Green World Blog
News, views & musings for our nuclear-free, carbon-free future
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A week of 21st century energy news…and a few reflections
A solar-powered house in Germany. There are at least three homes newly solar-powered in my small city; how many are there in your community? About a month ago, I wrote a post titled Five days in solar news which tried to give readers a sense of just how fast solar power is developing—not that there aren’t…
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New U.S. reactors: overbudget, behind schedule, shirking safety regs
The Summer nuclear project, May 2014. Still a long ways–and a lot more rate increases–to go. The nuclear “renaissance” began fizzling about three minutes after it was declared, once utility financial people took over from the nuclear boosters and did a real examination of reactor construction cost estimates, declining electrical demand, falling prices for natural…
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Nuclear power and water: DOE almost gets it…
Several years ago, at the height of the nuclear “renaissance” when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was reporting that it received or was expecting some 30 new reactor license applications, I met with a group of Capitol Hill staffers generally skeptical of nuclear power. To be honest, I don’t remember what the main topic of the…
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Nuclear Newsreel, Thursday, June 19, 2014
The Waste Control Specialists radioactive waste dump in Andrews County, Texas. WCS wants to triple the site’s capacity and slash its liability at the same time. It’s been a while since we caught up on the news, so let’s jump right in…. Nuclear Power EPA chief Gina McCarthy has in essence admitted that our analysis…
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NRC denies earthquake petition at site called Seismic Time Bomb—the Columbia reactor
New research indicates that Energy Northwest’s Columbia reactor (background) may be at greater risk of earthquake damage than any reactor in the U.S. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission last week denied a petition filed by Oregon/Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility and other groups asking for a shutdown of Washington’s Columbia reactor until it demonstrates it can…
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What does Entergy want? In its own words.
New York’s Indian Point reactors. Entergy is desperately trying to save them–as long as it doesn’t have to invest money in them to do so. Exelon and Entergy are the nation’s two largest nuclear utilities. And both are scrambling to avoid shutdowns of some of their troubled reactors. In Exelon’s case, its two-unit Quad Cities…
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Poll: Anti-nuclear presence at September 20 NYC climate march/rally?
Anti-nuclear flags and banners covered May’s renewable energy rally in Berlin. Can we do the same in NYC in September? We’re conducting a poll on your interest in participation in an anti-nuclear contingent at the September 20 climate march and rally in New York City. Please let us know if you are interested in coming,…
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Nuclear Newsreel, Friday, June 6, 2014
SCANA has applied for its seventh rate increase for construction of its two new Summer reactors. As you can see from this photo taken May 22, 2014, they’re a long way from being finished. The EPA’s proposed new carbon rules have dominated the news this week, but there has been more happening–especially on the clean…
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Old Reactors v. New Renewables: The First Nuclear War of the 21st Century
The trend is clear: nuclear costs keep rising while solar and wind become ever more cost-effective. By Mark Cooper Within the past year, a bevy of independent, financial analysts (Lazard, Citi, Credit Suisse, McKinsey and Company, Sanford Bernstein, Morningstar) have heralded an economic revolution in the electricity sector. A quarter of a century of technological…
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Doh! We goofed. And other fallout on nukes/climate issue + poll!
Can EPA’s new carbon rules save Exelon’s uneconomic Clinton reactor? Doh! We goofed! More specifically, I goofed. In an Alert NIRS sent out yesterday on EPA’s new carbon rules and other nukes/climate issues, I wrote: “As worded, it seems that EPA would encourage ratepayer (that’s you and I!) subsidies of 6 cents per kilowatt/hour of…
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