The U.S. has lost three percent of its summertime nuclear generating capacity as troublesome plants are retired. Robert Stone’s controversial film Pandora’s Promise has brought the question of how nuclear power might fit into a clean-energy future to center stage. We’re not going to hold (let alone resolve) that debate here and now. Instead, we’ll just note that… Keep reading →
The United States has taken an important step toward efficiently meeting the country’s rising electricity demand by ensuring a greater supply of clean, safe nuclear power.
With plans in place in Georgia for the construction of the next generation of nuclear energy facilities, this industry expansion will promote economic prosperity and continued development of a sustainable clean energy source. We need a cost-efficient, low-carbon solution to the nation’s increasing electricity demand- projected to rise 24 percent by 2035. Expanding nuclear energy as part of the mix of electricity generation options is necessary to meeting our nation’s growing power needs cleanly and cost-effectively. Keep reading →
Fukushima Anniversary: The Road Ahead
By Peter GardettThere was no way for the nuclear industry to succeed at handling Fukushima. The disastrous and poorly-managed shutdown of a nuclear reactor built too close to shore, hit by an earthquake and an even-more-devestating tsunami, gave birth to a year’s worth of images and heartbreak no normal business could handle in normal ways.
In the days after the Fukushima disaster the US industry dialed up its responsiveness in ways that ranged from a North Carolina-based disaster response center handling technology questions, sending personnel to Japan, and handling a leap in internet traffic to relevant websites. Most of what the general public wanted was information that could reassure, and the US nuclear industry sought to supply that information. Keep reading →