Green Options » nuclear power plants

Beginning of the End For Yucca Mountain or the Beginning of Interim Nuclear Waste Management?

Max Lindberg — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 16:41:53 +0000

Nuclear energy officials appear to be taking the lead in the quest for storage of radioactive waste, as Nevada’s Yucca Mountain looks less and less like a reality, at least in the short term.

Marshall Cohen, an official of the Nuclear Energy Institute told the Las Vegas Review Journal that the industry is looking to several communities that might welcome interim storage of its used fuel.

Two or three communities, according to Cohen, are showing interest in the proposition, but he declined to name them pending further negotiations. He did say, however, that some were among the 11 sites that once volunteered to host a government run nuclear waste reprocessing site. Those states were Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina and Washington..

The move is seen as a major shift from reliance on completion of the Yucca Mountain project that would send spent waste to reprocessing facilities. Presently waste is stored on above-ground pads and in steel and concrete casks. The Department of Energy has voiced its disapproval of such action, citing political, legal and technical challenges.

This wouldn’t rule out the anticipated completion of Yucca Mountain, but could answer the question of what to do with radioactive waste that’s piling up at nuclear facilities around the country. Should the new Congress decided to halt the Nevada project, as has been threatened, industry officials believe their proposal will offer some relief to local reactor sites until a permanent repository is completed.

Water Shortage Could Dry Up Nuclear Power Plants in Southeast

Max Lindberg — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 23:51:30 +0000

We’ve all read about the drought in America’s Southeast, and if it doesn’t let up very quickly, some nuclear power stations may have to either cut back operations or shut down temporarily because of a lack of water.

An Alabama reactor had to shutdown for a brief period in the summer, and officials in the Southeast now say it is becoming a crisis.

Tell it to the Fudge

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Wed, 16 Jan 2008 15:10:59 +0000

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission reports that a nuclear plant worker in Vermont was suspended after testing positive for drugs; the worker blamed the test results on brownies served at a party that he didn’t know were laced with marijuana.

Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Former Scientific Advisor says Green Campaigners are Luddites

Pem Charnley — Sun, 13 Jan 2008 23:03:08 +0000

The former scientific advisor to Tony Blair - the man who urged our then prime minister to take global warming seriously, has come out and stated that he feels many green campaigners are actually a liability.

Sir David King has been quoted as saying: “There is a suspicion, and I have that suspicion myself, that a large number of people who label themselves ‘green’ are actually keen to take us back to the 18th or even the 17th century.

Unbelievable UK Nuclear Decision

Pem Charnley — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 18:57:34 +0000

It doesn’t matter which UK news source you choose. It’s a story that overshadows all others today.

Britain has decided to return to nuclear power in a big way. No matter that one of our former environment ministers was interviewed earlier and stated categorically what an absolutely ill-advised decsision this is. Gordon Brown’s government have today made the nuclear decision official.

One of the arguments for this decision is that the government states that it will help them tackle CO2 emissions.

Yet, according to experts, the reduction in emissions will be a hideously pathetic … 4%. That’s no argument for nuclear.

Video of Sleeping Nuclear Station Guards

Max Lindberg — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 16:18:18 +0000

What more can one say? CBS shocked the industry with this video of guards sleeping at the Peach Bottom nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania. They just happen to be in what they called “the ready room.”

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

The full story in the Washington Post.

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.