Serhii Plokhy W.W. Norton & Company What do the six most significant nuclear accidents since the dawn of the age of atomic energy have in common? Ukrainian and American scholar Serhii Plokhy is his riveting and at times terrifying new book, “Atoms and Ashes: A Global History of Nuclear Disasters,” makes a compelling case that … More Book Review: Atoms and Ashes: A Global History of Nuclear Disasters
On May 9, 2021 at 11:21 central time near Odessa in West Texas, a combined-cycle gas-fired generating plant tripped off line, due to what a reliability expert described as “a small, ordinary line-to-ground fault.” The result was entirely unexpected: solar photovoltaic generation over a 200-mile section of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid also … More Inverter woes: Where AC meets DC
The vaunted, but aging, French government-owned nuclear program is facing big problems, which are spreading to the rest of Europe. Bloomberg reported last week (May 19), “French electricity prices climbed after the region’s biggest producer cut its nuclear output target for a third time this year, the latest sign that the region’s power crisis is … More France’s nuclear program in trouble
Vaclav Smil Penguin ISBN 978-0-241-45439-8 Vaclav Smil’s latest, How the World Really Works, is a summary of the case he’s been making in more than 40 books since 1976 that solving the world’s energy problems is harder, more complex, and more unpredictable than much of the breezy rhetoric from advocates of particular policies, politics, and … More Book Review: How the World Really Works, The Science Behind How We Got Here and Where We’re Going
For some energy gurus, and they tend to be enthusiastic, hydrogen is the key to a carbon-free future for the world. Some businesses and institutions are, at least potentially, putting big money behind their enthusiasm. For hydrogen enthusiasts, the fundamental element (first of the periodic table of the elements), has a lot going for it. … More Elon Musk makes the case against hydrogen, as investors back H2
The U.K. has an ambitious energy policy agenda, unveiled after the Conference of the Parties-26 in Glasgow last fall, aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions. As outlined by the government of Prime Minister Boris Johnson, the U.K.’s path is to “net zero” greenhouse emissions from the electricity sector by 2050. The targets include 50 gigawatts … More U.K. grid may doom “net zero by 2050”
It’s time for the U.S. nuclear industry to abandon its surface excuses for poor performance and focus on the reality of the industry’s poor economic record. That’s the latest word from Steve Nesbit, outgoing president of the American Nuclear Society. Nesbit said in the ANS’s NuclearNewswire this week, “There is no ‘divine right’ behind nuclear … More ANS president Nesbit to nuclear industry: get real
Facing multiple market pressures, major independent power producer Talen Energy has put its generating assets in Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization. The Wall Street Journal headlined the story, “Talen Energy to Hand Power-Plant Business to Bondholders.” Talen Energy Corp. subsidiary Talen Energy Supply of Woodlands, Texas, on Monday (May 9) filed for Chapter 11 protection in … More Big Independent Power Producer Files for Chapter 11
It’s no surprise to anyone covering the story for a while, but the price tag for Georgia Power’s Vogtle two-unit, 2,000-MW new nuclear plant has now surpassed $30 billion. That’s more than double the original cost estimate for a plant planned to be in operation in 2016. It now looks very likely that neither unit … More $30 billion: More up, up, and away at troubled Vogtle
By Henry Sokolski America’s outdated system for classifying the nation’s secrets threatens to hinder our preparedness for the next generation of warfare. With Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, Americans have had a ringside seat at one of the most unusual of presidential shows: President Joe Biden publicly divulging some of our nation’s most protected, secret insights … More Keeping Secrets