Harsh reality is again clashing with the fanciful hype of the past several years about fusion energy. The only credible attempt to harness the physics of the sun — ITER (Latin for “the path” and originally the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor) — has again pushed back the date when it will attempt a sustained fusion reaction… More “Fusion propaganda” meets on-the-ground reality
The impacts of breaching the Lower Snake River hydro dams are on the agenda of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation and the Washington State Department of Ecology. The agencies held two public meetings June 25 and 27 under the rubric of the “Lower Snake River Water Supply Replacement Study.” The meetings are part of a… More Hydro you like this? A dam roundup
It didn’t take long. On Tuesday (July 2), the U.S. Supreme Court implemented its overturning of Chevron deference late last week by granting a petition for review of a D.C. Appeals Court decision – Edison Electric Institute et al. v. FERC 22-1246 – rejecting the court’s decision in favor of the regulators and sending the… More Chevron rejection bites FERC first
The U.S. Supreme Court last week by the now conventional 6-3, conservative v. liberal, margin tossed out the 40-year-old precedent on how courts should review disputes in cases before it involving interpretations of ambiguous technical laws Congress has passed. The latest reversal of precedent – which this court often honors more in the breach than… More Commentary: SCOTUS shows Chevron no deference
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission yesterday (June 27) began a move to improve the efficiency of the existing U.S. national electric transmission system, along with its earlier efforts to push grid expansion. The commission approved an unusual “advanced notice of proposed rulemaking” seeking advice on how to use state-of-the-art weather forecasting to improve the operation… More FERC moves toward “dynamic line rating” for the electric grid
Does the highly touted, allegedly advanced nuclear reactor former Microsoft found Bill Gates is financing have inherent safety issues? According to nuclear physicist Edwin Lyman (PhD, Cornell, 1992) of the Union of Concerned Scientists, the Natrium reactor being developed by Gates’s Terra Power company has a “positive void coefficient of reactivity.” That means that when… More Does the Gates Natrium nuke have safety issues?
By Henry Sokolski In five months, America will elect its next president. Not surprisingly, both leading candidates, through their lieutenants, are already floating what they would do to counter the rising military threats China, Russia, and their proxies now pose. They are both spotlighting the possibility of expanding America’s nuclear arsenal — the primary strategic… More Guest Commentary: China, Russia, and the coming cool war
California’s Democratic legislators may have monkey wrenched Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to extend the life of the state’s sole surviving nuclear power plant with some $400 million in a first installment of taxpayer money with more to follow. As the AP reported, the solons June 13 threw a spanner into Newsom’s proposed loan to… More Calif. solons undercut Diablo Canyon extension plan
For over 50 years, Basin Electric Power Cooperative has been ripping off its member rural electric cooperative distribution utilities. It could owe them potentially hundreds of millions of dollars in refunds, according to an initial decision by a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission administrative law judge Scott Hempling last week (June 11). Basin, headquartered in Bismarck,… More Basin Electric could face huge repayments to its cooperative utility members
A nasty, long-burning fire near San Diego, Calif., last month provides graphic evidence of a risk inherent in large lithium-ion battery energy storage systems. As battery storage becomes more common with the rise of intermittent energy generation from solar and wind power, fire protection likely will become a prominent public concern. On May 15, a… More Big Calif. battery storage facility fire burns for 11 days