Nuclear energy provides the United States with 20 percent of its electricity, but none to Utah. If the state legislature gets their wish, it could stay that way for the Beehive State: Lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a bill in the Utah House that would effectively stop any nuclear power plant from setting up in the state. The measure would prevent nuclear power plants from operating in Utah unless there is a federally licensed facility with adequate capacity available to dispose of any high-level radioactive waste. The proposed Yucca Mountain repository …
President-elect Barack Obama has a number of challenges to tackle when he takes office in January. One of his promises is to change the weather — by addressing global climate change. While only Congress (or the EPA) can implement an economy-wide cap-and-trade policy, Obama would surely sign the bill. In fact, in his New Energy for America plan, he called for a cap-and-trade plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. To put this in perspective, the Lieberman-Warner cap-and-trade legislation that quickly died on the Senate …
Remember a couple of months ago when I told you that 2 out of 3 Americans favor building new nuclear power plants in the United States? No? That’s all right because it’s now 3 out of 4 Americans that support nuclear according to a new survey conducted by Bisconti Research Inc. The survey found that The new survey found that 69 percent of Americans believe the United States should definitely build more nuclear power plants in the future – a 10 percentage point gain from April. Three-fourths of respondents say …
While recycling spent fuel or placing it in interim storage may have a role to play, America’s focus must remain on opening Yucca Mountain in a timely fashion. Despite whatever other technologies are developed, there is an enduring need for permanent geologic storage. Even after used nuclear fuel is recycled, there will still be some left over to be put in a repository like Yucca Mountain. And there’s national defense waste that cannot be recycled and must be placed in a geologic repository; thus, it’s not just an issue for …
It’s time for the NRC to listen to the collective voice of Nevada.” Ah, Harry Reid, you couldn’t be more right. The Senate Majority Leader again voiced his anti-Yucca Mountain sentiments a few days ago, claiming the dump is wrong and saying, “We will not accept it.” Reid made these statements after 4,000 Nevadans filed a petition to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and Nevada officials “contend nuclear waste cannot be safely stored at Yucca Mountain for the thousands of years envisioned by the government.” First of all, only 4,000 …
In response to rising energy prices the public perception on nuclear energy is quickly changing. In fact, a recent poll showed that 2 out of 3 Americans are in favor of building new nuclear plants. Both presidential candidates have nuclear on the table as an option to meet energy demands, albeit Senator John McCain more distinctly defined his role for nuclear power: a minimum of 45 reactors by 2030. Senator Obama also recognizes nuclear energy’s role to play in America’s energy profile, but criticized McCain for a “half-baked” idea. Speaking …
Nuclear power is emerging as a solution to not only global energy demand but also America’s energy concerns for clean, safe affordable energy. The 104 reactors in the United States alone supply the country with 20% of its electricity. The same reactors also generated nearly 56,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel that remains on site in 39 states. Managing this spent fuel has become the subject of both scientific and political debate. The Heritage Foundation hosted an event titled, “Yucca Mountain and the Nuclear Renaissance: Assessing the Safety and Viability …
Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and the rest of Nevada’s congressional delegation sent a letter to Secretary Elaine Chao asking the Department of Labor to put up the “necessary resources” to help 63 recently laid-off Nevadans transition to new jobs. Sounds reasonable, right? Reid is just trying to help some down-on-their-luck constituents. Except that Reid and his comrades are the reason those 63 scientists, engineers and technicians lost their jobs in the first place. They worked at the Yucca Mountain spent nuclear fuel repository that Reid has …
The 1982 Nuclear Waste Policy Act set Jan. 31, 1998 as the deadline to opening the Yucca Mountain repository for spent nuclear fuel. Today marks the 10 year anniversary of that mandate. Thanks to a hand full of myopic politicians from Nevada, few would argue that the nation is any closer today than it was a decade ago to opening Yucca Mountain. This is not because of science. The Department of Energy has done numerous studies and Environmental Impact Statements that declare the Yucca repository safe. It is not because …
