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Nuclear Power May Be in Early Stages of a Revival
Matthew L. Wald, NYT
After three decades without starting a single new plant, the American nuclear power industry is getting ready to build again.
When the industry first said several years ago that it would resume building plants, deep skepticism greeted the claim. Not since 1973 had anybody in the
United States ordered a nuclear plant that was actually built, and the obstacles to a new generation of plants seemed daunting.
But now, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, 21 companies say they will seek permission to build 34 power plants, from New York to Texas.
Factories are springing up in Indiana and Louisiana to build reactor parts. Workers are clearing a site in Georgia to put in reactors. Starting in January,
millions of electric customers in Florida will be billed several dollars a month to finance four new reactors.
(24 October 2008)
Nuclear-powered passenger aircraft ‘to transport millions’ says expert
Ben Webster, The Times
Nuclear-powered aircraft may sound like a concept from Thunderbirds, but they will be transporting millions of passengers around the world later this century, the leader of a Government-funded project to reduce environmental damage from aviation believes.
The consolation of sitting a few yards from a nuclear reactor will be non-stop flights from London to Australia or New Zealand, because the aircraft will no longer need to land to refuel. The flights will also produce no carbon emissions and therefore make no contribution to global warming.
Ian Poll, Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Cranfield university, and head of technology for the Government-funded Omega project, is calling for a big research programme to help the aviation industry convert from fossil fuels to nuclear energy.
In a lecture at the Royal Aeronautical Society tonight, Professor Poll will say that experiments conducted during the Cold War have already demonstrated that there are no insurmountable obstacles to developing a nuclear-powered aircraft…
(27 October 2008)
Finland’s symbol of resurrection becomes showcase for hassles, delays and cost-overruns
Robert Anderson, Financial Times
Finland’s Olkiluoto power station was meant to symbolise the resurrection of nuclear power after the 1986 Chernobyl disaster and to act as a showcase for Areva of France’s new EPR reactor technology.
The first nuclear power station to be built in western Europe since Chernobyl, Olkiluoto 3 would demonstrate that nuclear energy was the obvious solution to growing concerns about CO 2 emissions, high fossil fuel prices and dependence on imported energy sources.
It would also advertise that Areva had an efficient technology that could be rolled out to all the countries now considering building nuclear plants. To meet safety fears, Olkiluoto’s outer shell is designed to withstand the impact of an airliner and nuclear waste will be stored underground on site.
Instead, Olkiluoto has become a showcase for the hassles, delays and cost-overruns that critics say always bedevil nuclear projects. Finland’s fifth nuclear plant is now only expected to start operation in 2012 – three years late – and to cost €4.5bn, 50 per cent more than originally planned…
(3 November 2008)
