Group items matching

in title, tags, annotations or url

Steven Chu was recently selected to be the Secretary of Energy by Barack Obama. Chu, Director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) and Professor in the Physics Department at the University of California, Berkeley was previously 'the Theodore and Frances Geballe Professor of Physics and Applied Physics at Stanford University. Professor Chu's research is in atomic physics, polymer and biophysics. His thesis and postdoctoral work at Berkeley … was the observation of parity non-conservation in atomic transitions in 1978. This experiment was one of the earliest atomic physics confirmations of the Weinberg-Salam-Glashow theory that unifies the weak and electromagnetic forces.

The reaction from safe-energy advocates is mixed to the proposed appointment of Steven Chu as U.S. energy secretary by President-Elect Barak Obama. Mixed is a charitable response to the prospects of Chu being in charge of the U.S. Department of Energy. Although he has a keen interest in energy efficiency and solar power and other clean forms of renewable energy, Chu is a staunch advocate of nuclear power. "Nuclear has to be a necessary part of the portfolio," declared Chu, the director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, at an economic gathering last March in Palo Alto, California organized by Stanford University." http://news.cnet.com/8301-10787_3-9888608-60.html

"Chu told reporters Saturday that he doesn't want to pre-judge the panel's work. But Chu noted that he - and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission - believes the current practice of dry cask storage of spent fuel at the reactor sites is safe for decades. So . . . perhaps the government could own the waste at the plants while the ultimate disposal strategy is worked out. "It is possible to do that and keep it at present sites, pay the utility companies to keep it safeguarded, keep it safe, while we work through this process," Chu said, speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the National Governors Association meeting in Washington, D.C."

"The White House has proposed barring Energy Department research on fast reactor recycling of nuclear waste and technical support for licensing of small, modular light-water reactors, drawing protests from Energy Secretary Steven Chu that such prohibitions will have broad adverse effects, including hurting the U.S. nuclear industry's renaissance; crimping U.S. ability to influence other countries' fast reactor designs to address proliferation concerns; and taking away nuclear waste disposal options that might be considered by the administration's planned blue-ribbon panel on alternatives to the Yucca Mountain repository. In the letter, Chu said he "strongly disagree[s] with the policy direction [proposed by OMB] concerning allowable nuclear energy R&D activities.""

Steve Chu could be a groundbreaking energy secretary for the energy research efforts of President-elect Barack Obama's Administration in several ways. It's not just that Chu will be the first life-long scientist- and a Nobel prize-winning physicist at that-to run a department which spends more than $15 billion a year on physical science research, including weapons work. (Previous energy secretaries have usually been political allies of the president, which Chu isn't; a Naval Admiral and a power industry official have previously held the post.) But his selection, and new clues from Obama's transition team, could signal some big changes in the way that the United States conducts science to tackle the energy challenge.

Steven Chu said today that as energy secretary he will pursue the "best possible scientific analysis" to chart the disposal of the nation's nuclear waste, without saying specifically what he plans to do about the proposed Yucca Mountain repository. Appearing at his confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Chu was asked how he plans to approach nuclear waste management where the government's preferred disposal site in Nevada is more than 10 years behind schedule. Nuclear waste poses "very thorny questions," Chu said, noting that President-elect Barack Obama has stated "very clearly" his opposition to the repository where the Energy Department is seeking a license to build disposal tunnels for more than 77,000 tons of radioactive material.

Senators celebrated Steven Chu today as a scientist, administrator and Nobel Prize winner. But in the hearing on his nomination as President-elect Barack Obama's Energy secretary, Chu was cast in a new role: politician. Under gentle questioning from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the physicist and director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory signaled his support for a variety of energy alternatives -- including coal -- to America's dependence on imported oil.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu told a group of state officials this morning he favors moving forward toward licensing a nuclear waste repository in Nevada, although whether it would ever be built is another thing altogether, according to officials familiar with the meeting. Nuclear waste was one of the topics on the agenda when Chu met with 12 to 15 state public service leaders attending an annual conference of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Regarding the Yucca Mountain Project, "it sounds like what he said was positive in that (DOE) wants the process to continue. It made our guys happy," said Rob Thormeyer, the association's communications director. But according to several people who were in the 20-minute session, Chu stressed that President Obama doesn't want the Yucca repository, "and I work for the president."

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Wednesday that the government is moving "aggressively" to try to get nuclear-power loan guarantees going. "I believe that nuclear power has to be part of the energy mix in this century," Chu said at a House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing. He cited differences with the White House's Office of Management and Budget and said that "we're certainly moving as aggressively as we possibly can to work out the differences with OMB to try to get those initial loan guarantees going." He also said that the Obama administration is planning to appoint a blue- ribbon panel to "take a fresh look" at how to deal with nuclear waste. The Obama administration earlier this year reversed U.S. policy and said that storing waste at Yucca Mountain was "no longer an option." For years, the U.S. has planned to begin hauling spent fuel from the nation's nuclear plants and burying it at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. Chu also cited "serious proliferation issues" associated with nuclear power.

"March 22 and 23 Energy Secretary Steven Chu will make his first visit as Secretary to the Department of Energy's two sites in eastern Tennessee. During his two-day visit, Secretary Chu will meet with the staff of the Y-12 National Security Complex and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), participate in a dedication ceremony marking the completion of the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility (HEUMF) at Y-12, and tour the ORNL facility. On Monday, March 22, Secretary Chu and National Nuclear Security Administration Administrator Tom D'Agostino will be joined by House Representatives Zach Wamp and Lincoln Davis at the Y-12 National Security Complex. They will take part in the dedication ceremony for the Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility (HEUMF). "

It will be announced today that Dr. Steven Chu, Director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, is President-elect Barack Obama's choice for Secretary of Energy. Dr. Chu shared the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on laser cooling and trapping of atoms. Prior to becoming director of LBL, he was a professor at Stanford University and also worked at the former Bell Laboratories in New Jersey. For a more complete overview of his work, there is this autobiography or a rapidly-updated Wikipedia entry. Reaching deep into The Oil Drum archives, commenter Step Back pointed to an audio presentation of a talk and interview with Dr. Chu in July 2005 at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco, CA.: * Real Audio * MP3 Here is one excerpt:

So how is Steven Chu playing as the purported candidate for Department of Energy secretary? Before we look at the developing narrative, let's remember the lesson of John Ford's movie The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Here's the question: Did Senator Ransom Stoddard begin his sterling Senatorial career and usher in statehood for Arizona by shooting bad man Liberty Valance? After we learn the truth, a newspaper editor sagely concludes, "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend." He had in mind the George Washington-cherry tree kind of legend, but it works equally well with, say, the Al Gore-internet kind of legend. Once a legend develops, it can be devilishly hard to shake loose of it. And it can warp the truth rather severely. So let's see what legend is developing around Dr. Chu.

Steven Chu, Nobel laureate and director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, will go before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee for his confirmation hearing on Tuesday, where he's certain to be grilled about his positions on key energy and climate issues. Here's a guide to what Chu thinks -- or at least what he's said in the past.

Energy-Secretary-Designate Steven Chu told a Senate Committee on Tuesday that the incoming administration would have an increased commitment to alternative energy sources like solar, wind and geothermal, but also made clear coal and nuclear would be part of the energy mix. Chu, who won the Nobel Prize for physics in 1997 and is currently director of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, made the comments during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Chu is expected to win confirmation easily.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Thursday he will push for billions of dollars in new loan guarantee authority to help rejuvenate a domestic industry and cut greenhouse gas emissions. Although companies have submitted 18 new nuclear power plant license applications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Department of Energy only has authority for $18.5 billion, enough for four to five plants. "If you really want to restart the American nuclear energy industry in a serious way...we (need to) send signals to the industry that the U.S. is serious about investing in nuclear power plants," Chu said in an interview on the sidelines of a conference here. Pressing for new nuclear power plants may help the administration win over the handful of Republican senators needed to help pass a landmark climate bill into law. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., for example, supports a cap on emissions in principle, but said government support for nuclear power is essential for him to consider backing a bill that would cut greenhouse gases. Although it's nowhere near the 100 new nuclear power plants that the GOP has called for, Chu said "there's real interest out there (for) another four to five or more, we could easily do."

"U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu said Friday that the Obama administration hopes to issue nuclear loan guarantees "soon" as part of a broader plan to speed up loan guarantees, but that the government is running into problems finalizing the subsidies. "We're going to be accelerating our loan-guarantee process even more," Chu told reporters in a briefing to discuss the administration's priorities for 2010. Chu said that nuclear loan guarantees would come "soon," but that getting them finalized was "more complicated than I thought." Constellation Energy Group Inc. (CEG), NRG Energy Inc. (NRG), Scana Corp. ( SCG) and Southern Co. (SO) are expected to receive the first guarantees for nuclear projects. Government support is viewed as essential because of high costs, lengthy timetables and a history of cost overruns in the construction of nuclear reactors."

Loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants in the U.S. should not be awarded until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has fully reviewed plans for a proposed project and granted it a combined construction and operating license (COL), Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) told Energy Secretary Steven Chu last week. "Otherwise valuable taxpayer support would be set aside for a project that may not pass regulatory review," the chair of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee said in a letter (PDF) to Chu. The congressman's concerns were raised by the NRC's Oct. 16 notice to Westinghouse Electric Co. that it had not adequately demonstrated the structural strength of certain components of its AP1000 reactor design, specifically for the shield building. The shield building protects the reactor's primary containment from severe weather and other events, but it also provides a radiation barrier during normal operation and supports an emergency cooling water tank.

Loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants in the U.S. should not be awarded until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has fully reviewed plans for a proposed project and granted it a combined construction and operating license (COL), Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) told Energy Secretary Steven Chu last week. "Otherwise valuable taxpayer support would be set aside for a project that may not pass regulatory review," the chair of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee said in a letter (PDF) to Chu. The congressman's concerns were raised by the NRC's Oct. 16 notice to Westinghouse Electric Co. that it had not adequately demonstrated the structural strength of certain components of its AP1000 reactor design, specifically for the shield building. The shield building protects the reactor's primary containment from severe weather and other events, but it also provides a radiation barrier during normal operation and supports an emergency cooling water tank.

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the selection of Clemson University to receive up to $45 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for a wind energy test facility that will enhance the performance, durability, and reliability of utility-scale wind turbines. This investment will support jobs and strengthen American leadership in wind energy technology by supporting the testing of next-generation wind turbine designs. "Wind power holds tremendous potential to help create new jobs and reduce carbon pollution," said Secretary Chu. "We are at the beginning of a new Industrial Revolution when it comes to clean energy and projects like these will help us get there faster."

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu today announced the selection of Clemson University to receive up to $45 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for a wind energy test facility that will enhance the performance, durability, and reliability of utility-scale wind turbines. This investment will support jobs and strengthen American leadership in wind energy technology by supporting the testing of next-generation wind turbine designs. "Wind power holds tremendous potential to help create new jobs and reduce carbon pollution," said Secretary Chu. "We are at the beginning of a new Industrial Revolution when it comes to clean energy and projects like these will help us get there faster."

So it looks like President-elect Obama is going to name his energy and environment team next week. Among the purported choices is Nobel-winning physicist Steven Chu to lead the Department of Energy. One of the questions on our minds is how will he handle nuclear energy policy. It is impossible to judge whether he'll make a good secretary of energy. He certainly has the technical background to know fission from fusion. But knowing the difference between cracking atoms and crashing them does not make a good energy secretary. The job will be to articulate and execute the policy vision set forth by President Obama. It is to be more of a manager and leader than a smarty-pants. After all, the law of comparative advantage says Dr. Chu might be better suited for a lab than the hot seat in the DOE offices.

Physics met politics at the confirmation hearing Tuesday for Steven Chu, the Nobel laureate scientist chosen by President-elect Barack Obama to head the Department of Energy, and the physics bent a bit, as Dr. Chu backed away slightly from earlier statements he has made - that gasoline prices should be higher, and that coal was his "nightmare."