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A Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) member's recent call for the agency to require nuclear power plants to better protect high-level radioactive waste on site was seconded by the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS), which has advocated for safer storage of spent nuclear fuel rods for years. In a May 13 speech at a nuclear industry trade group forum, NRC Commissioner Gregory B. Jaczko said it is much safer to store spent nuclear fuel rods in steel and concrete containers, called dry casks, than in large water-filled concrete pits, known as wet pools. He recommended that his agency require plants to expeditiously transfer spent fuel from wet pools to dry casks rather than allow it to accumulate in the pools.

The coal industry is attempting to organize bloggers to promote their false "clean coal" propaganda. The Reality Coalition, a group of national environmental organizations, have begun airing the message that "There's no such thing as clean coal," to counter the hundreds of millions of dollars spent by coal-powered corporations to pretend that coal is a "clean" fuel. So the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE) and Americans for Balanced Energy Choices (ABEC), essentially one coal propaganda group with two different faces, is fighting back with an email blast asking people to join their "Blogger Brigade":

Breaking our dependence on fossil fuels isn't only a solution for halting our climate changing emissions, it's also about gaining energy independence and being cautious about when we reach peak oil. The Rocky Mountain Institute has created a new oil map web tool that intricately illustrates this concept. RMI partnered with Google to create a visual representation of how much oil the U.S. has imported, from where, and how much we have spent during every month since 1973.

Hurricane IKE seems to be a spent force now and the impact it has had on Texas oil refineries is staring to become apparent. Jim Brown at Right Side Advisers reports that there may be some petrol shortages as a result - Hurricane Hangover, Shortages Ahead. Ike's sudden left turn just before it made landfall meant that the 13 refineries in Houston escaped the brunt of the hurricane's force. All are reporting they sustained no material damage and will begin the restart process as soon as power is restored. That could be a week to ten days before power is stable and another 2-3 days to restart. This suggests there could be a serious problem for refined products like gasoline and diesel. ... Drivers across the southwest were already facing long lines and prices higher by as much as 25 cents a gallon in some states. Federal officials are preparing for a prolonged disruption in fuel supplies. According to EIA data gasoline inventories the week Gustav hit were at the lowest level since 2000 at 187.9 million barrels or 21 days of supply. Much of that inventory is required just to keep the pipeline full and cannot be used. Pipelines only run when they are full. There are thousands of pumps along the way that require product in order to run. If allowed to run dry the pipeline would cease to function and require a lengthy restart period. Basically product only flows out when new product is pushed in thousands of miles away.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today announced the issuance of the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the West Valley Demonstration Project in western New York, naming Phased Decisionmaking as the Preferred Alternative. Issuance of this Draft EIS is a significant step forward in cleaning up the site. The document, entitled "Revised Draft Environmental Impact Statement for Decommissioning and/or Long-Term Stewardship at the West Valley Demonstration Project and Western New York Nuclear Service Center (DOE/EIS-0226-D (Revised)), is a revision of the 1996 Cleanup and Closure Draft EIS.