CASEnergy Coalition

Steve Patterson
Jacksonville Times Union
May 13, 2008
 
Worried about greenhouse gases, JEA wants to sign a 20-year contract to buy electricity from a planned new nuclear power plant outside Augusta, Ga.
 
It would be one of the first new nuclear plants licensed in the United States in decades.
 
EDITORIAL Nuclear power: a viable source of energy
Victoria Advocate
May 13, 2008
 
The animated cartoon family, "The Jetsons," probably used atomic power for a lot of things, including running their flying cars, for entertainment, robots and energy for their homes. Even Homer Simpson, of the "Simpsons" cartoon, works in a nuclear power plant. So, once, back in the late 1950s and 1960s, on into the 1980s, atomic power was looked upon as the energy answer of the future. You could probably power a space ship efficiently enough to travel to the other side of the universe with nuclear power. And, more realistically, nuclear powered submarines traverse the oceans for half a year at a time on nuclear fuel.
 
New Way to Ride Nuclear's Revival
Amy Bickers
Kiplinger.
May 12, 2008
 
Investors who want to ride nuclear's revival without betting on individual stocks have a new option. Invesco PowerShares last month launched an exchange-traded fund called the Global Nuclear Energy Portfolio. The ETF tracks the performance of the World Nuclear Association (WNA) Energy Index, which contains 64 companies that design, construct and operate nuclear power reactors. The shares closed at $27.08 on May 8.
 
Texas may blaze trail for nuclear renaissance
R.A. Dyer
Fort Worth Star Telegram
May 12, 2008

  

With eight power plants on the drawing board, Texas could lead the way in an American renaissance of nuclear power, according to industry leaders and some policymakers.
 
Four power companies -- New Jersey-based NRG Energy, Amarillo Power, Dallas-based Luminant and Chicago-based Exelon -- have proposed building nuclear plants in Texas. That would increase the reactors in the state from four to 12, and more than triple its nuclear output.
   
Tri-City Herald
May 12, 2008
 
The problem of safely storing a few hundred tons of spent nuclear fuel in the Nevada desert isn't so daunting when compared with the storing of billions of tons of planet-warming pollutants in the Earth's atmosphere.
 
Even formerly rabid anti-nuclear power advocates have toned down their rhetoric or dropped it altogether.
 
Knoxville News
May 12, 2008
  
Some $4 million in funding to the Tennessee Valley Authority from the U.S. Department of Energy brings up the issue of nuclear power and East Tennessee.
 
TVA has received the funding from DOE to develop a conceptual design for a nuclear waste reprocessing plant. The idea is to later build a demonstration facility, perhaps on the site of the former Clinch River Breeder Reactor or the Oak Ridge Reservation, home of Oak Ridge National Laboratory, the Y-12 Weapons Plant and East Tennessee Technology Park.
 
Nuclear power clearly will be a significant subject in the discussions on the nation's energy future, and East Tennessee should be at the center of this debate.
 
Renewing the nuclear alternative is a sound step in energy policy
Charles W. Pennington, CASEnergy Member
Augusta Chronicle
April 26, 2008, reposted May 8, 2008
 
In Georgia, we'll see both economic and environmental benefits. Based on U.S. averages, these units will produce about $800 million annually in goods, services, and labor for Georgia communities, creating businesses, jobs, and opportunities. Local, state and federal taxes will see about $200 million annually, supporting state infrastructure needs. Operation of the units will create about 1,000 well-paying jobs at the plant and roughly the same number of new jobs will be created locally. Construction will also be a boon, offering around 3,000 new jobs. When the new units are up and running, each will contribute substantially to environmental health, since more than 80,000 tons of sulfur and nitrogen oxide and 15 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions will be prevented annually, when compared to the use of coal as a fuel.
 
Atlanta Business Chronicle
May 6, 2008
 
Georgia Power reported Wednesday it has garnered no bids from its 2016-2017 base load capacity request for proposals.
 
Two weeks ago, it signed an engineering, procurement and construction contract with Westinghouse Electric Co. and The Shaw Group Inc.'s Power Group. At that time, Georgia Power said it would submit a nuclear self-build option for consideration. Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) rules require market bids to be compared with self-build proposals, but no market bids were received, Georgia Power said.
 
Nuclear energy heats up US presidential campaign
Jeff Mason
Reuters
May 6, 2008
 
John McCain embraces it. Barack Obama wants to address its flaws. Hillary Clinton is cautious but not opposed.
 
Nuclear power -- controversial in the United States and throughout much of the world -- is on the agenda of all three U.S. presidential candidates as they seek to diversify the country's energy mix and reduce dependence on foreign oil.
 
Associated Press
May 6, 2008
 
French-owned energy services company Areva NC Inc. will build a $2 billion uranium enrichment plant near the eastern Idaho city of Idaho Falls, after winning tax concessions from the state Legislature.
 
The plant will be built near the Idaho National Laboratory, where scientists have done research into nuclear energy since the 1940s, the company said Tuesday.
 
Up to 400 engineering and development jobs planned
Adam O'Daniel
Rock Hill Herald (SC)
May 6, 2008
 
The URS Nuclear Center is positioned to be at the heart of a "nuclear renaissance" over the next decade, company officials said Monday. And one Palmetto State lawmaker pledged to fight for pro-nuclear energy policies in Washington during a dedication ceremony at the company's new office in northern Lancaster County.
 
Possible groundbreaking by year's end for Md. reactor
Associated Press
May 1, 2008

Constellation Energy Group Inc. said Thursday it could break ground for a third nuclear reactor in southern Maryland by the end of this year, if financial and regulatory hurdles are cleared.
 
Nuclear power benefits outweigh past fears
C.T. Carley, professor emeritus of mechanical engineering at Mississippi State University.
Memphis Commercial Appeal
April 29, 2008
 
Greenspan was recently asked to speak at an energy conference in Houston attended by oil company executives from around the world. One of the points he made was that nuclear energy is part of a strategy aimed at reducing our dependence on imported oil that he would recommend to the next president.
 
Greenspan's solution to breaking our nation's reliance on foreign oil includes market adoption of electric plug-in vehicles along with the infrastructure to power them. He was asked how plug-in vehicles should be fueled. His answer: "No question about it -- nuclear power."
 
Gilbert Brown, Professor and Coordinator of Nuclear Engineering Program, University of Massachusetts-Lowell
The Patriot Ledger
April 28, 2008
 
Although there are no plans for a new nuclear plant in Massachusetts, we do have the operating Pilgrim plant in Plymouth that supplies 685 megawatts of our state’s electricity. It is essential for the region to see Pilgrim achieve a license extension for another 20 years.
 
Furthermore, we should reduce our 50 percent reliance on natural gas; and as our economy grows, and we depend more and more on electricity, such as for plug-in hybrid cars, the need for new electricity plants will intensify.
 
Heather Villereal
Bay City Tribune
April 28, 2008
 
The Texas Higher Education Coordinate Board gave its approval on April 21 to the Nuclear Power Technology Program offered by Wharton County Junior College at its new Bay City Campus.
 
Students enrolled in the two-year program will be able to earn an Associates Degree of Applied Science.
 
A boon for Vogtle
In these energy-conscious times, Burke County power plant should join the nuclear renaissance
Augusta Chronicle
April 27, 2008
 
If there's any time this country needs more nuclear plants, it's now…
 
The mere construction of two 1,100-megawatt units will create thousands of temporary construction jobs. When completed and operational - the target date would be in mid-2016 - the plant's full-time employment would be doubled to 1,800 workers.
 
Remember, this is a power plant that already accounts for about 80 percent of Burke County's tax digest. Imagine all the positive economic offshoots that would result from the new reactors.
 
SCANA says nuclear expansion will help control costs; profits rise
Ben Werner
The State
April 25, 2008
 
If SCANA Corp.’s two planned nuclear reactors come online on time, the Columbia-based power company will emit fewer green house gases in 2020 than in 1995, chief executive William Timmerman said Thursday.
 
Plus, increasing nuclear generation was the best way for the power company to control expenses, Timmerman told shareholders at SCANA’s annual meeting Thursday.
 
Food Riots Made in the USA
There's a better solution to our energy problems than ethanol. It's called nuclear energy.
William Tucker, Terrestrial Energy
April 28, 2008, Issue 31
  
Terrestrial energy is the answer to all the unpleasant questions raised by solar energy, which is why the nuclear industry in this country is poised for a comeback. Safety elements have been vastly improved, revamped plants are making enormous amounts of money, and the nuclear industry is chafing to start new construction.
 
Although nuclear power cannot directly replace oil, it could become the basis of an expanded electrical grid that would support vehicles running on either electricity or hydrogen. It could end our energy odyssey. In light of last week's food riots and soaring world prices, it can't happen soon enough.
 
Steve Tetreault
Las Vegas Review Journal
April 24, 2008
  
Sen. Pete Domenici Republican says Yucca Mountain project would change direction
  
A bill that has been prepared in the Senate envisions two temporary storage sites for nuclear waste -- one in the East and one in the West -- as a precursor to recycling highly radioactive reactor fuel rather than sending it to Yucca Mountain.
 
David Whitney
McClatchy Newspapers
April 24, 2008
 
At a House Science and Technology Committee hearing Wednesday, expansion of nuclear power was viewed as an opportunity.
 
Gone are the days when lawmakers questioned the safety of reactor technology. Even among those for whom waste is an issue, there is a high comfort level with storing used fuel in dry casks for decades at the reactor sites while a more comprehensive solution is studied.
  
Ben Meyerson
Capital News Service
April 24, 2008
 
Constellation Energy and the state of Maryland are moving forward on plans to add a third reactor to the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant, which Constellation hopes will be on line by 2015. The state of Maryland needs that power desperately: a report by the Public Service Commission late last year predicted a state energy shortage and rolling blackouts as early as 2011.
    
Schenectady Daily Gazette
April 24, 2008
 
Could nuclear energy ever come to be known as the other “green” power source? Probably not without a steady supply of nuclear engineers, many of them likely from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Dale Klein spoke to RPI students and faculty Thursday on a self-described recruiting mission to stimulate interest in nuclear engineering and possibly careers working for the NRC. Klein warned the nuclear power industry faces a potential shortage of qualified engineers.
 
French ambassador discusses power, euro
Christopher D. Kirkpatrick
Charlotte Observer
April 23, 2008
 
Think of France and you might first consider its culture -- the wine, the food, its countryside.
 
But it maybe should be as famous for its wildly successful nuclear energy program. The country is about to build its third generation of plants without a blemish on its safety record.
 
Why I Left Greenpeace
Dr. Patrick Moore
Wall Street Journal
April 22, 2008
 
In 1971 an environmental and antiwar ethic was taking root in Canada, and I chose to participate. As I completed a Ph.D. in ecology, I combined my science background with the strong media skills of my colleagues. In keeping with our pacifist views, we started Greenpeace.
 
But I later learned that the environmental movement is not always guided by science. As we celebrate Earth Day today, this is a good lesson to keep in mind.

  
From Greenpeace to Nuclear Advocate: Turning the Tables on the Energy Debate

Idaho Environmental Forum
 
Dr. Patrick Moore
Chair and Chief Scientist of Greenspirit Strategies,
Co-Chair of the Clean and Safe Energy
 
Date: April 23, 2008
Price-$12
Lunch Buffet: 11:30 a.m.
Catered by Big Sky Catering
Program: noon to 1:15 p.m.
 
Location Details
The Crystal Ballroom, in the historic Hoff Building
802 W. Bannock Street, Suite 202,
Boise, Idaho 83702 
 
Nuclear energy advocate, co-founder Greenpeace to speak at University Place April 22
Idaho State University
  
Patrick Moore, Ph.D., nuclear energy advocate and co-founder of the international environmental group Greenpeace, is scheduled to speak about energy and environmental issues Tuesday, April 22, at 7 p.m. in the multipurpose room in the Idaho State University Bennion Student Union Building at University Place, 1784 Science Center Drive in Idaho Falls.
  
Nuclear is the right choice for Texas
Bernard Weinstein, professor of applied economics and director of the Center for Economic Development and Research at the University of North Texas in Denton.
Waco Tribune
April 19, 2008
 
Nuclear is also gaining favor because production costs don’t fluctuate as they do with fossil fuel plants.
  
As for safety issues, the nuclear industry can point to almost 60 years of commercial operation without a fatal radiation-related accident.
  
And the industry has transported more than 10,000 used fuel assemblies without incident to temporary storage sites.
  
Nate Siebens
Newman Wachs Racing
April 19, 2008
 
Newman Wachs Racing (NWR) is launching their “Nuclear Clean Air Energy” marketing program with the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) this weekend at the Cooper Tires presents the Atlantic Championship powered by Mazda 2008 Season in Long Beach, California.
 
The #34 car will be driven by Simona De Silvestro, one of Switzerland’s top young racers and the newly enlisted driver to the team. She made history by becoming the first woman to ever earn a podium result at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2006 at the US Grand Prix. This is her second season with the Atlantic Championship Series.
  
David Schecter
WFAA TV
April 19, 2008
 
You'd think one of the biggest obstacles to a nuclear plant would be finding a community willing to have one. Turns out, there's at least one Texas community that's happy to be first in line. …
 
Glen Rose is home to Comanche Peak nuclear plant, and proud of it. Since it opened the plant has pumped more than $1 billion dollars in taxes into this rural community. The school district went from one of the poorest to the richest.
 
New Jersey Weighs Building Another Nuclear Plant
Associated Press
April 18, 2008
 
Gov. Jon S. Corzine said on Thursday that New Jersey was considering building a nuclear power plant, the first in the United States since 1973, as part of an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the state.
 
The proposal, part of a 15-year energy master plan, does not specify a site, but a spokesman for Public Service Electric & Gas said the company was investigating the possibility of adding a fourth plant to its Lower Alloways Creek site in Salem County and expected to make a decision by the end of the year.
  
Moore’s Law: Why Enviros Are Wrong on Nuclear Power
Wall Street Journal
April 17, 2008
 
Mr. Moore, who now works as a nuclear-power advocate with the Clean and Safe Energy coalition, drops a few interesting pearls in an interview this week with Fareed Zakaria, the editor of Newsweek International. On why environmentalists—including Mr. Moore in his day—were so opposed to nuclear power
Editorial
The Pueblo Chieftain
April 16, 2008
 
But our sense is it would be a boon for Holly and Prowers County, a boost to the economy and a magnet for tourists wanting to see a real nuclear generating plant.
  
A Renegade Against Greenpeace
Fareed Zakaria
Newsweek
April 21, 2008 Issue
 
My belief, in retrospect, is that because we were so focused on the destructive aspect of nuclear technology and nuclear war, we made the mistake of lumping nuclear energy in with nuclear weapons, as if all things nuclear were evil.
  
Rusty Dennen
Free Lance-Star
April 15, 2008
 
The North Anna Power Station and its two nuclear reactors do more than produce electricity, according to an industry report.
 
The plant on Lake Anna generates jobs and economic benefits for the region and state of over $700 million a year, says the Nuclear Energy Institute.
   
California Chronicle
April 15, 2008

Assemblyman Chuck DeVore (R-Irvine) has found a voice in a most unlikely place – UC Berkley. The conservative lawmaker was featured in last week´s edition of Ecology Law Currents explaining the critical need for California to lift the ban on construction of modern, clean and safe nuclear power plants. The publication is produced by the UC Berkeley School of Law.
 
Jacksonville Business Journal
April 14, 2008
 
Business Journal readers left no doubt what they think abut JEA's plan to get 10 percent of its power from nuclear sources within the next 10 years. The overwhelming majority of respondents to the latest Business Journal poll think JEA should rely even more on nuclear power.
  
Red Orbit
April 13, 2008
 
Nuclear power plants in the United States generated a record amount of electricity in 2007 while operating at record capacity factors, according to preliminary data from the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI). The country's 104 operating nuclear power reactors generated some 807 billion kWh of electricity in 2007, exceeding the previous record-high of 788.5 billion kWh set in 2004.
 
News8Austin
April 12, 2008
 
For the past 20 years the South Texas Project has been generating power, and lots of it.
 
"We make, with each plant, 25,000 volts a/c, and that goes into our main generator stepped up to 345,000 volts," Harry Overstreet, with the South Texas Project said.
 
In other words, that's enough electricity to power 20 million homes everyday.
  
Editorial: Patrick Moore
The Patriot Ledger
April 12, 2008
 
Much of the reason for the low CO2 emissions for the New England region as a whole (Vermont is second lowest at 10.5 metric tons per person, Connecticut is seventh at 12.2, New Hampshire is 14th at 15.9 and Maine is 17th at 17.8) is that it gets a higher amount of its electricity (26 percent) from emission-free nuclear power than does the rest of the country (20 percent).
 
Will the U.S. recycle nuclear materials for fuel?
Michael Kanellos
CNET News
April 10, 2008
 
The U.S. does not recycle nuclear waste from power plants because it could be used for weapons, but that might change.
 
Pete Domenici, the Republican Senator from New Mexico, said the country should start to examine the benefits of recycling fuel, according to the Las Vegas Sun.
 
NRC Begins Reactor Safeguards Committee Search
Environmental Protection
April 10, 2008
 
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking qualified candidates for appointment to its Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS). This advisory group, which is statutorily mandated by the Atomic Energy Act of 1954, provides independent technical review of, and advice on, matters related to the safety of existing and proposed nuclear facilities and on the adequacy of proposed reactor safety standards.
  
Sarah Kessinger
Harris News Service
April 10, 2008
 
A major investor in the controversial project to build two coal-fired power plants near Holcomb is now also exploring whether to build a nuclear power plant in southeast Colorado.
 
A spokesman for Denver-based Tri-State Electric Generation and Transmission Association, a rural electric cooperative, said the company isn't backing away from the coal-plant project.
 
Rosalie Westenskow
United Press International
April 10, 2008
 
As of this month, nine different businesses have requested permission to build a total of 15 nuclear reactors from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees U.S. nuclear power plant operation and licensing. The agency expects to receive applications for another 18 power plants, totaling 33 altogether, in the next year or so.
 
Lawmaker calls for new energy outlook
Kristopher Karol
Daily Press & Argus
April 9, 2008
 
U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers told members of the Howell Area Chamber of Commerce on Tuesday that several reforms are needed in American energy policy, not just for financial and environmental relief, but also for security reasons.
…
One of the lawmaker's key points during his annual address to chamber members focused on nuclear energy, which could be an alternative to coal-powered plants and the nation's reliance on oil.
  
Atlanta Business Chronicle
April 8, 2008
 
Georgia Power Co. said April 8 it has signed an agreement with a consortium of Westinghouse Electric Co. LLC and The Shaw Group Inc.'s Power Group for the engineering, procurement and construction of two nuclear power plants at the Alvin W. Vogtle site near Waynesboro, Ga.
  
Business consultant: U.S. should embrace nuclear power
Jacksonville Business Journal
April 7, 2008
 
Former President Dwight Eisenhower's granddaughter lauded nuclear energy as the main way for the United States to meet increasing energy supply needs.
 
Susan Eisenhower, an international business consultant, said all energy sources need to be tapped, but that nuclear power holds the most promise in the face of rising coal, oil and natural gas costs.
   
Fatigued nuclear workers get relief
Eve Sampleas
Palm Beach Post
April 6, 2008
 
Monday, April - Almost 10 years after watchdogs and lawmakers complained about excessive overtime and low staffing levels at the nation's nuclear plants, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a new set of rules designed to make plants safer by staving off employee fatigue.
  
Associated Press
April 6, 2008
 
The state's second-largest utility is considering building a nuclear power plant in southeastern Colorado.
 
Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association has a site in Prowers County near Holly and water rights for a plant that could be either coal-fired or nuclear.
 
Another look at nuclear energy
U.S. Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ)
Casa Grande Valley Newspapers
April 3, 2008
 
But, as the public becomes increasingly informed of the advantages of nuclear power, its misgivings about this renewable energy source should diminish. The benefits to Americans could be great - a clean and renewable source of energy that is produced in the United States.
   
Greener Energy
Former Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham, who served in the Senate, is a member of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition.
Washington Times
April 3, 2008
 
The average nuclear plant, for instance, generates approximately $430 million in production of goods and services and provides more than $20 million in state and local tax revenue benefiting schools, roads and infrastructure. Additionally, each nuclear plant provides around 1,400-1,800 construction jobs, and 400 to 700 permanent positions to support continued operations. As evidenced by statistics from the Department of Labor, these are well-paying jobs with the median annual salary for nuclear engineers standing at $82,900 — which is some $8,000 higher than all other engineering disciplines except petroleum engineering. These high wages, in addition to a burgeoning demand for nuclear engineers, has translated into an increasing number of students seeking degrees in the field, according to the Energy Department.
  
SCE&G takes step toward building reactors
Ben Werner
The State
April 2, 2008
 
SCE&G gave a nuclear power plant supplier the go-ahead Tuesday to start gathering parts for the power company’s proposed new reactors in Fairfield County.
 
The utility, the largest subsidiary of Columbia’s SCANA, and Santee Cooper want to open up to two new nuclear power units in 2016 at the existing V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville.
  
Green – It’s bigger than you think
Bernie Niemeier, Publisher
Virginia Business
April 1, 2008
 
Just a few years ago, the adjective “green” conjured up a batch of politically correct images: Europe’s Green Party, Greenpeace making the world safe for baby seals, Earth Day and redwood-climbing Californians.
 
Today’s picture is quite different. Green has gone mainstream. Businesses are increasingly comfortable with environmentally friendly ideas. This makes both political and economic sense.
 
Reuters
March 31, 2008
 
Two utility groups, including units of Southern Co and SCANA Corp, said they filed applications on Monday for separate licenses to build and operate new nuclear reactors in Georgia and South Carolina to meet growing demand for electricity.
 
Southern Nuclear Operating Co said it filed an application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a combined construction and operating license (COL) to build two new reactors at the Vogtle Electric Generating Plant near Waynesboro, Georgia, 105 miles southwest of Columbia, South Carolina.
 
Energy Bill: Why Not Nuclear Energy?
Jon Kyl
National Ledger
March 31, 2008
 
The idea of nuclear energy concerns many Americans, who, for example, recall the accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.  But as Dr. Moore highlights in the same Post op-ed, though people were evacuated, the accident at Three Mile Island was “in fact a success story: The concrete containment structure did just what it was designed to do – prevent radiation from escaping into the environment…there was no injury or death among nuclear workers or nearby residents…[and] was the only serious accident in the history of nuclear energy generation in the United States, but it was enough to scare us away from further developing the technology:  There hasn’t been a nuclear plant ordered up since then.”
 
How I learned to quit worrying and love nuclear power
Mike Thomas
Orlando Sentinel
March 30, 2008
 
Nuclear power is the only option available to meet Gov. Charlie Crist's ambitious goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
…
That I can make such a statement without being laughed out of the newsroom shows how far we have come in our view of nuclear power.
 
David Biello
Scientific American
March 29, 2008
 
One of the U.K.'s top nuclear officials said today that she was told the U.S. will okay plans to build the first nuclear power plants since the accident at Three Mile Island nearly three decades ago. Lady Barbara Thomas Judge, chair of the U.K. Atomic Energy Authority, said that the chair of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission informed her that the NRC will approve three applications for new nuclear reactors that it's currently considering.
 
Dow Jones
March 28, 2008
  
The NRG Energy Inc. decision to launch a nuclear power plant development company with Japan's Toshiba Corp. marks a major bet on a nuclear renaissance in the U.S.
Investor's Business Daily
March 26, 2008
 
Schwarzenegger said that nuclear technology "has advanced so much," and also that "we are now seeing that there is such an unbelievable reduction in waste."
 
He noted that "there are certain environmentalists out there that put the scare tactics out there" and that nuclear power could "be very beneficial, like in France where they get 82% of their energy through nuclear power, to look at that because there's no greenhouse gas emissions."
State Assemblyman Tom DeVore of California's 70th District, who has touted the benefits of nuclear power on these pages and elsewhere, has submitted two bills that would do more than just look at its potential.
 
The Irvine Republican says, "I'm delighted to see Gov. Schwarzenegger now out front on this vital issue."
 
And so are we. We have long argued that nuclear power is potentially a safe and nonpolluting source of domestic energy and that its touted dangers are mostly the stuff of bad science fiction movies.
 
Greg Chang
Bloomberg
March 25, 2008
  
NRG Energy Inc., the second- largest power producer in Texas, said it formed a venture with Toshiba Corp. to develop nuclear power projects in North America.
 
Toshiba, based in Tokyo, will invest $300 million over the next six years for a 12 percent stake in the venture, dubbed Nuclear Innovation North America LLC, Princeton, New Jersey- based NRG Energy said in a statement today. NRG will contribute its 50 percent stake in two new nuclear units planned for its existing nuclear plant in Texas.
  
Energy: Nuclear deserves rebirth
Jacksonville Times-Union
March 25, 2008
 
It's about time.
 
Two more nuclear reactors were approved in Florida by the Public Service Commission last week.
 
Florida Power & Light wants the option to build two more nuclear reactors at its Turkey Point Power Plant near Homestead.
 
FP&L has safely operated two nuclear plants at Turkey Point for about 35 years.
  
A much-needed nuclear power renaissance is sweeping the world
Dr. Susan Wood and Mal McKibben
Augusta Chronicle
March 23, 2008
  
THE REASON IS clear. People have become aware that for several decades, nuclear power has had an incredibly good record of safety, environmental protection and low costs, and everyone wants a way to produce electricity that does not pollute. A wise person once said, "Facts are stubborn things." Here are some pertinent facts:
   
Foes keep distorting nuclear power's record
San Diego Union-Tribune
March 21, 2008
   
Twenty-nine years ago this month, the reactor at the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania suffered a partial meltdown, due to a combination of equipment problems, design flaws and worker mistakes. While the accident was scary, its actual negative effects were few – completely unlike the 1986 catastrophe at the Soviet nuclear power plant in Chernobyl. No one was killed at Three Mile Island, and the additional radiation exposure suffered by nearby residents was the equivalent of one-sixth of a typical chest X-ray.
  
Our View: Nuclear power gets fresh look
Appeal-Democrat (Marysville CA)
March 21
 
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger may have signaled a new era of common sense for California regarding energy matters by announcing last week that nuclear power has "a great future" and should be considered, rather than "just looking the other way and living in denial."
 
We hope this points to a change in attitude among policy-makers, and to overturning a statewide ban on nuclear power plants imposed in 1976. Assemblyman Chuck DeVore, R-Irvine, who last year unsuccessfully authored a nuclear energy bill, is encouraged by Schwarzenegger's endorsement of the concept.
Industry Week
March 20, 2008
 
Across the United States, major utilities are talking about plans to build nuclear power plants to help quench Americans’ unending thirst for energy. Seeing opportunity in those talks, Tokyo’s Toshiba Corp. announced that it has started a new company in the U.S.
 
The new firm, Toshiba America Nuclear Energy Corp., will have an office near Washington, D.C. The primary mission of the firm, at least initially, will be to market and promote advanced boiling water nuclear power plants, and to provide support for related services. Toshiba said plans include expanding those operations eventually to provide licensing and engineering support related to nuclear power plant construction.
   
Contra Costa Times
March 18, 2008
 
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has set off a heated debate on nuclear energy by saying he thinks it has a "great future" and that it should be given another look. He's on the right track. After more than three decades of neglect, nuclear power deserves a reassessment.