OilPrice.com | Alternative Energy | Nuclear Power

OilPrice.com | Alternative Energy | Nuclear Power Nuclear power news and developments within the sector. We also cover uranium news and other research that can impact the nuclear energy sector. http://oilprice.com/ Fri, 10 Feb 2012 7:05:52 GMT Oilprice.com (info@oilprice.com) Poland Gears Up to Build First Nuclear Power Plant http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Poland-Gears-Up-to-Build-First-Nuclear-Power-Plant.html Among the few “gifts” not forced upon Poland during its more than four decades as a Soviet satellite state was a nuclear power plant (NPP). But now, given the European Union and NATO state’s surging energy needs, Poland is about to construct its first NPP. Why the retrograde step? Simple – burgeoning energy needs. Poland currently depends on coal to supply 94 percent of its energy needs but authorities in Warsaw want to diversify the country’s energy matrix with nuclear, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and shale gas projects…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Thu, 09 Feb 2012 22:47:32 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Poland-Gears-Up-to-Build-First-Nuclear-Power-Plant.html Nuclear Fusion: The Power Source of the Future...the Far Off Future http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Nuclear-Fusion-The-Power-Source-of-the-Future...the-Far-Off-Future.html Ah, fusion. Long promised, both on Do the Math and in real life, fusion is regarded as the ultimate power source—the holy grail—the “arrival” of the human species. Talk of fusion conjures visions of green fields and rainbows and bunny rabbits…and a unicorn too, I hear. But I strike too harsh a tone in my jest. Fusion is indeed a stunningly potent source of energy that falls firmly on the reality side of the science fiction divide—unlike unicorns. Indeed, fusion has been achieved (sub break-even) in the lab,…

]]> murphyt@oilprice.com (Tom Murphy) Wed, 01 Feb 2012 23:04:46 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Nuclear-Fusion-The-Power-Source-of-the-Future...the-Far-Off-Future.html Energy-Poor Albania Wants Nuclear Power Plant, Neighboring Montenegro Opposes http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Energy-Poor-Albania-Wants-Nuclear-Power-Plant-Neighboring-Montenegro-Opposes.html The good news? According to Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha, Albania has postponed its intention to build a nuclear power plant (NPP) in the Shkoder region near Albania’s border with Montenegro, until all issues concerning its potential impact on the environment and territory are fully assessed. The city of Shkoder is located near a lake of the same name, whose waters are divided between Albania and Montenegro. On 26 January Berisha said after meeting with Montenegrin Prime Minister Igor Luksic, "Nuclear energy is the purest and cheapest,…

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]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Wed, 01 Feb 2012 21:12:56 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Energy-Poor-Albania-Wants-Nuclear-Power-Plant-Neighboring-Montenegro-Opposes.html Does Engineered Material Herald a New Dawn for Nuclear Power? http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Does-Engineered-Material-Herald-a-New-Dawn-for-Nuclear-Power.html Nuclear power has been getting a hard time of late and outside observers would be well in their rights to assume that this once lauded energy source is dying out as recent events have shown that the dangers outweigh the benefits. Japan is trying to pursue other energy sources, many European countries are gradually decommissioning their reactors, and the US is also letting their nuclear industry slip into decline in favour of alternative energies.But wait, maybe there is hope for the nuclear industry, after all we know it provides vast amounts of…

]]> burgessj@oilprice.com (James Burgess) Thu, 26 Jan 2012 23:25:07 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Does-Engineered-Material-Herald-a-New-Dawn-for-Nuclear-Power.html Study Finds that Childhood Leukemia Rates Double Near Nuclear Power Stations http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Study-Finds-that-Childhood-Leukemia-Rates-Double-Near-Nuclear-Power-Stations.html In a report certain to cause fear and loathing in the global nuclear industry, an eminent French research institute published a study in the International Journal of Cancer, which notes increased rates of leukemia in children living close to French nuclear power plants (NPPs.) How much greater? The study by the Institut National de la Sante et de la Recherche Medicale (French Institute of Health and Medical Research, or INSERM) found a leukemia rate twice as high among children under the age of 15 living within a 3.1-mile radius of France's…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Thu, 19 Jan 2012 0:29:42 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Study-Finds-that-Childhood-Leukemia-Rates-Double-Near-Nuclear-Power-Stations.html Proposed Indian Nuclear Power Plant in Zone Subject to Earthquakes http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Proposed-Indian-Nuclear-Power-Plant-In-Zone-Subject-To-Earthquakes.html Like many energy poor countries with rapidly rising economies, India’s government sees the development of a nuclear power industry as a potential godsend to meeting soaring demands for electricity. But the country’s proposed nuclear program has run into increasing resistance, following the devastating earthquake and subsequent tsunami that on 11 March 2011 devastated Japan’s Daichi nuclear power plant complex, taking all six Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) reactors offline. Public opinion in India is concerned because the…

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]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Tue, 17 Jan 2012 0:00:09 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Proposed-Indian-Nuclear-Power-Plant-In-Zone-Subject-To-Earthquakes.html What the Future Holds for Nuclear Power http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/What-The-Future-Holds-For-Nuclear-Power.html A recent thrust on Do the Math has been to sort our renewable energy options into “abundant,” “potent,” and “niche” boxes. This is a reflection of my own mathy introduction to the energy scene, the result of which convinced me that we face giant—and ultimately insurmountable—hurdles in our quest to continue a growth trajectory. It is not obvious that we will even manage to maintain today’s energy standards. We have many more sources/topics to cover before moving on to the “now what”…

]]> murphyt@oilprice.com (Tom Murphy) Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:46:31 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/What-The-Future-Holds-For-Nuclear-Power.html Will 2012 be the Year of Nuclear Fusion? http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Will-2012-Be-The-Year-Of-Nuclear-Fusion.html The third leading technology for 2012 would be fusion. While commercial units are not in the offing for the year there is a good prospect that Eric Lerner’s Focus Fusion theory could show a practical method of the achievement. So far the team at Lawrenceville Plasma Physics has tracked right up the theory proving the preamble tests support that the completion would result in net power out. Focus Fusion is just one. The Robert Bussard theory of developing the Inertial Electrostatic Confinement (IEC) method being taken forward by EMC2 Fusion…

]]> james@pokemoncard.info (Brian Westenhaus) Thu, 05 Jan 2012 23:24:50 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Will-2012-Be-The-Year-Of-Nuclear-Fusion.html Slovakia's Nuclear Schizophrenia - Shut Down, Continue As Usual, or Boldly Go - Where? http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Slovakias-Nuclear-Schizophrenia-Shut-Down-Continue-As-Usual-Or-Boldly-Go-Where.html The implosion of the USSR in December 1991 produced massive economic “collateral damage” in its East European allies, as they simultaneously sought both to assert their new-found independence and draw closer to their potential European allies on the western side of 1946’s “Iron Curtain.” Following the euphoria amity quickly devolved down to practical issues, one of which was that the European Union was leery of welcoming new members after the collapse of Communism that relied on power from Soviet-era nuclear power facilities, especially…

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]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Wed, 04 Jan 2012 3:14:01 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Slovakias-Nuclear-Schizophrenia-Shut-Down-Continue-As-Usual-Or-Boldly-Go-Where.html Did Fukushima Really Put a Nail in Atomic Power's Coffin? http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Did-Fukushima-Really-Put-A-Nail-In-Atomic-Powers-Coffin.html There have been a flurry of antinuclear events in the United States since Christmas. Presumably, those who are opposed to nuclear power want to take advantage of the news lull to hammer home their bleak message: Fukushima Daiichi was the effective end of nuclear power, at least in the northern industrialized world. But was it? Maybe it proved that nuclear power can take a drubbing and survive. If you are a nuclear power believer, the three GE-built reactors proved their mettle during the earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan's Fukushima province…

]]> llew@oilprice.com (Llewellyn King) Mon, 02 Jan 2012 2:47:06 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Did-Fukushima-Really-Put-A-Nail-In-Atomic-Powers-Coffin.html Fire Onboard Russian Nuclear Submarine http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Fire-Onboard-Russian-Nuclear-Submarine.html First, the good news. A fire aboard the Russian Federation’s Ekaterinburg nuclear submarine has apparently been extinguished. The bad news - that’s about all that is certain about the incident. The fire broke out on the Project 667BDRM Delfin-class Ekaterinburg Delta-IV nuclear submarine, undergoing planned repairs, at a ship repair plant in the town of Roslyakovo in the Murmansk region at around 4 p.m. Moscow Time. Russian Federation Severnoflot (Northern Navy) spokesman Vadim Serga remarked as the incident was underway, "Wooden scaffolding…

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]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Fri, 30 Dec 2011 14:30:11 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Fire-Onboard-Russian-Nuclear-Submarine.html U.S. Fukushima Medical Study Estimates 14,000 Dead U.S. Infants from Fallout http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/U.S.-Fukushima-Medical-Study-Estimates-14000-Dead-U.S.-Infants-From-Fallout.html Almost nothing to see here, move along. Eight months after Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s six reactor Daichi Fuskuhima complex was rocked by an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale and subsequent tsunami, both Tokyo and TEPCO maintain that the effects of the disaster have been contained. Not so, according to a just published peer reviewed medical paper appearing in the U.S., which indicates that Fukushima’s pernicious consequences have traveled across the Pacific. The figures come from a recently published article in the December…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Wed, 28 Dec 2011 16:10:52 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/U.S.-Fukushima-Medical-Study-Estimates-14000-Dead-U.S.-Infants-From-Fallout.html Fukushima, What Crisis? Russia’s Rosatom’s Banner Year http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Fukushima-What-Crisis-Russias-Rosatoms-Banner-Year.html Russian state-run Rosatom, has had a successful year, despite worldwide concerns about nuclear energy following the 11 March nuclear disaster at the Fukushima Diachi nuclear power plant. Rosatom’s massive nuclear empire includes the otkrytnoe aktsionernoe obshchestvo “Atomnyi energopromyshlennyi kompleks” Atomenergoprom, a 100 percent state-owned holding company that oversees Russia’s civil nuclear industry, nuclear weapons companies, research institutes and nuclear and radiation safety agencies as well as representing the Russian Federation…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Mon, 26 Dec 2011 17:11:09 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Fukushima-What-Crisis-Russias-Rosatoms-Banner-Year.html Another Asian Fukushima Imminent? http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Another-Asian-Fukushima-Imminent.html Taiwan imports 99 percent of its energy, which is vital to its rapidly industrializing economy. The island nation’s electricity demand was recently growing at almost 5 percent per year, but this is slowing to about 3.3 percent per annum to 2013. Nuclear power has been a significant part of the electricity supply for two decades and now provides 17 percent of the country’s overall energy needs. But this has come at a potential cost. The country’s three nuclear power plants (NPPs) comprise four General Electric boiling water reactors and…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Fri, 23 Dec 2011 2:00:59 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Another-Asian-Fukushima-Imminent.html South Korean Nuclear Power Glitches Unsettle Government http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/South-Korean-Nuclear-Power-Glitches-Unsettle-Government.html South Korea currently has 21 nuclear power plants (NPPs). According to government statistics, atomic power produces about 40 percent of the country’s total electricity supply, roughly 18.5 gigawatts. South Korea’s first NPP in Kori, South Gyeongsang province, came online in 1972 and the government is proud of announcing that its NPPs have not had any “major” accidents in the past four decades. Recently however South Korea’s NPPs have had more than a few “hiccups,” as the Korea Herald recently put it. On the morning of 14 December…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Tue, 20 Dec 2011 1:32:48 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/South-Korean-Nuclear-Power-Glitches-Unsettle-Government.html Small Modular Nuclear Reactors to be Mass Produced in US? http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Small-Modular-Nuclear-Reactors-To-Be-Mass-Produced-In-US.html New studies from the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC) conclude that small modular reactors may hold the key to the future of U.S. nuclear power generation. The reports assess the economic feasibility of classical, gigawatt-scale reactors and the possible new generation of modular reactors. The smaller modular reactors as considered would have generating capacities of 600 megawatts or less, would be factory-built as modular components, and then shipped to their desired location for assembly. As a beginning point on other…

]]> james@pokemoncard.info (Brian Westenhaus) Thu, 15 Dec 2011 23:44:30 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Small-Modular-Nuclear-Reactors-To-Be-Mass-Produced-In-US.html France's Nuclear Giant's Areva Stock Meltdown http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Frances-Nuclear-Giants-Areva-Stock-Meltdown-.html Call it a post-Fukushima hangover. On 12 December French nuclear energy giant Areva SA, the world’s biggest supplier of nuclear fuel and services, asked that trading in its shares be suspended shortly before the opening of the Paris Stock Exchange, the company said. Areva SA shares subsequently fell 5 percent before modestly rebounding 1 percent on 13 December. Since the beginning of the year Areva SA shares have lost 47 percent of their value. This will hit Jean Sixpack directly in the pocketbook, as Areva SA is majority owned by the French…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:32:00 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Frances-Nuclear-Giants-Areva-Stock-Meltdown-.html Nuclear Energy at a Crossroads http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Nuclear-Energy-At-A-Crossroads.html For years the nuclear power lobby has muscled its way into international climate negotiations and asserted itself as a critical part of any serious effort to reduce global greenhouse-gas emissions. Not so much during climate talks in Durban, South Africa, these past two weeks. There were some media mentions and the occasional sound bite from industry officials, but the nuclear lobby — still suffering from a Fukushima hangover — stayed relatively quiet this time around. Even Patrick Moore, Greenpeace [alleged?] co-founder turned nuclear booster,…

]]> tylerhamilton@oilprice.com (Tyler Hamilton) Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:23:20 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Nuclear-Energy-At-A-Crossroads.html Imminent EU Report to Back Construction of 40 New Nuclear Power Plants by 2030 http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Imminent-EU-Report-To-Back-Construction-Of-40-New-Nuclear-Power-Plants-By-2030.html Japan’s 11 March Fukushima nuclear power disaster? No problem. Germany’s subsequent decision on 30 May, announced by German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the aftermath of Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster, that Germany would close all of its 18 nuclear power plants between 2015 and 2022? Big deal. On 13 December the European Union Energy Commission will release its “'Energy Roadmap 2050,” confidential details of which have been leaked, in which EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger labels nuclear energy an “important factor” in…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Tue, 13 Dec 2011 2:25:27 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Imminent-EU-Report-To-Back-Construction-Of-40-New-Nuclear-Power-Plants-By-2030.html Bill Gates to Build Nuclear Reactors in China? http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Bill-Gates-To-Build-Nuclear-Reactors-In-China.html Since the 11 March disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Daichi nuclear power complex, when an earthquake measuring 9.0 on the Richter scale was followed by a tsunami that destroyed the facility, the nuclear industry worldwide has been fighting back, arguing that new, improved reactor designs mean that nuclear power is still a valid option. Surging economic incipient superpowers India and China remain committed to generating electricity with the atom as one of their best options to provide power to their populations’ surging demand. And now Bill Gates…

]]> admin@namecake.com (John Daly) Thu, 08 Dec 2011 23:31:54 GMT http://oilprice.com/Alternative-Energy/Nuclear-Power/Bill-Gates-To-Build-Nuclear-Reactors-In-China.html