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Nuclear Energy Institute - NEI Recommends Series of Policies to DOE's Blue Ribbon Commi... - 0 views

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    "The nuclear energy industry made several policy recommendations today to the blue ribbon commission counseling the U.S. Department of Energy on future management of used nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. These recommendations included the value of centralized temporary storage of used fuel assemblies, the continuing need for a geologic disposal facility even if used fuel is recycled, and a new management and financing structure for the entity that oversees the program. "The greatest service that the commission can render to the nation is to develop a used fuel management policy that will endure, define a process for implementing the policy, determine the timelines to be followed to achieve the policy, and delineate the legal and legislative changes needed to make the policy a reality," said Nuclear Energy Institute President and Chief Executive Officer Marvin Fertel in a presentation to the commission."
Energy Net

Administration Slated to Finalize Major Nuclear Weapons Policy Review | Union of Concer... - 0 views

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    "The Obama administration is expected to make final decisions as early as today about the Nuclear Posture Review, the official policy document that will define U.S. nuclear weapons policy for the next five to 10 years. This will take place at what is called a "principals meeting" attended by Cabinet members whose departments are involved in the review. The congressionally mandated review will set the role nuclear weapons will play in overall U.S. security policy, how many nuclear weapons the United States needs to fulfill those roles, and whether the United States should produce new nuclear warheads. "The administration's decisions on the Nuclear Posture Review will not only set U.S. policy, they will shape the future of nuclear weapons globally," said Lisbeth Gronlund, senior scientist and co-director of the Global Security Program at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). "President Obama, who has the final word, can choose to make the transformational changes needed to address the real threats of the 21st century, or can allow bureaucratic inertia and the parochial interests of the federal nuclear weapons labs to hold sway." "
Energy Net

U.S. N-policy could hurt Japan / Obama's changes may undermine planned N-waste disposal... - 0 views

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    U.S. President Barack Obama's nuclear energy policy could have considerable significance for Japan. In particular, possible policy changes relating to the construction of a nuclear waste facility would have a definite impact on Tokyo's plans for a similar project. Though the new U.S. administration has yet to clarify its policy on nuclear power, among other issues, Obama's remarks during his presidential election campaign and the lineup of his administration staff provide indications of the likely course of his nuclear energy policy.
Energy Net

Ed Miliband to unveil plans to fast-track new nuclear power stations | Environment | gu... - 0 views

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    Government will identify sites around Britain suitable for building nuclear plants as part of new energy policy Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, insisted today that nuclear power had a "relatively good" safety record in this country as he prepared to unveil plans to fast-track a new generation of nuclear power stations. The government will later identify further sites around Britain that could be suitable for building a nuclear plant amid Tory cries that the plans lack "democratic legitimacy". Miliband will unveil a series of national policy statements setting out the need for new energy infrastructure including renewables, fossil fuels and gas, as well as an overarching energy statement that will include climate change policy. A separate strategy statement on the nation's ports will also be published.
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    Government will identify sites around Britain suitable for building nuclear plants as part of new energy policy Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, insisted today that nuclear power had a "relatively good" safety record in this country as he prepared to unveil plans to fast-track a new generation of nuclear power stations. The government will later identify further sites around Britain that could be suitable for building a nuclear plant amid Tory cries that the plans lack "democratic legitimacy". Miliband will unveil a series of national policy statements setting out the need for new energy infrastructure including renewables, fossil fuels and gas, as well as an overarching energy statement that will include climate change policy. A separate strategy statement on the nation's ports will also be published.
Energy Net

FR: NRC: Policy Statement on the Regulation of Advanced Reactors - 0 views

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    AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission. ACTION: Final policy statement. SUMMARY: On May 9, 2008 (73 FR 26349), the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC; Commission) issued, for public comment, a draft policy statement on the regulation of advanced reactors. This final policy statement reinforces the Commission's current policy regarding advanced reactors and includes new items to be considered during the design of these reactors, including security, emergency preparedness, threat of theft, and international safeguards.
Energy Net

Ed Miliband to deliver nuclear site assessment reports | Environment | The Guardian - 0 views

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    The government will today identify further sites around Britain that could be suitable for building a nuclear plant, as part of a scheme to fast track a new generation of reactors. Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, will unveil a series of national policy statements setting out the need for new energy infrastructure including renewables, fossil fuels and gas, as well as an overarching energy statement which will include climate change policy. A separate strategy statement on the nation's ports will also be published. Miliband will stress what the government believes to be the importance of a diverse energy supply. But the most detail will given in the nuclear policy statement, which will include a forensic assessment of the 11 sites already nominated by energy firms as well as identifying alternatives. "Because nuclear is controversial, we wanted to make it quite clear where the sites we consider suitable are," said one official.
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    The government will today identify further sites around Britain that could be suitable for building a nuclear plant, as part of a scheme to fast track a new generation of reactors. Ed Miliband, the energy and climate change secretary, will unveil a series of national policy statements setting out the need for new energy infrastructure including renewables, fossil fuels and gas, as well as an overarching energy statement which will include climate change policy. A separate strategy statement on the nation's ports will also be published. Miliband will stress what the government believes to be the importance of a diverse energy supply. But the most detail will given in the nuclear policy statement, which will include a forensic assessment of the 11 sites already nominated by energy firms as well as identifying alternatives. "Because nuclear is controversial, we wanted to make it quite clear where the sites we consider suitable are," said one official.
Energy Net

A world without nuclear weapons : Opinion - 0 views

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    Nuclear policy is a major component of United States foreign relations and security policy, and the U.S. approach to the North Korean nuclear issue is also realized within this framework. The starting point for the nuclear policy of the Barack Obama administration, which is soon to take office, differs from that of the George W. Bush administration in two respects. First, it fully acknowledges the failure of U.S. nuclear policy since the end of the Cold War. The more than 30 kilograms of plutonium extracted by North Korea is a problem, but the amount of nuclear material possessed by a total of over 40 countries throughout the world amounts to no less than 3,000 tons, a quantity sufficient to make 250,000 nuclear weapons.
Energy Net

NRC: NRC Issues Advanced Reactor Design Policy - 0 views

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    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has published the latest update to its policy statement on advanced nuclear power plant designs. The policy provides expectations and guidance on safety, security and preparedness-related issues so, as a matter of prudence, designers can address them early in the development of advanced reactors. The policy encourages the earliest possible interactions between the NRC and reactor vendors, potential applicants, the public, and other government agencies. The Commission believes designers should consider several reactor characteristics, including:
Energy Net

Key to reiterate NZ's nuclear-free policy | Stuff.co.nz - 0 views

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    Prime Minister John Key will use his first speech to the United Nations to underscore his Government's commitment to a nuclear-free New Zealand. In the first speech by a National prime minister to the UN General Assembly in nearly 15 years, Key will reaffirm New Zealand's anti-nuclear credentials and emphasise its determination to keep an independent foreign policy. It is significant that he is making the speech while on his first official visit to the United States, which has been a fault line in foreign policy between Labour and National for most of the past two decades. The issue flared again when Labour opposed the Iraq war while National was still in Opposition. But Key drew a line in the sand before the last election by promising his commitment to a nuclear-free New Zealand and an independent foreign policy. He will use his speech to the General Assembly on Saturday to stress the new bipartisan approach.
Energy Net

Docuticker » U.S. Nuclear Waste Law and Policy: Fixing a Bankrupt System - 0 views

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    U.S. Nuclear Waste Law and Policy: Fixing a Bankrupt System Source: New York University Law and Economics Working Papers The current U.S. system of nuclear waste law and policy is bankrupt. Twenty years after the designation by Congress of Yucca Mountain as the only potential site for a deep geologic repository to receive spent nuclear fuel and high level waste from reprocessing, the proposed Yucca repository remains mired in controversy and unremitting opposition by Nevada. There is no prospect for an alternative repository or for the development of a federal consolidated storage facility. The volume of these wastes already exceeds the current maximum storage capacity set by Congress for Yucca and continues to grow. This article first provides a brief overview of nuclear wastes and a summary history of federal nuclear waste law and policy to date. It then diagnoses the major failures in the current design and proposes a suite of new measures to launch a comprehensive new approach, including a reconsideration of the ethical principles underlying the drive for immediate waste burial; the creation of a high-level National Waste Management Commission; the creation of two new federal entities to manage nuclear wastes and to site waste storage facilities and repositories; the elimination of Environmental Protection Agency regulatory authority over these activities; the adoption of a thoroughgoing risk-based approach to waste regulation and management; and the adoption of new, more flexible and adaptable strategies for siting storage and disposal facilities. + Full Paper (PDF; 240 KB)
Energy Net

The U.S. Spent Nuclear Fuel Policy: Road to Nowhere :: POWER Magazine :: Page 1 of 6 - 0 views

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    "The Nuclear Waste Policy Act and Amendments of 1982 and 1987 established a national policy and schedule for developing geologic repositories for the disposal of spent nuclear fuel and high-level radioactive wastes. Those deadlines have come and gone; the cancellation of Yucca Mountain was only the latest failure of this policy to become reality. The task of finding a new storage location is now a political committee's homework assignment. History tells us that committee members have been given an impossible task."
Energy Net

Policy analyst: Emission-free nuclear power is an illusion - 0 views

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    "THE POLITICIANS responsible for deciding on nuclear power have been tricked, according to one policy analyst. With the help of Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), nuclear power companies have propagated a misleading image of emission-free, or at least low-emission, nuclear power. "Nuclear power companies employ a strategy familiar from the tobacco industry. There is always some argument against damaging claims, problems are downplayed and critics demonised. A sort of Finlandisation prevails with regard to the nuclear sector," argues Mika Flöjt, an environmental and energy policy analyst at the University of Lapland. Flöjt works in a unit linked to the university's Arctic Centre. According to Flöjt, the claim of emission-free power has been touted by nuclear power companies, STUK and the Ministry of Employment and the Economy, and accepted without scrutiny."
Energy Net

Yucca rejection would prompt repeat, board told - News - ReviewJournal.com - 0 views

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    Lawsuits possible if law not changed, energy policy expert says With the Obama adminstration's stance that Yucca Mountain is not an option for disposing the nation's highly radioactive waste, Congress will revisit the process for choosing another repository site, one that probably will draw opposition similar to Nevada's wherever it is. That was the upshot Thursday of a presentation to an independent review board by Mark Holt, a specialist in energy policy for the Congressional Research Service. During his talk to the Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board, Holt stressed that his agency, a branch of the Library of Congress, doesn't make policy recommendations. But given the direction from Energy Secretary Steven Chu to find alternatives to entombing 77,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel and defense waste in Yucca Mountain, Holt predicts Congress will have to change the nuclear waste law, especially if the Energy Department permanently withdraws its license application from review by nuclear safety regulators.
Energy Net

Nuclear Waste Management in the United States--Starting Over -- Ewing and von Hippel 32... - 0 views

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    Rodney C. Ewing1 and Frank N. von Hippel2 The recent action to shelve Yucca Mountain as the potential geologic repository for U.S. "spent" (i.e., no longer usable) nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level nuclear waste (HLW) (1) brings to a close a 30-year effort to develop and implement a policy for nuclear wastes in the United States. Selection by Congress in 1987 of Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the only site to be investigated condemned the United States to pursue a policy that had no backup if Yucca Mountain failed politically or technically. 1 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1005, USA. 2 Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08542-4601, USA. E-mail: rodewing@umich.edu E-mail: fvhippel@princeton.edu
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    Rodney C. Ewing1 and Frank N. von Hippel2 The recent action to shelve Yucca Mountain as the potential geologic repository for U.S. "spent" (i.e., no longer usable) nuclear fuel (SNF) and high-level nuclear waste (HLW) (1) brings to a close a 30-year effort to develop and implement a policy for nuclear wastes in the United States. Selection by Congress in 1987 of Yucca Mountain in Nevada as the only site to be investigated condemned the United States to pursue a policy that had no backup if Yucca Mountain failed politically or technically. 1 Department of Geological Sciences, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1005, USA. 2 Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08542-4601, USA. E-mail: rodewing@umich.edu E-mail: fvhippel@princeton.edu
Energy Net

With Obama in power, anti-nuclear groups push to slash weapons stockpile - San Jose Mer... - 0 views

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    A coalition of six anti-nuclear groups, including the Natural Resources Defense Council and Livermore's Tri-Valley CAREs, on Wednesday released its in-depth blueprint for steering Obama administration policy toward a nuclear weapons-free future. The timing of the report's release was deliberate: It was intended to get to President Barack Obama's desk before a bipartisan congressional committee releases its own report in early May to guide the president's thinking as he prepares a new nuclear weapons policy. Obama's eagerly-anticipated "2009 Nuclear Posture Review" is due this year, and will lay out the nation's guiding principles for a reduction of its nuclear weapons stockpile and for maintaining the viability of existing warheads to serve as a credible nuclear deterrent. The anti-nuclear coalition, called the Nuclear Weapons Complex Consolidation Policy Network, calls for slashing the U.S. nuclear stockpile to 500 weapons from 2015 to 2020, and for scaling down the nuclear weapons complex from eight sites to three.
Energy Net

The Hindu : News : France not to toe U.S. line on civilian nuclear energy - 0 views

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    "France's panache for assertion of independence in foreign policy will be on display at an international conference on nuclear energy to be inaugurated by its President Nicolas Sarkozy here on Monday. The global meet takes place a month before a similar conference to be hosted by the U.S. which will look at access to civil nuclear energy from an entirely different perspective. "We take into account rules established by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), ask countries to observe them and no more. The U.S. asks for more by incorporating conditionalities. It is their policy. Our policy is different,'' pointed out Ambassador Denis Gauer, General Secretary for the preparations to the conference."
Energy Net

DOE to Study Storage Options for Spent Nuclear Fuel, Small Reactors -- Official - NYTim... - 0 views

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    The Energy Department is close to naming a blue-ribbon committee to consider new policies for dealing with spent nuclear reactor fuel but has further to go in completing negotiations on loan guarantees for a first group of new nuclear reactors, Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman said. Poneman also said he is interested in the possibilities for development of smaller modular nuclear reactors, calling this a potentially important carbon policy option in the United States and abroad. "I certainly agree with the premise that small, modular reactors are a very interesting path to explore," Poneman said in an interview this week.
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    The Energy Department is close to naming a blue-ribbon committee to consider new policies for dealing with spent nuclear reactor fuel but has further to go in completing negotiations on loan guarantees for a first group of new nuclear reactors, Deputy Energy Secretary Daniel Poneman said. Poneman also said he is interested in the possibilities for development of smaller modular nuclear reactors, calling this a potentially important carbon policy option in the United States and abroad. "I certainly agree with the premise that small, modular reactors are a very interesting path to explore," Poneman said in an interview this week.
Energy Net

NPR Will Test President Obama On Transforming Nuclear Policy | Union of Concerned Scien... - 0 views

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    "The Obama administration is expected tomorrow to release its Nuclear Posture Review, which has been in preparation for a year. The review will set the direction of U.S. nuclear weapons policy for the next five to 10 years, laying out the purpose of U.S. nuclear weapons, the number of nuclear weapons needed to fulfill that purpose, and plans for how to maintain them in the future. The review was developed through an interagency process headed by the Department of Defense (DOD) and approved by President Obama. Nonetheless, it will only serve as a guide. Actual policy will be set by presidential orders and directives, congressional budget decisions, and other steps over the coming months."
Energy Net

Living with nuclear power: public views not as simple as we thought on Environmental Ex... - 0 views

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    A UK study provides the first contemporary investigation of public perceptions of nuclear power among residents living close to existing nuclear plants. It indicates that responses are not simply 'for' or 'against', but a complex 'landscape of beliefs' that will need complex communication from authorities about plans for new plants. Climate change and energy supply concerns have put nuclear power back on the policy agenda. For example, recent UK government policy proposes that new nuclear power stations should form part of the future UK energy mix(1). As in other countries, many of the candidate sites are those that have existing nuclear facilities. The study examined local response to nuclear power in two UK locations near power stations: Oldbury and Bradwell-on-Sea. It used a technique where participants sorted statements on nuclear power according to how the statements reflect their point of view. The analysis indicated that there are four different 'points of view': * Beneficial and safe. A belief that nuclear power brings both local and global benefits and the power station workers are trustworthy. * Threat and distrust. Nuclear power is unsafe and the government and the nuclear industry are not trustworthy. * Reluctant acceptance. Nuclear power is 'the best of a bad lot'. * There's no point worrying. An indifference to nuclear power and a belief that it is out of our control * These four unique points of view were found at both locations, indicating the results are likely to be reflected in other communities, at least in the UK. Most participants in the study held the first two views.
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    A UK study provides the first contemporary investigation of public perceptions of nuclear power among residents living close to existing nuclear plants. It indicates that responses are not simply 'for' or 'against', but a complex 'landscape of beliefs' that will need complex communication from authorities about plans for new plants. Climate change and energy supply concerns have put nuclear power back on the policy agenda. For example, recent UK government policy proposes that new nuclear power stations should form part of the future UK energy mix(1). As in other countries, many of the candidate sites are those that have existing nuclear facilities. The study examined local response to nuclear power in two UK locations near power stations: Oldbury and Bradwell-on-Sea. It used a technique where participants sorted statements on nuclear power according to how the statements reflect their point of view. The analysis indicated that there are four different 'points of view': * Beneficial and safe. A belief that nuclear power brings both local and global benefits and the power station workers are trustworthy. * Threat and distrust. Nuclear power is unsafe and the government and the nuclear industry are not trustworthy. * Reluctant acceptance. Nuclear power is 'the best of a bad lot'. * There's no point worrying. An indifference to nuclear power and a belief that it is out of our control * These four unique points of view were found at both locations, indicating the results are likely to be reflected in other communities, at least in the UK. Most participants in the study held the first two views.
Energy Net

Spain says has power to spare, can phase out nukes | Reuters - 0 views

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    Spain's top energy official said on Monday the country had enough spare generating capacity to phase out nuclear power stations in the medium term, in line with government policy. In recent years, Spain has subsidized renewable energy in order to cut its heavy dependence on fuel imports and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is now the world's third-biggest producer of wind power and the second-biggest of solar. Nuclear power is unpopular in Spain and both major political parties ruled out building new plants in last year's elections. "Investing in nuclear energy makes sense when there are problems in ensuring supply. In '99 or 2000 that was the case with our energy margin," Energy Secretary Pedro Marin told a conference on energy policy.
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    Spain's top energy official said on Monday the country had enough spare generating capacity to phase out nuclear power stations in the medium term, in line with government policy. In recent years, Spain has subsidized renewable energy in order to cut its heavy dependence on fuel imports and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It is now the world's third-biggest producer of wind power and the second-biggest of solar. Nuclear power is unpopular in Spain and both major political parties ruled out building new plants in last year's elections. "Investing in nuclear energy makes sense when there are problems in ensuring supply. In '99 or 2000 that was the case with our energy margin," Energy Secretary Pedro Marin told a conference on energy policy.
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