Alternative Energy / Nuclear Power

• After 40 years of Nuclear Passion, It Hurts

  For 40 years I've written about nuclear power, defended it and believed, as I still do, that it offers the best signpost to a great future; to what Churchill called the “sunlit uplands”; in short, utopia. I regard electricity as one of mankind's great achievements, saving people from the menial, painful drudgery that marks daily existence without it. Growing up in Africa, I'd see men and women walking miles, many miles, barefoot across the savanna, looking for a few pieces of wood to burn for cooking and hot water. Electricity, I've believed for these four decades, is assured for thousands…

• Calculating calamity: Japan's nuclear accident and the antifragile alternative

  Famed student of risk and probability and author of The Black Swan Nassim Nicholas Taleb tells us that in 2003 Japan's nuclear safety agency set as a goal that fatalities resulting from radiation exposure to civilians living near any nuclear installation in Japan should be no more than one every million years. Eight years after that goal was adopted, it looks like it will be exceeded and perhaps by quite a bit, especially now that radiation is showing up in food and water near the stricken Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. (Keep in mind that "fatalities" refers not just to immediate deaths…

• Following Fukushima Safety of Armenian Nuclear Plant Questioned

  Just a half-hour drive from the Armenian capital, Yerevan, a Soviet-era nuclear power plant sits precariously on an earthquake fault line. Environmentalists have long said the Ararat Valley, located just 16 kilometers from the Turkish border city of Igdir, is an extremely dangerous place to house the Metsamor nuclear power plant. And those concerns have only become more urgent amid the ongoing crisis at Japan's crippled Fukushima plant. "There are five earthquake tectonic breaks [near the plant] -- one is 34 kilometers [away], another is 16 kilometers away, and one is at a distance of only 500 meters," explains Hakob…

• Can Africa and Other Developing Nations Provide Safe Nuclear Power

  As Japan's nuclear accidents send shockwaves round the world, Alex Abutu explores whether Africa is ready to provide safe nuclear power. The disasters that struck several Japanese nuclear facilities in the wake of last week's devastating tsunami have highlighted concerns about whether developing nations can safely develop nuclear power facilities of their own. If a highly developed nation, so well prepared for disasters, can end up in such an apparent nuclear mess, what hope do poorer, less well-organised countries have of preventing disasters at nuclear facilities? This issue is currently exercising countries along the Pacific 'ring of fire', as well…

• Excellent Opportunities In Nuclear and Uranium Stocks

  There's an old saying in investing: Buy a winter coat in the summer. Uranium stocks are certainly out of season and deeply discounted. Media coverage has shifted from the destruction of the earthquake to the negative aspects of nuclear energy. Nothing puts fear into the public more than green men in radiation outfits. The media has taken this opportunity to capitalize on the fear of the masses. This has resulted in devastating sell-offs in the uranium mining sector such as in uranium (Global X Uranium ETF (URA)) and nuclear energy ETFs (Market Vectors Uranium+Nuclear Energy ETF (NLR)), which has seen…

• What Are You Willing to Sacrifice to Give Up Nuclear Energy?

  After the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico, someone said to me “We have to stop all offshore drilling.” My response was that I could get behind that idea, but I wanted to know what sacrifices the person was willing to make. That turned out to be the end of the conversation, because usually the people campaigning against these sorts of things believe that the consequences will be all good (no more oil spills) with no real downside (like less energy available). I can tell you with absolute certainty that we can live with no offshore drilling, but…

• EU to Stress Test Nuclear Power Plants Following Fukushima Disaster

  BRUSSELS -- EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger has announced that EU-wide stress tests on nuclear power plants will be conducted in the wake of the nuclear disaster unfolding at the Fukushima power plant in Japan. The decision came after Oettinger summoned energy ministers from all 27 EU member states, as well as representatives from nuclear operators and regulators, to an emergency meeting in Brussels to discuss safety issues at European nuclear power plants. "I am grateful that there has been a general agreement this afternoon to introduce stress tests for Europe's nuclear power plants in all EU member states," Oettinger…

• Five Potential Nuclear Disasters Just Waiting to Happen

  The troubles surrounding Japan’s Fukushima nuclear power plant in the wake of the recent earthquake and tsunami there have set off a debate on the safety of nuclear power in general. Part of the problem at Fukushima appears to be the plant’s outdated design and the engineers’ lack of foresight to plan for both an earthquake and a tsunami. But after Three Mile Island, Chornobyl, and now Fukushima, the question remains whether nuclear power can ever be truly safe. In light of the disaster, RFE/RL takes a look at five other reactor complexes where safety has been an issue and…

• The True Story on Nuclear Power

  Having once worked for the Atomic Energy Commission at the Nuclear Test Site in Nevada, I do have some insights into the melt down at Fukushima. The media is wallowing in an orgy of misinformation that is approaching epic proportions. This is what happens when you rely on journalism and English majors for your analysis of nuclear physics, and throw in a dollop of fear and emotion for good measure. For a start, the General Electric (GE) design of the six Fukushima plants succeeded. With the earthquake now upgraded to a 9.0 on the Richter scale, these facilities withstood an…

• The Fate of the Global Nuclear Industry Hangs in the Balance

  Yesterday, I believe, will go down in history as one of the most significant for mankind. Whilst most citizens of the developed and developing world do not realize this yet, the future of the human global energy system has just changed course with potentially far reaching consequences for human civilization. A hydrogen explosion destroys the reactor building of the Fukushima #3 reactor, Japan on 14th March. The wisdom of venting hydrogen into the confines of the reactor building will be one of many questions asked in the weeks and months ahead. Picture courtesy of the BBC With a breach of…