Ten Myths About Nuclear Power
Rob Johnston, writing at Spiked, takes apart ten myths popularized by British environmentalists against nuclear power. As many if not all of these myths are promoted here in the U.S., I thought I'd reprint them here, but you have to go to Spiked to see Johnson's case for why they ...
Recycling Nuclear Fuel
Physicists Gerald E. Marsh and George S. Stanford, who are the star contributors of our Nuclear Policy Center, have a letter in this week's edition of the journal Nature (Nature 400) . The letter begins: We believe that your worry about U.S. plans to reprocess nuclear fuel ("Recycling the Past" ...
Advantages of Nuclear Power – A Debate
Those interested in energy development, energy independence, clean energy and/or global warming may be interested in a debate about the advantages and feasibility of nuclear energy ongoing presently in Scientific American and the Chicago Sun-Times. Writing in the December Scientific American (go here for a pdf of the article sent ...
LWR Recycle: Necessity or Impediment? by George S. Stanford (pdf file)
The National Center's Ryan Balis has suggested I recommended this Miami Herald op-ed by Patrick Moore to blog readers. Moore is a founder of the environmental group Greenpeace. In the op-ed, Moore explains why he left Greenpeace ("By the mid-1980s, the environmental movement had abandoned science and logic in favor ...
Purex and Pyro are Not the Same, by William H. Hannum, Gerald E. Marsh and George S. Stanford
In the early days of civilian nuclear power, it was assumed that PUREX -- an aqueous reprocessing method that was used in weapons programs to produce plutonium of the chemical purity needed for bombs -- would be suitable for recycling the fuel. The countries that had the most advanced civilian ...
Enviro Guru Says: Adopt Nuclear Power or Suffer Gaian Dystopia
I'm getting a kick out of May 24 articles in the British newspaper the Independent. It seems that the prominent Greenie James Lovelock has called upon his fellow members of the environmental left to abandon their opposition to nuclear power. Lovelock believes that global warming fears are understated and fears ...
And They Call Themselves Environmentalists?
William La Jeunesse had a report on the Fox News Channel yesterday detailing how anti-nuclear environmental activists are trying once again to shut down America's most environmentally-friendly major energy source. I provide my take on this here. (Just for the record, the nuclear power industry is not a donor to ...
New Source Review: What the Fuss is About, by Amy Ridenour and Christopher Burger
BACKGROUND: The Bush Administration is issuing a new rule clarifying what is meant by "routine maintenance" under "New Source Review" provisions in the 1977 Clean Air Act amendments. The 1977 Clean Air Act amendments required power plant and oil refinery operators to install best-available anti-pollution devices whenever they modified or ...
Dark Ages Redux: Will America Meet Her Future Energy Needs?
BACKGROUND: North America suffered through its largest-ever electrical power blackout August 14-15, leaving tens of millions of Americans and Canadians without power. The blackouts come at a time when passage of an energy bill has been stalled in the Senate for the second year running, and while leading environmental organizations ...
“Blackouts” Today, “Greenouts” Tomorrow: America Needs a Pro-Production Energy Policy
Tens of millions Americans got a wakeup call Thursday: cheap, accessible energy isn't something to take for granted. Unfortunately, many of America's most powerful environmental organizations do take energy for granted, and they are trying to set America on a course that, if unchecked, could make the future very dark ...
Nuclear Power: Clean, Safe and Needing a Level Playing Field, by Gerald E. Marsh and George S. Stanford
Nuclear power is economical. All it needs is a level playing field. But the field is not level. For one thing, competing power sources are heavily subsidized by society. Unlike nuclear plants, they don't bear the full cost of disposing of their waste. Much of it is just dumped into ...
Protesters Claim War is About Oil, Yet Oppose Safe Nuclear Energy & Domestic Energy Alternatives
BACKGROUND: As the war to replace the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq continues, protesters on the political left continue to claim that the U.S. government's military action is designed to acquire Iraqi oil.1 TEN SECOND RESPONSE: Gulf War II is properly understood as the continuation and completion of Gulf War ...
TSR Extra: Recess Notes: Answers to Questions on Common Environmental Questions, by Tom Randall and Gretchen Randall
BACKGROUND: As members of the House and Senate head home for the August recess, many important issues regarding energy and the environment will be on constituents' minds. Here are succinct responses to common questions in the areas of: I. global warming II. energy III. nuclear energy IV. wildfires V. land ...
A Global Warming Primer, by Gerald Marsh (updated)
(Please note: This is an updated version of National Policy Analysis #316 of the same title, published September 2001. A pdf version of this updated version can be found here.) Introduction The purpose of this primer is to help the reader determine whether our understanding of the Earth’s climate is ...
Yucca Mountain: Could Nuclear Energy Be Killed By Senators “Playing Nice”? by Tom Randall
BACKGROUND: Opening the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository must be voted on by the Senate by July 25, 2002 or it may be killed forever, and with it, the future of nuclear energy in the United States. When Nevada's Governor Kenny Guin vetoed the repository's opening, under federal law, he ...
Yucca Mountain: The Right Decision, by Gerald Marsh and George Stanford
Opening the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository is right for Nevada. It's right for anyone who pays for electricity. It's right for public safety. It's right for energy security. And it's right for national security. Why is it needed? Because reactor sites are running out of room to store their ...
Reprocessing Nuclear Fuel is the Way to Make Yucca Mountain Work tor Everyone, by Tom Randall
BACKGROUND: The Associated Press reported on May 8, 2002 on the alleged inadequacies of Yucca mountain as a repository for spent nuclear fuel. In the report, the notion of reprocessing fuel to reduce storage needs was discussed but it said, "the U.S. remains opposed to reprocessing [of nuclear waste] because ...
Yucca Mountain: A Simple Solution, by Gerald E. Marsh and George S. Stanford
Energy Undersecretary Robert Card has said that the Bush Administration will seek more money from Congress for research into ways to reduce the volume of spent nuclear fuel and cost of its disposal. The purpose would be to extend the life of the Yucca Mountain used nuclear fuel repository. We ...
Nevada Congresswoman Uses Misleading Evidence in Bid to Stop President Bush from Opening Yucca Mountain Nuclear Repository; Video Shows Anti-Tank Missile Penetrating a Cask Used for Shipping Spent Nuclear Fuels, But Cask in Video was More Fragile than the Genuine Article
A dramatic video being circulated by U.S. Representative Shelly Berkley (D-NV), which purports to show an anti-tank missile penetrating a cask used for shipping spent nuclear fuel, is deceptive in the fact that it is not representative of normal nuclear shipping materials. Environmental and energy experts affiliated with The National ...
Holding Global Warming Forecasters Accountable; Yucca Mountain
Contents: Let's Hold Global Warming Forecasters Accountable... Brazilian-Style Opposition to Yucca Mountain is About Nuclear Power, Not Public Safety Let's Hold Global Warming Forecasters Accountable... Brazilian-Style According to the Detroit Free Press, Luiz Carlos Austin, a television meteorologist in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil is facing criminal charges and a possible ...
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