Green World Blog
News, views & musings for our nuclear-free, carbon-free future
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Obama appoints two to NRC; NEI not happy. Magwood says staying as long as possible.
Stephen Burns President Obama Tuesday appointed two new Commissioners to the NRC. They will replace departed Commissioner George Apostalakis and outgoing and increasingly controversial Commissioner William Magwood. Already the Nuclear Energy Institute and some GOP congressmembers are raising concerns about both of them, although there have not yet been any outright calls for their confirmation…
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NYT’s bias is showing on Indian Point
Indian Point will remain a center of controversy as long as it operates. The question is: how long will that be? Today, the New York Times ran an article by longtime nuclear power reporter Matthew Wald titled Hearings on Water Permits for Indian Point. NIRS’ Executive Director Tim Judson found a lot to critique in…
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Pressure mounts for Magwood resignation
NRC Commissioner William Magwood ‘s term is ending in controversy. Pressure is growing on NRC Commissioner William Magwood to resign his position over conflict of interest charges stemming from his acceptance of a position as head of the OECD’s nuclear promotional arm, the Nuclear Energy Agency, while staying at the NRC, whose charter forbids promotion…
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Utilities attack energy efficiency, renewable energy programs, but they can’t stop the inevitable
Florida Power & Light wants to slash its energy efficiency commitments, but still spend $18 Billion on two new reactors at its hideous Turkey Point site near Miami. It’s not just from the nuclear giants Exelon and Entergy–energy efficiency and renewable energy programs are under attack from nuclear and fossil fuel-dominated utilities across the country.…
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IEA “experts” not particularly expert
The International Energy Agency (IEA) is composed of 29 countries, which are required to be members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The agency was founded in response to the oil crisis of 1973-74 “to help countries co-ordinate a collective response to major disruptions in oil supply through the release of emergency oil…
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NRC’s Magwood refuses to resign, and more from Inside Washington
NRC Commissioner William Magwood refuses to resign over conflict of interest charges. He’ll forget his troubles once he lands in Paris in September. NRC Commissioner William Magwood today sent a letter to attorneys Diane Curran and Mindy Goldstein, who represent 34 groups (including NIRS) that had called for Magwood to resign immediately and retroactively recuse…
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Exelon takes first concrete step to try to save uneconomic reactor
Exelon’s Ginna reactor, on Lake Ontario. Photo from IAEA. It’s no secret that Exelon, the nation’s largest nuclear utility, has a bunch of uneconomic and aging nuclear reactors on its hands. We’ve written about that here and here, for example. And just last Friday, we noted that Exelon’s top nuclear exec said that the company…
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Exelon doesn’t “intend” to shut down any reactors
On the chopping block? Exelon’s uneconomic Clinton reactor in central Illinois. Language matters. When a top Exelon exec, chief strategy officer Bill Von Hoene, said this week that the giant nuclear utility doesn’t “intend” to close any of its nuclear reactors anytime soon, you can be sure he was being careful with his language. “We…
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The nuclear industry’s fightback strategies: Baseload, climate, reducing safety regs
The nation’s largest nuclear facility, at Palo Verde in sunny Arizona, where solar power could–and should–rule the day. Photo from Wikipedia. In any battle, it’s important to know, understand, and keep current on what the other side wants–what its objectives are, how it intends to get there. For clean energy advocates, that means keeping up…
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Nuclear Newsreel, Monday, July 7, 2014
The Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear facility in Japan; with seven large reactors, it’s the world largest. Tepco had been hoping to begin restarting them next month, but that’s not going to happen. A mish-mash of various news stories that caught our attention today, beginning in Japan… …where Kyushu Electric’s Sendai nuclear reactors could restart this Autumn without…
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