Nuclear Energy Institute

The LA Times today published an inaccurate and sloppy editorial stating: "McCain's energy plan misleads the public and ignores the risks of nuclear energy." Nearly every claim in this opinion piece on nuclear energy is either grossly exaggerated or wrong. The editorial also makes several qualitative statements unsupported by facts to play into the fears of its readers. Here are a few...

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel is reporting that Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle (D) is reconsidering his longtime opposition to the expansion of nuclear energy. Gov. Jim Doyle on Wednesday agreed with a study panel's call to change Wisconsin's 1983 moratorium on nuclear power plants to prepare for the coming national debate over that type of energy. At a news conference, Doyle told reporters...

The Environmental Protection Agency developed a power profiler that : Determines your power grid region based on your ZIP code and electric utility, Compares the fuel mix and air emissions rates of the electricity in your region to the national average, and Determines the air emissions impacts of electricity use in your home or business. To start, all you need is a zip code, check it out . Hat tip...

Politico report on the maneuvering around energy that the House is attempting: while making conciliatory noises about offshore drilling, the goal is to run out the clock while letting endangered Democrats make the case back home that they’re in-line with the current polls that support all those new derricks. And why might the Dems do this? [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi’s [D-Calif.] gambit rests on one...

Senator John McCain's tour of the Fermi 2 nuclear plant was well-covered by the press. From The New York Times , [McCain] portrayed his support of nuclear energy as part of an “all-of-the-above approach” to addressing the nation’s energy needs at a time of $4-a-gallon gasoline. He called it “safe, efficient, inexpensive and obviously a vital ingredient in the future of the economy of our nation...

We’ve viewed somewhat nervously the seeming effort to strip away a forward-looking energy policy in favor of the sparkly but short-sighted goal of replacing our dependence on foreign oil with a dependence on domestic oil. It’s an election year diversion that has taken way too much attention away from broader energy issues, especially since there seems no actual way to achieve the stated goal – lowering...

Posted today at nei.org : Like all new generating capacity, there is considerable uncertainty about the capital cost of new nuclear generating capacity. Credible estimates of overnight capital costs range from $2,400/kWe to as much as $4,540/kWe. This wide variation in costs can be attributed to several factors: uncertainty about escalation of commodity prices and wages, the fact that design work is...

Save the dates! MSNBC is reporting that the moderators for the upcoming presidential debates have been announced. Something tells me that nuclear energy will be in the mix of questions asked. First presidential debate | Friday, September 26 The University of Mississippi, Oxford, Miss. Jim Lehrer - Executive Editor and Anchor, The NewsHour , PBS Vice presidential debate | Thursday, October 2 Washington...

In advance of Senator John McCain's tour of the Fermi 2 nuclear plant this afternoon, the Obama campaign's press office has just released this statement Barack Obama supports safe and secure nuclear energy. Nuclear power represents more than 70 percent of our noncarbon generated electricity. It is unlikely that we can meet our aggressive climate goals if we eliminate nuclear power as an option...

This story, Little Outcry on Nuclear Reactor Proposal , in today's Washington Pos t caught my eye. As Maryland regulators begin hearings tonight on a proposed third nuclear reactor in Calvert County, one element in the historically raucous debate over nuclear power is notably absent: widespread opposition. The passionate anti-nuclear protests of the 1970s and '80s have largely yielded in Washington...

With Senator John McCain touring the Fermi 2 nuclear plant in Newport tomorrow and Senator Barack Obama delivering a major energy speech today in Lansing, the state of Michigan, and its 17 electoral votes, is center stage this week in the presidential campaign. The pull quote from Obama's address In addition, we’ll find safer ways to use nuclear power and store nuclear waste. And we’ll invest in...

Coincidentally, nearly a week after I posted an analogy of the linear no-threshold radiation theory , a debate sparked up at the Climate Progress and Gristmill blogs on the health effects of radiation (it's the same post at both blogs but interesting and different comments at each site). The anti-nuclear side holds to the claim that any radiation is bad for you, whereas the pro-nuclear side says...

The British government, wanting to divest itself of its share of British Energy, had many suitors coming by with flowers and blandishments before it finally succumbed to the Boyer-inflected Pepe LePew of energy companies, Electricite de France. However, we now learn that the rain has washed the white stripe from British Energy’s back and it just looks like a cat : Reports said the proposed deal - the...

While we cannot help but be heartened by all the good press nuclear energy has been picking up lately, we hope it is not collateral to the hoopla surrounding offshore drilling and the attendant determination to score political points with it. Like offshore drilling, nuclear energy can be part of a solution, but it’s not a panacea: there is a real danger of overloading specific solutions with so much...

The builders at Beijing Stadium aren't the only ones in China working double-time these past few weeks: UPI is reporting (sub. req'd.) that ground has been broken on the new nuclear plant in Haiyang - one month ahead of schedule . Shandong Nuclear Power, Westinghouse Electric and Shaw Group (NYSE:SGR) are all working on the facility in China's eastern Shandong province, which will have...