Free Republic

America’s uranium industry has been absolutely devastated by Department of Energy decisions and political maneuvering by Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton and individuals closely tied to her. ... in 1976, the uranium extraction industry employed 35,000 people. Today .. fewer than 500 people in this country are involved in it .. 20 percent of our electrical power is dependent on those 500 people, that’s every fifth light-bulb. We’re now producing enough uranium to power 4 or 5 of our nuclear reactors, that’s 94 dependent on foreign uranium. ... Since 2011, DOE has sold off roughly $1 billion of publicly-owned uranium...

The big worry about nuclear reactors is that the solid fuel rods are going to melt down. If the core of the reactor loses its cooling water – as it did both at Three Mile Island and Fukushima – then the fuel rods overheat. Even though the nuclear reaction may stop, the decay heat is enough to melt the zirconium fuel rods so that the uranium pellets inside get exposed. If there is some water remaining, the heat may be enough to split off hydrogen, which can cause a hydrogen explosion, as occurred at Fukushima and was feared at Three...

When nuclear power plants are built, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has the authority to issue initial operating licenses for a period of 40 years. Beyond that, the reactors need license renewals, and the NRC has granted 20-year license renewals to 74 of the 100 operating reactors in the United States. These reactors may now operate for a total period of 60 years. They represent a cumulative capacity of a little more than 69,000 megawatts (MW). The NRC is currently reviewing license renewal applications for an additional 17 reactors, and expects to receive seven more applications in the next few...

This stuff could very well revolutionize nuclear power. Thorium-MOX can be formed into rods and used in current generation (Gen II) nuclear reactor with minimal retrofitting. Thor Energy is currently testing the new technology on the small scale. A prototype reactor will power a paper mill in the town of Halden, Norway for the next five years. If the fuel proves to be commercially viable during that test, we could see a sea change in nuclear power by the end of the decade.

Would U.S. nuclear reactors fare better in some ultimate crisis than those in Japan? For weeks now, we’ve been lectured by nuclear critics who say the design and failures of the Fukushima Daiichi installation presage catastrophic failures in our own reactors. There’s good reason to believe the critics are wrong, though certainly the industry will learn lessons and apply technical tweaks. Why? After 9/11, American nuclear plants underwent top-to-bottom safety review and upgrades unique in the world. Measures taken to protect against terror attacks can incidentally deal with the destruction of large areas of the plant, as well as subsequent...

After the disaster trifecta in Japan--quake, tsunami, nuclear crisis--Californians are asking if they might be next. The state's two reactors sit near seismic faults, tsunamis are a risk, and evacuation plans are iffy. Did someone say 'prepared'? The earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear crisis in Japan have filled airwaves, Twitter feeds, Facebook posts, and media reports with countless terrifying phrases, from “core meltdown” and “radiation cloud” to “9.0” and “10,000 dead.” But for regions vulnerable to quakes and tsunamis—especially if, like Japan, they hit the trifecta of having nuclear plants in the crosshairs of those natural disasters—there have been no scarier...

NOTE The following text is a quote: Pakistani National Indicted in Scheme to Illegally Export Restricted Goods and Technologies to Pakistan BALTIMORE—A federal grand jury has indicted Nadeem Akhtar, age 45, of Silver Spring, Maryland, on charges related to a scheme to illegally export items that are used directly or indirectly in activities related to nuclear reactors and the processing and production of nuclear-related materials. The indictment was returned on March 11, 2010 and unsealed today. Akhtar had an initial appearance today at noon, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mildred Methvin, in U.S. District Court in Baltimore. Judge Methvin ordered Akhtar...

One can measure the dedication of the climate-change crowd in how they approach the zero-emissions technology of nuclear power. Some have realized that the only practical way to replace coal as a source for electricity is to invest heavily in nuclear power. Others, such as Harry Reid and his allies in the Senate, have done their best to shut the door on that path away from coal, which calls into question their motives in forcing cap-and-trade schemes onto the US. Investors Business Daily rips Reid and the administration for blocking the use of Yucca Mountain for safe fuel reprocessing, which...

Death Knell For Nuclear Power? August 03, 2009 Energy: A Senate vote to kill funding for the spent fuel repository in Nevada shows the Democratic Party and this administration aren't serious about energy independence, economic growth or environmental Killing the storage facility for the spent fuel rods produced by the nation's nuclear power industry has long been a dream of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama. Last week, the Senate granted their wish, voting to deny the resources needed to complete a review necessary for Yucca Mountain to open. "This is a major victory for Nevada," said Reid,...

Energy: A Senate vote to kill funding for the spent fuel repository in Nevada shows the Democratic Party and this administration aren't serious about energy independence, economic growth or environmental protection.Killing the storage facility for the spent fuel rods produced by the nation's nuclear power industry has long been a dream of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and President Obama. Last week, the Senate granted their wish, voting to deny the resources needed to complete a review necessary for Yucca Mountain to open. "This is a major victory for Nevada," said Reid, who is up for re-election next year. "I...

Late on Sept. 6, 2005, a private plane carrying the Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra touched down in Almaty, a ruggedly picturesque city in southeast Kazakhstan. Several hundred miles to the west a fortune awaited: highly coveted deposits of uranium that could fuel nuclear reactors around the world. And Mr. Giustra was in hot pursuit of an exclusive deal to tap them. Unlike more established competitors, Mr. Giustra was a newcomer to uranium mining in Kazakhstan, a former Soviet republic. But what his fledgling company lacked in experience, it made up for in connections. Accompanying Mr. Giustra on his...

Tony Blair signalled his determination to order a new generation of nuclear power stations by signing a formal agreement yesterday that could lead to French companies building them.The move could "definitely lead" to contracts for the French when the new atomic plants came to be built, British officials said privately. The creation of the Franco-British Nuclear Forum, agreed at the Anglo-French summit in Paris, came as the Prime Minister once again indicated that Britain had to stay nuclear. Despite insisting that he was not prejudging the energy review, to be published next month, Mr Blair made clear that approving a...

Nuclear reactors are among the most significant U.S. exports shipped out of five of the six ports slated for takeover by a Dubai company next week. According to U.S. Transportation Department numbers cited Thursday by Newsday, the two "top products" shipped in and out of the Ports of New York and New Jersey are "mineral fuel [and] nuclear reactors." The New York-New Jersey ports handle 4,862 ships each year. The Port of Baltimore processes 1,747 ships each year, where the top two products, according to Newsday, are "vehicles [and] nuclear reactors." The Port of Miami unloads 1,247 ships annually. There...

DAVOS - UN nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei on Friday called on the United States to provide Iran with nuclear reactors, and urged Tehran to declare a moratorium on enriching uranium for at least eight years. He said eight or nine years would enable the country to earn the confidence of the international community that it was really interested in nuclear energy - not nuclear weapons.

Prime Minister Tony Blair plans to begin construction of new nuclear plants in Britain, The Times of London reports. The newspaper said Blair not only wants new nuclear generating stations but plans to speed up the process so the first can be under way in less than a decade. Although a government report two years ago came down against nuclear power, Blair has decided it is the only way the country can get an adequate energy supply while reducing emissions of air pollutants, his advisors told the Times. Margaret Beckett, the environment secretary and the government's leading critic of nuclear...

A consortium of eight companies said on Thursday that it would spend about $100 million to prepare applications to build two nuclear reactors, in Mississippi and Alabama, a step that seems to move the industry closer to its first new reactor order since the 1970's. The announcement was made by NuStart Energy, a consortium of companies that has substantial government financing. The consortium selected a site in Claiborne County, Miss., adjacent to Entergy Nuclear's Grand Gulf reactor, and another in northern Alabama, next to the Tennessee Valley Authority's long-abandoned Bellefonte nuclear construction project. The Energy Department is committed to sharing...

Nuclear power was one of the big winners in new omnibus energy legislation signed on 8 August by US president George W Bush at Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The signing of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 was hosted by New Mexico’s two senators, energy and natural resources committee chairman Pete Domenici (R) and the committee’s ranking democratic member Senator Jeff Bingaman, who were key players in moving the 1724-page bill through the congressional approval process. The act, which government and outside analysts estimate will carry a price tag of about $14.5 billion, includes a sizeable package...

US's $5 billion nuclear gamble with China By Kaushik Kapisthalam On the surface, it's the biggest deal in the history of the Export-Import Bank of the United States - US$5 billion to finance the building of Chinese nuclear power plants by US firms in the energy-starved economic giant. But there's much more to it than big business: closer scrutiny and interviews with experts reveal a weak, inconsistent and ultimately dangerous US policy with regard to China and its past (some say present) weapons proliferation, as well as China's own efforts to acquire nuclear reactors and other Western high technology that...

TEHRAN, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Iran and Russia signed a nuclear fuel supply deal on Sunday which will allow Tehran to start up its first nuclear power plant in 2006. Here are some facts about the deal.Under the deal, Russia will supply Iran with enriched uranium for Iran's first nuclear reactor in Bushehr on Iran's southern Gulf coastThe first fuel is expected to be delivered to Iran from Siberia in mid-2006. Bushehr will be commissioned in late-2006.. . . Iran will return spent fuel from the reactor to Russia. Spent nuclear reactor fuel can be reprocessed to make bomb-grade plutonium....

Believe it or not, got tipped off to these photos from a thread at DU. I'll give credit where credit is due. Looks like CNN has stepped into it again. Opinions?