Nuclear Energy


Watchdog Group Deems DOE Waste Cleanup Plan Inadequate

After an eight-year study of radioactive waste cleanup in Washington, the Department of Energy faces complaints that an incomplete disposal solution has been offered.

The Future of Nuclear Energy

Last March, the world watched closely as Japan struggled to contain a series of equipment failures, hydrogen explosions and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

Nuclear Power Has Prevented 40M Metric Tons of CO2 Emissions

More than 10 years after electricity deregulation, the nuclear power industry has decreased greenhouse gas emissions by nearly 40 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and saved $2.5 billion a year as a result of operating more efficiently over the past decade, according to a new study.

EIA Projects World Energy Use Will Rise 53 Percent by 2035, Driven by China, India

Worldwide energy consumption is projected to grow by 53 percent between 2008 and 2035, with much of the increase driven by strong economic growth in the developing nations especially China and India, according the Energy Information Administration’s International Energy Outlook 2011.

Chemists Make First Quantitative Measure of Radiation Leaked from Fukushima Reactor

Their estimate, reported this week in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is based on a signal sent across the Pacific Ocean when operators of the damaged reactor had to resort to cooling overheated fuel with seawater.

Examining the Safety of Next-generation Nuclear Reactors

Scientists from The University of Manchester have been selected to undertake vital safety work on the next generation of the world’s nuclear reactors.

Tsunami Airglow Signature Could Lead to Early Detection System

Researchers at the University of Illinois have recorded an airglow signature in the upper atmosphere produced by a tsunami using a camera system based in Maui, Hawaii.

FOIA Lawsuit Targets DOE for Failing to Release Congressionally Ordered Water Energy Roadmap

A report ordered by Congress in 2005 on the connection between U.S. energy production and demands on water supplies is the target of a Freedom of Information Action lawsuit filed by Civil Society Institute against the U.S. Department of Energy.



Expert: Shutting Down U.S. Nuclear Plants Would Have Daunting Effect on Economy, Environment

Shifting from nuclear to other types of power plants could affect the reliability of the electricity supply, electricity costs, air pollution, carbon emissions, and the reliance on fossil fuels like coal and natural gas, the researchers said.

Italy Saying Goodbye to Nuclear?

Fallout from the March Fukushima nuclear plant leak reached into Italian government policy, as it now appears likely there will not be a renewed thrust toward the controversial power source anytime soon.

WHOI Leads Expedition to Measure Radioactivity from Fukushima Disaster in Pacific

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will lead the first international, multidisciplinary assessment of the levels and dispersion of radioactive substances in the Pacific Ocean off the Fukushima nuclear power plant—a research effort funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation.

Taking the Waste out of Nuclear Waste

While spent nuclear fuel continues to pile up by the ton across the United States, UC Irvine’s Mikael Nilsson says the solution is clear: recycle it at the commercial nuclear power plants that create it.

Professor Comes Up With Way to Neutralize Radioactive Iodine – In the Microwave

A University of Sheffield professor has found a way of locking up iodine radioisotopes in a durable, solid material suitable for ultimate disposal, such as lead iodovanadinite(Pb5(VO4)3I).

Fukushima Affect on Ocean Bigger than That of Chernobyl

Radionuclides in seawater have been reported from the Fukushima plant's discharge canals, from coastal waters five to 10 kilometers south of the plant, and from 30 kilometers offshore, that are at least an order of magnitude higher than the highest levels in 1986 in the Baltic and Black Seas, the two ocean water bodies closest to Chernobyl.

Radiation Protection Expert Criticizes Comparison of Fukushima to Chernobyl

Taking a close look at information disclosed by Japanese government ministries, the World Health Organization, the International Atomic Energy Agency and others, Professor Wakeford details events at the six different reactors, and the consequent releases of radioactivity.

Is Nuclear Power Fair for Future Generations?

The recent nuclear accident in Fukushima Daiichi in Japan has brought the nuclear debate to the forefront of controversy. While Japan is trying to avert further disaster, many nations are reconsidering the future of nuclear power in their regions.

San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station

Edison to Propose Seismic Studies for San Onofre Station

The studies would include a tsunami hazard analysis as well as reprocessing and reanalyzing existing data using more modern digital and numerical computer processes.

LANL Improves Path to Producing Uranium Compounds

Starting materials developed at the Los Alamos National Laboratory may be candidates for advanced nuclear fuels.

Kurion Offers Ion Specific Media for Fukushima Plant Cleanup

The product, based on materials used to clean up Three Mile Island's nuclear disaster, reportedly removes radioactive isotopes from aqueous solutions.

Power Profiler Allows Users to See Emissions, Electric Sources

EPA has updated its emissions and generation database, or eGrid, with 2007 data, allowing users to access the information using ZIP codes.