Nuclear – Apr 4

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Many more articles are available through the Energy Bulletin homepage

Nuclear power revisited in California
Matthew Yi, SF Chronicle
Bill would lift ban on new plants — polls show voters evenly split
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A small but growing movement to promote nuclear power construction, dormant for three decades, is working to overturn the state’s ban on new reactors as worries about climate change have softened voters’ opposition to new plants.

A legislator from Southern California has introduced a bill to lift the state’s ban on new nuclear power plants. The bill would give a boost to plans by investors to bring nuclear power to the heart of the San Joaquin Valley.

…Skepticism about nuclear power abounds among environmentalists and in the Democrat-controlled state Legislature, but recent polls show that California voters are quickly changing their views on nuclear power in light of global warming. Likely voters are evenly split over the need to build more nuclear power plants.
(4 April 2007)
Significant development, because what happens in California will usually happen in the rest of the country a few years later. Hat tip to Carolyn C. -BA

Oil prices, CO2 concerns to spur nuclear renaissance: CERA
Ian Talley, MarketWatch
High fossil fuel prices and a global push for cleaner energy have created an environment ripe for a nuclear renaissance, Cambridge Energy Research Associates said in a report published Monday.

Despite obstacles such as high-level radioactive waste disposal, non-proliferation concerns, high investment costs and engineering shortages, CERA Senior Director Jone-Lin Wang and Associate Director Christopher Hansen said in their report, “The nuclear renaissance is real.”

“Over the past few years, high fossil fuel prices, energy security and climate change concerns and increasing urgency about reducing greenhouse gas emissions have all converged to improve the position of nuclear power relative to other options,” the two authors said in a press release.

The report said the trends, along with “excellent performance of the existing nuclear fleet and financial incentives in the Energy Policy Act of 2005,” have led to a race to develop new nuclear power reactors in the U.S.

The Bush administration, however, is facing mounting pressure to resolve a growing stockpile of spent nuclear fuel – currently stored temporarily at sites across the country – as plans for a national storage site at Yucca Mountain, Nev., have faced continuous legal and political hurdles, delays and projected budget expansions. ..
(2 Apr 2007)