150 MW AP1000 reactors, will be the first loan guarantee approved in 2010. The federal budget read more..

TVA gets NRC nod for Bellefonte reactors

Published on Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:25:00

NRC takes first step to reinstate construction licenses, but there are still big decisions ahead for TVA Think of all the metaphors about Phoenix birds rising out of the ashes and then apply them to what’s happening on a 1,600 acre site along the banks of the Tennessee River in northern Alabama. There life may be restored for two nuclear reactors that most had given up for dead. Last week the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) agreed to upgrade the status of two partially complete reactor read more..

Are dark days ahead for nuclear energy in the sunshine state

Published on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:39:00

Florida regulators slam on the brakes over rate increasesThe two major nuclear utilities in Florida, Progress Energy (NYSE:PGN) and Florida Power & Light (FPL) (NYSE:FPL), came away Jan 13 from a meeting with the Public Service Commission (PSC) with a lot less than they asked for to build new nuclear power plants.After a 10-month regulatory review, FPL got just $75 million out of a request of $1.3 billion to develop two 1,150 MW Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear reactors at Turkey Point near Miami read more..

Western lands uranium gopher for 01/23/10

Published on Sat, 23 Jan 2010 18:11:00

This blog post is an edited version of content published in Fuel Cycle Week for 01/13/10 V9:N359 by International Nuclear Associates, Washington, DC. Strathmore gets better offer for Reno Creek. Bayswater matches it. The Reno Creek property in Wyoming was briefly the object of a bidding war between Bayswater Uranium Corp. (CVE:BYU), which last August offered to buy it, and an unnamed third firm, which offered a sweeter deal to the owner, Strathmore Minerals (CVE:STM). Having accepted the t read more..

UK new nuclear build will not get government subsidies

Published on Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:27:00

Taxpayers off the hook for cost of new plants (NucNet) The British government will not use taxpayers’ money to subsidize  the construction of new nuclear power plants, Philip Hunt, (right) minister of state at the Department of Energy and Climate Change said Jan 21. In an online question and answer session with ‘The Guardian’ newspaper, Lord Hunt said the government had made it “absolutely clear” that the cost of new nuclear power plants must be met in full by the commercial co read more..

Canadian uranium update for 01/21/10

Published on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:11:00

McClean Lake Mill on standby for lack of ore Just before Christmas 140 workers at Areva's McLean Lake uranium mill in Saskatchewan got a holiday greeting they'd been dreading for some time. The firm announced plans to lay off 140 workers in 2010 because of a lack of ore from Cameco's Cigar Lake mine which has flooding problems. Areva employs 270 workers at McClean Lake. Operations at Cigar Lake ceased due to flooding in late 2008. Alun Richards, a spokesman for Areva, said the mill will wind read more..

Small fast reactor to offer 100 MW

Published on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 16:23:00

It will be factory built with 20-year fuel loads and is based on the historically significant design of EBR-IIAmong the many offerings being developed in the small reactor category, one has a unique legacy. Advanced Reactor Concepts LLC (ARC) is based on technology used over a 30-year period by the EBR-II program at Argonne National Laboratory-West (ANL-W) in Idaho. The new product now under development in the Virginia suburbs of Washington, D.C., is a 100 MW liquid-metal (sodium) cooled fast re read more..

MOX & commercial nuclear updates from Japan

Published on Thu, 21 Jan 2010 13:07:00

Two reactors start using it. With these reports Idaho Samizdat is pleased to announce the start of posting selected dispatches via NucNet from the World Nuclear Organization. (NucNet) (Jan 18) The Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) has given permission for the Tohoku Electric Power Company to use uranium-plutonium mixed oxide (MOX) fuel at Onagawa-3. The government approval, issued on 8 January 2010, means that up to 228 fuel assemblies at Onagawa-3 will be replaced w read more..

Next generation nuclear leadership

Published on Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:53:00

The people who will manage and operate the reactors of the nuclear renaissance are all under 40. What are the qualities necessary for the next generation of leadership to run the nuclear reactors that are now on the drawing boards of the world’s commercial electric utilities? By 2012-2015, many of the reactors that are planned to be built, especially those outside of China, will be ready or approaching readiness to break ground. In the U.S. there are 18 license applications pending fo read more..

Nuclear reactor scorecard

Published on Mon, 18 Jan 2010 00:26:00

Best prospects for actually building oneLike the barker at a baseball game, you cannot tell the players without a program. The Department of Energy (DOE) and the American Nuclear Society (ANS) periodically publish updates on the status of new nuclear builds in the U.S. At DOE a quarterly report mines information from agency files and the licensing status reports of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The ANS data is published for members in ‘Renaissance Watch” in “Nuclear News. read more..

After Copenhagen: What Was Achieved?

Published on Sun, 17 Jan 2010 17:23:00

Two experts on climate to talk about it in free, online webcast Free Live Webcast January 26, 1 PM EST / 10 AM PST Registration sign-up here The UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, or Cop15, took place in Copenhagen December 2009 with the goal of establishing a new climate treaty to replace the Kyoto accords, due to expire in 2012. There were very high expectations by some for the first climate convention since President Obama has taken office and the first since China attained its read more..

White House slashing DOE nuclear R&D budget

Published on Sat, 16 Jan 2010 21:43:00

Energy Secretary Chu sends protest letter to OMBA President bent on pushing deficit reduction buttons anywhere he can find them has hit a few at the Department of Energy. Earlier this week the Office of Management & Budget tried to cut the Environmental Cleanup program by a considerable amount, but was forced to back off as a result of bipartisan pressure from Congress. The next candidate for budget slashing at DOE has turned out to be the nuclear energy R&D budget. There is a much narro read more..

Oyster Creek under fire over cooling towers

Published on Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:06:00

Environmental groups are not giving up on efforts to close the recently relicensed reactor A coalition of a half-dozen environmental groups, thwarted in their efforts to shut down one of the nation’s oldest operating commercial nuclear reactors, has a new tactic. The groups are pushing the State of New Jersey to require the 619 MW Oyster Creek boiling water reactor (BWR), owned and operated by Exelon (NYSE:EXC), to build cooling towers. The structures would cost hundreds of millions to bui read more..

White House aide speaks up for nuclear energy

Published on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 04:51:00

Carol Browner says she is talking with the industry In an public live online chat (video) held Jan 12, Ms. Browner, a top energy and environmental aide to President Barack Obama, finally moved the pointer, relative to nuclear energy policy, on the ship-of-state’s telegraph from dead stop, past stand-by, to slow ahead. It is a remarkable change from what has looked for some time to be a message of “finished with engines.” The green wing of the Democratic party has forced its message o read more..