Despite the growing rhetoric in favor of affordable and clean energy in the United States, the regulatory trend is moving in the opposite direction. A recent article from Platts emphasizes the increasing regulatory costs for the nuclear industry: “Benjamin Fowke, Xcel’s CFO, said in a second-quarter earnings conference call in late July that nuclear operating costs “probably” will continue to grow as US Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulatory fees and security requirements increase. “We are seeing — and it is not just this year, it has been over several years now …
The Heritage Foundation recently released its economic analysis of the Waxman-Markey cap and trade bill, and unsurprisingly, found devastating results. The goal of cap and trade is to force energy prices to rise so high that people use less of it. And boy do they. Even under the most generous assumptions the Heritage analysis found: Gas prices will rise 58 percent. Gas prices are expected to increase in the future even without cap and trade. Waxman-Markey would add an additional $1.38 to that increase. Electricity prices will rise 90 percent. …
When skyrocketing energy prices took hold of America last summer, it became clear that developing alternative sources of energy was important to our nation’s economic and national security. Although talk of solar, wind, and biofuels have often dominated alternative energy discussions in the past, today more and more people are recognizing that clean coal and nuclear energy are both key to our nation’s energy future. As the representative of Pennsylvania’s Fourth Congressional District, I represent an area that has long been a national leader in America’s nuclear industry. Westinghouse Electric …
In what chief executive John K. Welch called “shocking and disappointing,” the Department of Energy denied USEC’s request for $2 billion in loan guarantees for a new uranium enrichment plant in Piketon, Ohio. But should anyone really be surprised? The fact is that government policymakers have been dictating the future of nuclear power for decades. And this decision shows exactly why the nuclear industry should not put its future in the hands of Washington. America’s nuclear plants will need to be fueled with enriched uranium, and the U.S. has very …
Australia’s Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has a problem. His Labor Party government wants to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 60 percent from 2000 levels by 2050, but opposes building nuclear power plants– the one clean, abundant, and affordable energy source known to this planet. Ziggy Switkowski, head of the nation’s main nuclear research institute, says that will soon change: As more and more Australians get involved in the whole climate change debate, as they learn about what’s happening around the world where the uptake of nuclear power is increasing quite strongly, …
We take you to Knoxville, Tennessee: Several environmental groups are banding together in petitioning the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to stop TVA from operating a second reactor at Watts Bar nuclear plant. The Sierra Club, the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, the Tennessee Environmental Council, the Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League and We the People Inc. on Wednesday asked the NRC for permission to intervene against TVA’s bid for an operating license at the Rhea County site. The groups contend the Unit 2 reactor could harm water resources, including the Tennessee …
Yesterday, Dr. Gregory Jaczko, Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), delivered at The Heritage Foundation his first major address since being appointed six weeks ago. Read more on his visit and what needs to be done about clean, renewable energy here.
Dr. Gregory Jaczko, Chairman of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), delivered his first major address since being appointed six weeks ago this morning at the Heritage Foundation. Jaczko’s talk was encouraging for its discussion of the need to enhance agency decisiveness and regulatory preparedness for dealing with new challenges, such as waste management and other fuel-cycle related activities. Both will be key factors in any future nuclear renaissance. Jaczko explained: “Decisiveness means the ability to come to resolution in a predictable manner after open and informed debate. To be …
Tomorrow, July 7th, new Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko, appointed by President Obama, will speak in The Heritage Foundation’s Allison Auditorium. As momentum builds behind new nuclear power in the United States, questions remain about whether the nation is truly at the threshold of a nuclear renaissance. Of critical importance is how the nuclear industry is regulated and how the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) might change under the leadership of its new Chairman, Gregory Jaczko. What priorities will Chairman Jaczko place at the top of his agenda? Is the …
Today, USEC, Duke Energy and the international nuclear company AREVA announced plans for a new 1,650-megawatt nuclear reactor to be built in Piketon, Ohio, creating even more jobs for southern Ohio. The announcement comes almost a year after USEC announced it would build a new uranium enrichment plant in Piketon. Nuclear plants are fueled with low-enriched uranium and the U.S. currently has very limited uranium enrichment capabilities. While America’s limited domestic enrichment is currently provided by USEC’s plant in Paducah, Kentucky, the company is building a new $3.5 billion plant …
