Green Options » Nevada

Nuclear Waste at Yucca Mtn. Clears Another Hurdle

Timothy B. Hurst — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 22:16:47 +0000

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established final radiation standards for the proposed spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive waste disposal facility at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

The EPA has determined that the final standards (pdf) for the planned Yucca Mountain high-level waste disposal facility are “fully protective of human health” and the repository will not be allowed to open unless it meets these requirements. >>More on Yucca Mountain at Green Options

Bipartisan opposition to EPA decision

The Las Vegas Sun reports Nevada’s two senators blasted the proposed rules for radiation protection because they were based on flawed science that put millions of people at risk. In a show of a state-based bipartisan solidarity both Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) and Sen. John Ensign (R-NV) quickly reacted to the decision.

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‘Walk This Way’ Week: How Pedestrian-Friendly is Your Town?

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:24:41 +0000

By now, we all know it’s cheaper — and more environmentally friendly — to walk or bike to places than to drive a car or SUV. But is the low-cost, low-impact way always feasible in the motor-happy, open-freeway-obsessed U.S. of A.? That’s what we’ll be exploring this week at EcoLocalizer in a feature we’re calling “Walk This Way.”

The question of whether to walk, bike or take public transportation is a no-brainer if you live in a city like New York, where driving can often be more of a pain than a pleasure. But what about the rest of the country? Not every community is large enough or dense enough to offer the auto alternatives the Big Apple does. And what about people who live in rural areas where everything is a half-hour’s drive away or more? Can we refashion our country’s way of getting around to be more European? Or are those of us in unwalkable communities doomed to either move elsewhere or live like so many billions do in the rest of the world, consigned to life in a radius of space measured in only a few miles?

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Solar Energy Creating Economic Boom for Nevada

Sarah Lozanova — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 19:47:22 +0000

The American Southwest has some of the best solar resources on the globe. Nevada, with abundant land and sunshine is becoming a hot bed for the solar industry. The result is green jobs and billions of investment dollars.

Solar Panel Manufacturing

The opening of Ausra’s solar thermal power factory earlier this week in Las Vegas is a prime example. As the largest plant of its kind in the world, it employs 50 factory workers. At full capacity, the plant can generate 700 MW of solar panels, which could produce enough power for 500,000 homes. This quantity of panels would create an estimated 1,400 solar plant construction jobs.

The factory will produce giant mirrors and absorber tubes that are used for solar power plants. This technology uses the sun to generate heat and spin turbines, thus creating electricity. The giant mirrors follow the sun and reflect it onto fixed absorber tubes that are mounted above.

“Nevada is poised to be a leader in the clean energy revolution,” said U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). “This facility will help position our state as the premiere place to invest in these new technologies. As the factory expands operations and we continue to invest in clean energy, we’ll create thousands of good-paying jobs and keep our outdoors pristine for future generations.”
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Is The Colorado River Becoming Radioactive from Upstream Uranium Mines?

Max Lindberg — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 23:41:49 +0000

It All Depends On Who You Ask

Las Vegas Water Offical Warns Radioactive Levels Rising

Sunday’s news was a bit disconcerting, when I read a small story at Tri-State Online. Pat Mulroy, head of the Southern Nevada Water Authority was quoted as saying measurable quantities of uranium are showing up in Colorado River water, something difficult and expensive to remove before passing it on to consumers in Las Vegas.

She blames upstream uranium mining, especially in the Moab, Utah area, so I decided to take a look and see what’s happening up there.

To the best of my knowledge, there are no operating uranium mines in or near Moab, UT, or anywhere in the state of Utah. So, I felt Ms. Mulroy was referring to the uranium mill tailings just outside Moab, where they’ve been for decades after the failure of the Atlas Minerals Corporation mill.

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DOE Files Application To Build Nuclear Repository.

Max Lindberg — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:59:37 +0000

As promised in a podcast interview on February 11th,
Edward Sproat, manager of the Yucca Mountain project in Nevada, filed a license application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to construct a nuclear waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada.

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Alaska, Southwest to Feel Greatest Climate Change Pain in U.S.

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Thu, 29 May 2008 19:33:15 +0000

Years of legal wrangling have finally produced a long-awaited report on the current and potential effects of climate change on the U.S. And it should come as no surprise that regions already hurting — Alaska and the arid Southwest — are among the areas expected to feel the greatest pain from continued climate change in the future.

The report, Scientific Assessment of the Effects of Global Change on the United States, was released today by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy. According to the Government Accountability Project, the study was “years overdue under a requirement of law” and was prepared only after a federal court order last year set a release deadline of May 31, 2008.

Among the report’s highlights (or lowlights, depending on your perspective):

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Sustainability on the Slopes: Kirkwood Ski Resort

Keith Rockmael — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 16:20:09 +0000

Even though the calendar displays spring, a lot of us aren’t ready to hit the beach just yet. In fact, we’re still hitting the slopes. Is it possible to think sustainably when we strap on our bindings? There’s no way around the fact that snowboarding and skiing (much like golf) aren’t sustainable but the world just can’t wipe out all the ski resorts. So we decided to check out the sustainability of some resorts.

Kirkwood, sits in a remote area of South Lake Tahoe, where people like the no-frills, laid back atmosphere but about their sustainability? To their credit their recently implemented a carpool network (the first in the region) that allows members to connect with other like-minded skiers and riders. Kirkwood’s “K-pool” saved about 13% in driven vehicles during one of their busiest days and takes hundred of cars off the road each week. Other resorts have picked up on the idea and will implement a similar system next season.

The fact that Kirkwood sits outside any regional power grid offers energy challenges. Thankfully, they haven’t resorted to purchasing those not so green RECs; instead they purchase a small amount of energy directly from local homeowners’ solar panels. Unfortunately, they must rely heavily on diesel (and even though they have purchased more efficient Tier 2 Engines) they still remain diesel based. The thought of all that diesel doesn’t exactly make us warm and fuzzy.

Kirkwood put together a comprehensive recycling program but we would like to see something more out of the box. Maybe they can add some alt fueled snowcats or the like. We understand that biodiesal freezes at around five degrees so maybe there is some other solution. And even though the resort region contains relatively few condos and commercial structures, the new ones currently being constructed lack any Green focus (such as LEED or Green Point Rated). It’s not much to ask to swap out the bathroom paper towels and urinals for the much greener XLerator Electric Hand Dryer and McDry Non-Water-Using Urinal options.

We like most of the blue slopes as well as some choice black diamond runs but Kirkwood needs to catch up with us as their sustainability effort currently resides on the bunny slopes.

Wal-Mart Unveils High-Efficiency Supercenter

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 14:20:30 +0000

Not one to ever stay out of the news for one reason or another, Wal-Mart this week unveiled what it calls its most energy-efficient U.S. store yet: the HE.5 prototype.

The store, located in Las Vegas, is said to use up to 45 percent less energy than your basic Supercenter. It’s also designed specifically for the Southwest’s typical climate conditions.

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Acciona Dedicates US’ First New Concentrating Solar Plant in 16 Years

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 23:17:01 +0000

Las Vegas, Nevada - The current period of sustained growth in the American Southwest is putting tremendous demands on important resources like water, wildlife habitat, and, with the light beaming from the top of Las Vegas’ Luxor Hotel as a reminder, electricity. Nevada currently gets about 90% of its electricity from fossil fuels, and the majority source fuel is natural gas. As natural gas prices are predicted to rise, a debate is stirring about whether the state needs to build new coal-fire power plants to meet current needs, or whether it should tap its renewable resource potential. For that reason, Acciona Energy could not have picked a better time than today to dedicate their new 64 MW concentrating solar power plant (CSP) in Boulder City, Nevada, less than thirty miles from the Las Vegas strip. And with a star-studded collection of speakers like Ed Begley Jr., NASA astronaut Dr. Sally Ride, and Apple co-founder and tech whiz Steve Wozniak, the Spanish-based Acciona dedicated the facility in true Las Vegas style.

The 300-acre site in Boulder City uses parabolic trough collectors to generate electricity. The 760 mirrored troughs track the movement of the sun’s path, and their 184,000 mirrors face the sky and concentrate the sunlight to a large metal and glass receiver in the middle of the trough that holds circulating oil. The oil travels to heat exchangers, which heat water and create steam that spins a turbine.

At 64 megawatts (MW) of generation capacity, Nevada Solar One is the largest CSP plant to be built in 16 years and it makes Nevada the largest per capita producer of solar power in the country. After roughly a decade of little growth for the industry, CSP is coming back strong, as is further evidenced by today’s announcement by Abengoa Solar that they will be building a 280 MW concentrating solar facility in Arizona.

The absence of any new CSP over the last 16 years leaves many people scratching their heads and asking themselves, why?

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The Lindberg Report Podcast: Yucca Mountain Failure a Windfall for Nuclear Utilities

Max Lindberg — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 09:50:51 +0000

I was reading some recent headlines about Yucca Mountain, claiming the federal government will face heavy penalties and judgments if the project isn’t finished. Read beyond the headlines my friends, “we” fund the government, the money comes from our pockets, and it isn’t chicken feed.

The latest estimates are, that if Yucca Mountain isn’t finished until 2017, “we” will owe the utilities an estimated $7 billion in penalties, provided by law, because the repository isn’t finished. Bump completion time up another 3 years, and the bill goes up to about $11 billion.

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The Lindberg Report Podcast: Why Has It Taken So Long?

Max Lindberg — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 06:36:54 +0000

That’s the question I posed to Ward Sproat, the DOE’s manager of the Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management. His agency is in charge of the Yucca Mountain waste repository project in Nevada.

This is the classic “Not in my back yard” battle, even more understandable since Nevada was the site of nuclear weapons testing beginning in 1951. There were 100 atmospheric tests until they went underground in 1962, when 828 devices were exploded. Testing ceased in 1992, although the Nevada Test Site is still an active research area.

It’s easy to see why Nevadans are tired of the word, “nuclear” and object to the storage of thousands of tons of highly radioactive materials just 100 miles from the state’s major tourist attraction, Las Vegas.

Here is Mr. Sproat with his answer to that question, and other observations about Yucca Mountain and the future.

This story contains additional media. Click here to view the media.

You may recall my interview with Bob Loux about Yucca Mountain and the Nevada point of view. It is available in three parts, listed below.

Yucca Mountain: The Nevada Case Podcast, Part One

Yucca Mountain: The Nevada Case Podcast, Part Two

Yucca Mountain: The Nevada Case Podcast, Part Three

The Lindberg Report Podcast: Yucca Mountain: The Nevada Case Podcast, Part Three

Max Lindberg — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 07:20:05 +0000

This is the third and final segment of our interview with Robert Loux, Director of the agency for Nuclear Projects in Nevada.

In our previous podcasts, Yucca Mountain: The Nevada Case Podcast, Part One, Mr. Loux talked about his agency, it’s mission and why the state is so critical of the DOE and it’s practices.

In the second presentation, Yucca Mountain: The Nevada Cast Podcast, Part Two, he talks about the regulatory process and unsuitability of the mountain as a long-term repository for high-level nuclear waste.

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The Lindberg Report Podcast: Yucca Mountain: The Nevada Case, Part One

Max Lindberg — Mon, 21 Jan 2008 07:44:42 +0000

I’ve been going on for some time now about the nuclear industry, the possibility of more nuclear power stations going online, and especially what to do with radioactive waste that’s been piling up for 50 years.

The answer to the waste situation was supposed to have been Yucca Mountain, a remote natural structure some 100 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. Since it’s inception nearly 25 years ago, Nevadans have fought creation of a long-term storage facility in their back yard.

I wanted to know more about Nevada’s opposition to the Yucca Mountain project, so I picked up the phone and talked with Robert Loux, Executive Director of the Agency for Nuclear Projects in Nevada. He’s been going head-to-head with the DOE and other agencies for a long time, and has some interesting things to say about the project and the DOE.

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Hillary Says “If I’m President, Yucca Mountain will be Off the Table Forever”

Max Lindberg — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 01:07:12 +0000

It’s time to sequester voters in Nevada, and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton headed for the jugular vein today by declaring if she’s president, Yucca Mountain will be a thing of the past.

The State of Nevada has opposed the Yucca Mountain project since it’s inception, and now, years overdue and billions of taxpayers dollars later, it’s still at least 10 years away from completion.

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The Lindberg Report Podcast: Massive Layoffs Due at Yucca Mountain

Max Lindberg — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 08:02:48 +0000

Amid increased activity signaling a possible resurgence of interest in nuclear power facilities, comes word from Nevada that isn’t at all surprising.

Ward Sproat, shown in the Las Vegas Review-Journal photo at the left, is director of the Department of Energy’s Office of Civilian Radioactive Waste Management, and announced Tuesday that Yucca Mountain in Nevada is still a long way from receiving any spent nuclear fuel. Sproat told Nevada’s Legislative Committee on High-Level Nuclear Waste, that lack of funding will result in significant worker layoffs at the facility. He is quoted as saying, “They’re going to come in waves”.

Podcast, if you’d rather listen: This story contains additional media. Click here to view the media.

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85 Year Old “War” Over Colorado River Water Ends

Max Lindberg — Fri, 14 Dec 2007 15:48:13 +0000

It’s been going on since 1922, seven western states staking their claims on Colorado River Water. For years, a sometimes divisive battle has raged as Colorado, Utah, California, Arizona, Wyoming, Nevada and New Mexico all said they weren’t getting their share of the precious liquid.

It came to an end in Las Vegas, when representatives of the seven states inked their signatures to a 20 year water-use agreement that now supersedes the 1922 pact.

The plan resolves several legal issues among water agencies and formalized rules fostering cooperation during drought conditions now ongoing in the region. The states are promising consultation and negotiation before litigation on Colorado River water issues. What a concept.

Three lower-basin states, Arizona, California and Nevada will use the Lake Mead reservoir behind Hoover Dam to store water they won’t use or need right now. Thirty million people depend on water in that region, especially in Southern California, where 26 cities and water districts serve about 18 million customers.

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Nuclear Power is Green! Renewable Energy Wrecks the Environment!

Max Lindberg — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 10:28:17 +0000

Here’s another one who thinks nuclear power is the energy panacea we all need, and that renewable energy production is, as he states, "a rape of nature." Strong words and I just had to talk about it. The story comes from Science Daily, and there’s also a link to Nuclear Waste Storage that pretty well explains the problem, and takes a good look at the controversial Yucca Mountain storage facility in Nevada.

Sin City Senator Calls Tire Burning “Renewable”

Maria Surma Manka — Thu, 08 Mar 2007 13:17:19 +0000

Nevada State Senator Bob Coffin (D-Las Vegas) wants to repeal a law that states, quite logically, that burning tires for electricity does not constitute renewable energy except in limited circumstances. Coffin believes the existing law hinders other technologies from developing and wants it rewritten to say “any system that involves creating electricity from tires” is renewable. Sounds like he took a page from President Bush’s playbook that declared nuclear power is “a renewable source of energy.”

Senator Coffin wants to count tire burning towards Nevada’s standards for renewable energy production. The state has a Renewable Energy Standard requiring all Nevada investor-owned utilities to get 15 percent of their energy from renewables by the year 2013.

Here enters commonsense: the Republican Senator from Henderson, Joseph Heck, points out that the bill doesn’t prevent the most destructive forms of tire burning from happening. For example, open burning of tires releases known carcinogens, among other nasty pollution problems, and could count as renewable energy with the change in the law.

The Senate Commerce and Labor Committee will vote on the bill at a later hearing.

In addition to renewable tire burning, the Committee heard other bills last week that included exempting co-ops, nonprofits, and renewable energy systems from state environmental review laws. The Committee approved that bill, despite opposition from state regulators and the Nevada Conservation league who argued it creates loopholes that would allow for a utility plant built on private land to sidestep the permitting process.

Sounds like Nevada senators have their hands full, hopefully closing up all the loopholes others are trying to tear open. This is a lesson for all of us: Good laws that encourage a clean, renewable energy system still have to be protected and safeguarded from those wed to the dirty way of doing things. Make sure your elected officials know you’re keeping an eye on them.

Associated Press
Energy Bulletin
Western Resource Advocates