nuclear-news

Opinion:

¶ “Trump’s Fossil-Fueled Ambitions Are Totally Out of Step With Economic Trends” • Considering how much he brags about his business acumen, shouldn’t Donald Trump do a better job of keeping up with economic trends? Instead of looking to the future, Trump is wallowing in nostalgia for coal mining. [AlterNet]

Why stop at coal? We could bring back manual typewriters! Slide
rules! Whale oil for lamps! Photo Credit: Max Goldberg / Flickr CC

¶ “Ohio must return to innovative roots to develop clean energy” • A global revolution in the world of energy generation and distribution is increasingly gaining momentum. Change is happening at the speed of a wind turbine’s blade tip. If America wants to keep up, we’re going to have to pick up the pace. [Crain’s Cleveland Business]

¶ “Why Natural Gas Could Be the Bridge Fuel to Nowhere” • Increasingly, knowledgeable people argue it’s…

Hurricane Hermine Tract Prediction Overlay with Nuclear Power Stations (Orange Skulls). Although non-operating since 2009, Crystal River Nuclear Power Station still has spent fuel in a cooling pool.

On Sept. 1st, 2016 EnerSys notified the US NRC of potential battery failures at nuclear power stations apparently due to how their batteries interact with the nuclear power station connections. Why are they trying to absolve themselves of responsibility? Why are they not working with their customers, the nuclear utilities, to make sure that this integral part of nuclear reactor safety works? Batteries are needed as emergency backup power. Did the timing have to do with Hurricane Hermine entering the Gulf of Mexico, where it threatened numerous nuclear power stations?

According to the US DOE: “When an earthquake or other emergency disrupts normal power supplies at a nuclear power plant, a backup power system must be available for controlling…

Opinion:

¶ “Why smart utilities are embracing distributed electricity” • The growth of distributed energy generation, particularly in the form of solar energy, leaves the aging, monopolistic electric utility system a daunting choice: Defense of the status quo or accepting a clean energy future. [eco-business.com]

Reducing fossil fuel use is a challenge. Image: Shutterstock.

Science and Technology:

¶ At Yellowstone Park, the question of how to respond to climate change doesn’t yield an easy answer, with warming temperatures, decreasing snowpacks, longer fire seasons, and disappearing food sources for animals. Each means something different and requires a different response. [Chron.com]

¶ Over recent decades, the US has seen a dramatic rise in the number of extreme winter temperature events at opposite ends of the country. According to a new study, the ‘warm West, cold East’ temperature gap is growing, and is likely driven greenhouse gas emissions. [Daily…