This Week in Nuclear

There's a big difference between "subsidies" the nuclear industry "receives" and the subsidies granted to the renewable energy industry.

Be sure to sop by http://thisweekinnuclear.com for more news!

This week the NRC published an envirnmental impact analysis that gives Indian Point the green light for another 20 years. Unfortunately, that's not the end of the story!

Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) may offer significant safety and security advantages over large commercial nuclear reactors. These enhancements may also result in lower construction and operating costs.

New York gubernatorial candidate Andrew Cuomo makes no bones about it.  He plans to shut down Indian Point Nuclear Plant if he is elected. As part of his bid for Governor, Cuomo published his long term energy plan, “PowerNY” in which he calls for the two Indian Point nuclear energy facilities to shut down in 2013 and 2015. He says alternatives can be found to the huge 2000 MW nuclear plant that supplies much of New York City's energy.

The New York Independent System Operator Disagrees.  Listen to the show and find out the true story.

During a recent conversation over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a friend asked if anyone in the group was boycotting BP. This led to a lively discussion about the effectiveness of boycotts and the inevitable question,

“Who do you boycott?”

The show notes are at This Week in Nuclear

I've discovered documents that prove NY State is giving preferential treatment to fossil fuels while at the same time imposing unfair regulations on neighboring nuclear energy facilities, the largest competitors to fossil fuels.  Two plants, one nuclear and one fueled by oil and natural gas, with similar water permit applications, but very different rulings from NY State.

In April the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation denied Indian Point Nuclear Plant’s application for a water quality certification. In their 28 page letter, the NY DEC told the plant they have no alternative but to install expensive cooling towers to eliminate the plant’s impact on fish and fish larva in the Hudson River.

Power plants of any type (not just nuclear plants) adversely affect aquatic organisms in three primary ways: thermally by heating the water, by entrainment where small fish and fish larva are sucked into the cooling system and are injured as they pass through, and by impingement where fish are injured by the plant’s intake but not sucked though the cooling system.

The plant had proposed installing “wedge wire screens,” essentially large high tech strainers on the water intake. The screens would virtually eliminate fish impingement, and would reduce entrainment (according to the DEC) by between 72% and 76%. That was not a sufficient reduction in entrainment to satisfy NY State.

They denied the proposal because:

They said cooling towers would eliminate at least 90% of the entrainment, and

They said wedge wire screens are still “experimental in nature” and unproven in aquatic environments like the Hudson River, and at nuclear power plants like Indian Point.

They also stated Indian Point was violating the law by killing endangered shortnose sturgeon by impingement and entrainment.

In this podcast I'll discuss all three arguments!

There are huge uranium reserves in Virginia.  In this show I interview 

Aaron Ruby from the Virginia Energy Independence Alliance

Patrick Wales, the project manager and geologist for Virginia Uranium, Inc, and

Lisa Stiles, a nuclear engineer with many years experience in the nuclear industry

Specifically, we discussed the huge untapped energy resources in Virginia and the economic benefits that recovering those resources would bring to an economically depressed region.

Show notes are at "This Week in Nuclear" 

Ever thought about how many zeros there are there in a “pico” something?

Blog and show notes are here.

On December 16th I found myself in Birmingham, Alabama on my way to visit the offices of Southern Nuclear Operating Company.  The purpose of my trip was to benchmark some of their work practices and processes.  A few weeks earlier a friend at Southern had called and asked if I would be willing to pay them a visit to meet with a manager who had recently assumed responsibility for their workforce planning strategies, an area in which I have some expertise.   As we discussed this possibility, I let them know I was interested in learning about their succession planning process.  So we made a deal: we would each bring something to the table – I would share workforce planning ideas, and in return they would share their succession planning program.  A Win Win situation!

Show Notes are at This Week in Nuclear