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Margaret Harding On August 24th, Mr. Lochbaum posted a story on the Union of Concerned Scientists website about an event in 1988, then proceeded to link it to a 2005 event at a different plant and makes the case that the nuclear industry is filled with screw-ups and near misses. You can read the original article here. … Read more Fission Fiction – or how David Lochbaum got it wrong
Today is the story of water heaters. Why? Because the water heater in my home failed on Friday night (of course) and I got to go through the exercise of replacing it yesterday. It is of course hot in North Carolina this time of year and normally I work in my garden and at the … Read more Water Heaters and Other Things
This is a reprint of an article written for SAM group. The first article was an overview of nuclear power. The last time I wrote here, I filled up my space with an explanation of the basics of nuclear power technology. I left with a cliffhanger on what to do with spent fuel. I was … Read more Spent Nuclear Fuel
I am writing a series of articles for a training organization called SAM group. I’ve been working with them to develop and offer a course in Nuclear Quality Assurance Auditor Training. We are also working together to provide consulting to businesses interested in getting into the nuclear power industry. The next few blog posts are … Read more Nuclear Power Tutorial
I saw this yesterday and wanted my readers to have a chance to see it as well. A nice summary about financing costs in Nuclear power. http://nuclearfissionary.com/2010/03/26/financing-costs-in-new-nuclear-power-plant-construction/#comment-157
Mr. Wellinghoff of the FERC famously said “I think baseload capacity is going to become an anachronism. Baseload capacity really used to only mean in an economic dispatch, which you dispatch first, what would be the cheapest thing to do.” Since then the debate between those that believe baseload is, for the foreseeable future, required … Read more Why Baseload is irrelevant to the power discussion
I noticed an article talking about a recently awarded loan guarantee, not the much talked about Plant Vogtle guarantee for $8.3 billion, but rather the much smaller amount of $1.37 Billion to BrightSource Energy for a solar plant in the California desert. At first blush it would appear that the critics who say nuclear is … Read more Loan Guarantees and other Random Thoughts
This morning the NRC published in the Federal Register a notice of Receipt of Application for License for the GLE operation at GE-Hitachi’s Wilmington, NC facility. This is exciting news for the industry as it is yet another step toward getting additional enrichment capability online and ready to deliver more enriched uranium to the nuclear … Read more Global Laser Enrichment Facility takes next step
Originally posted May 2009, given today’s news about Venezuela’s electricity woes, it seems appropriate to repost. I predict sales of diesel generators to do up exponentially across Venezuela on the heels of this news. This is not just a parable, but a true story, not something made up by me to provoke discussion. I personally … Read more A Story of Power in Venezuela
There have been some commercials that talk about the idea that all the energy needed to power human endeavor falls on the surface of the earth from the sun in a few minutes each day. Let’s examine this claim more critically and see where it takes us. First, let’s get the definition of renewable clearly … Read more Myth #1: Renewable energy can generate all the world’s energy needs