Nuclear Power

Two senators push to ramp up nuclear energy 2
Posted 4 days, 7 hours ago Two senators unveiled legislation Monday to double U.S. nuclear energy output in 20 years and foster clean energy options with "mini-Manhattan Projects" named for the original U.S. atomic bomb push.
a renaissance delayed?

Nuclear companies face reactor design problems, ethics questions 5
Posted 5 days, 8 hours ago Federal regulators have expressed serious safety concerns about the design for 14 of the nation's 25 proposed new nuclear reactors, raising questions about the future of what the industry calls its "renaissance."
a really hot potato

Will South Carolina become the nation’s new Yucca Mountain? 0
Posted 1 week, 1 day ago Earlier this year, President Obama canceled the federal government's plans to store high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants and weapons facilities at the controversial Yucca Mountain site in Nevada -- but now there are concerns that the Savannah River Site in South Carolina could become the permanent dumping ground for the dangerous waste.
New nukes? A fair shot, not a free ride 3
Posted 1 week, 5 days ago KC Golden offers this advice to his friends in the nuclear industry: If you believe in nuclear power as a solution to global warming and fossil fuel dependence, you should be leading the charge for a strong national climate policy, with tight, science-based limits on carbon emissions. However, you should NOT condition your support for national climate policy on lavish subsidies from taxpayers.
Too bad they don’t “brain” it.

David Frum says ‘Conservatives Heart Nuke Power.’ 0
Posted 1 week, 5 days ago New nuclear power plants are currently far and away the most expensive form of carbon free power you can (try to) buy -- assuming you could find a nuclear vendor today that was actually willing to guarantee a price for their product in a Public Utility Commission hearing, which you can’t.
Toshiba tells San Antonio its new twin $13 billion nukes will cost $4 billion more! This looks like a job for clean energy.

San Antonio balks at Toshiba nuclear deal 0
Posted 3 weeks, 1 day ago
Nuclear nonsense

Stewart Brand’s nuclear enthusiasm falls short on facts and logic 162
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago Stewart Brand has a new book coming out, Whole Earth Discipline: An Ecopragmatist Manifesto. Brand argues, among other things, that environmentalists should reconsider nuclear power. Amory Lovins responds with a thanks, but no thanks.
The Odd Couple

Sen. Lindsey Graham crosses the climate rubicon 0
Posted 1 month, 1 week ago Last week, I struck a hopeful note after GOP Sen. Lindsey Graham expressed interest in a climate bill compromise that included a carbon cap in exchange for support for some nuclear power and coastal drilling. But my expectations it would really happen remained low.
Baby carrots

How Senate Dems should lure GOP to a climate bill 9
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago The greenosphere is abuzz with the news that a few Republican Senators are open to the climate bill if certain conditions are met. In classic form, Senate Dems are signalling their willingness -- no eagerness! -- to give the Republicans whatever they want.
THE NUCLEAR OPTION

Are there GOP senators who will back the climate bill? 4
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago In July I speculated that Sen. Lamar Alexander might lead some Republicans to back a climate protection bill if Democratic leaders made some concessions regarding nuclear power. Since then, Alexander has imploded and Sen. Lindsey Graham has emerged as the GOP's climate dealmaker.
A Walk Through the Week's Climate News

The Climate Post: Gentlemen, start your lawsuits 0
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago First Things First: The Environmental Protection Agency proposed a regulation that if approved would force the largest industrial emitters, including utilities, energy-intensive manufacturing, and refineries, to invest in the cleanest available technology for new projects or major renovations.
don't get in the way, congress!

Growth in renewable energy outpaces nuclear, fossil fuels 2
Posted 1 month, 3 weeks ago
Sen. Jeff Bingaman answers Grist’s questions on the climate bill [VIDEO] 2
Posted 1 month, 4 weeks ago Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) is chairman of the Energy & Natural Resources Committee and a key player on energy issues. In June, his committee voted to approve S. 1462, the American Clean Energy Leadership Act, an energy bill that may or may not be combined with a climate bill from Boxer's Environment & Public Works Committee (and possibly an allowance allocation bill from Baucus's Finance Committee) into a comprehensive bill to match the House's. Sen. Bingaman was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.
Nuke it

Lamar Alexander loves the earth too much to support solar and wind 12
Posted 2 months ago
One of the few Congressional Republicans who talks about the need to address climate change makes an interesting argument against wind and solar energy. It's a bogus argument, but still interesting.
EP in the FT

Glaciers, cheetahs, and nukes, oh my! 0
Posted 3 months, 2 weeks ago
Financial Times South Asia Bureau Chief James Lamont has written a flood of environment-as-political-dialogue stories this week!
Why CO2 regulation will lead to lower electricity prices 2
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Excluding those who question whether we need a greenhouse gas policy at all, the debate is fundamentally one about where certainty is most important. What all agree on is that uncertainty is unacceptable. But do we really have that much uncertainty?
financial meltdown

Nuclear plans hurting power companies’ credit ratings 1
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
Power companies pursuing construction of new nuclear plants may find it harder to get credit -- meaning ratepayers could end up shouldering a greater financial burden for the costly and environmentally harmful projects.
nuclear in the clear

Is the proposed clean energy agency a dirty deal for taxpayers and the environment? 0
Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago
U.S. lawmakers are considering legislation that would create a new independent federal agency to promote government investment in clean energy. But watchdogs are concerned about its bias toward nuclear power.
Are new nuclear plants the answer? No.

Oh, those sexy building codes: More powerful than 100 nuclear plants 2
Posted 4 months ago
All of the other emissions-reduction approaches in the House climate bill pale in comparison to what the building energy codes will accomplish. Without them, we simply cannot meet the greenhouse-gas emissions reduction targets called for in the bill. We won't even come close.
Stewart Brand proclaims 4 environmental ‘heresies’ 2
Posted 4 months ago