Following a statement by the World Health Organization on the low predictive rate for cancer in Fukushima, Japan, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was quoted Thursday pledging his goal to restart Japan’s inactive nuclear power plants. This move, together with a renewed push to join the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), shows Abe’s …
Recently, Time magazine covered the aging status of the U.S. Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). The article shone a spotlight on the problem of the deteriorating U.S. nuclear deterrent. The United States is the only nuclear power that does not have a nuclear modernization program. The U.S. approach to …
The Department of Energy (DOE) released its long-awaited “Strategy for the Management and Disposal of Used Nuclear Fuel and High-level Radioactive Waste” Friday afternoon. Regrettably, the DOE missed a historic opportunity to fix the nation’s failed nuclear waste management policy. Its “strategy” is built on the very same flawed assumptions …
The Fukushima nuclear reactor accident in March 2011 challenged the public’s perception of nuclear power. However, much of this disillusionment simply stems from a lack of understanding of how a nuclear power plant functions. Inside a Nuclear Reactor A nuclear power plant is a lot like most coal or natural …
A blackout occurred in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, as more than 8 million people in the northeast were left without power. Millions could remain without power for several more days. Hurricane Sandy was a natural disaster that people could prepare for but couldn’t avoid. Blackouts and brownouts caused by …
One of the few bright spots over the past few years in America’s economy has been energy production, but this has occurred largely in spite of this Administration’s energy policies, not because of them. And the simple fact remains that our energy economy could be even brighter, but egregiously burdensome …
“What is radiation?” That simple, three-word question largely embodies the concerns that many Americans have about nuclear power. The answer can be just as complicated as one wants to make it. According to Merriam-Webster’s dictionary, radiation is “energy radiated in the form of waves or particles.” Jim Hopson puts it …
The Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works will hold a hearing tomorrow on the nomination of Allison Macfarlane and the re-nomination of Kristine Svinicki to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Though questioning of both nominees is important, Svinicki has already gone through one confirmation hearing and numerous other oversight …
