The vulnerable Texas electric grid has survived Winter Storm Heather, which brought frigid weather to the Lone Star State and snow and equally frigid temperatures to the East and Middle Atlantic states. Texans, who have become familiar with cold winter weather and searing summer heat bringing statewide blackouts, responded to pleas from the high-voltage transmission… More Texas unharmed by Winter Storm Heather
The massive earthquake that struck Japan on New Years Day, killing an estimated 200, also damaged one of the country’s nuclear power plants as the nation is still trying to recover from the March 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster. An earthquake and resulting tsunami, an enormous wall of sea water, crashed into the nuclear units and… More Japan’s earthquake response and the U.S. regulatory paradigm
By Henry Sokolski Six years ago, my organization, Nonproliferation Policy Education Center (NPEC), ran a mock exercise of a law Congress passed in 1978 but that the administration refused to implement —Title V of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Act of 1978. Title V called on the State and Energy Departments to conduct country-specific analyses of how… More Forgotten, repealed nonproliferation law provision revived
The item on the agenda of the December meeting of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission looked innocuous, filled with the dry, abstract language of most of the commission’s action items. It was an uncontested “settlement agreement” among a bunch of parties on an electric transmission issue going back some 15 years. The action marked the… More The $250 million PATH to nowhere
Troubled small modular nuclear reactor developer NuScale (SMR:NYSE) has laid off about 40% of its staff, some 200 employees. While the company has not acknowledged the layoffs, Huffpost obtained a recording of the “virtual, all-hands meeting” at the company’s Portland, Ore., headquarters last Friday (Jan. 5). The online news service also had “Two sources with… More No happy new year for Nuscale
By Eric Gomez and Henry Sokolski All eyes are currently riveted on Israel’s ground war in Gaza, but it’s not too soon to consider what comes next — a U.S.-brokered deal to normalize Israeli-Saudi relations. Before Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, President Joe Biden had already offered Riyadh a formal defense commitment and civil nuclear energy cooperation including enriching… More Guest Commentary: Will a Gaza settlement raise nuclear weapons risks?
The Internal Revenue Service has proposed strict rules for green hydrogen production tax credits. Environmental and renewable energy interests are applauding. Fossil fuel and legacy electric generators are fuming. A fight over the final rules, including the federal courts, looks likely. The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act provided for the hydrogen production tax credits, (known… More IRS proposes tough rules for hydrogen production tax credits
Weather disasters are the journalistic equivalent of potato chips. Betcha can’t eat one. Extreme weather has it all for the news business. Great images, heart-wrenching human stories, lots of blame to spread. And for climate evangelists, it’s self-evident evidence, meaning evidence to oneself. But for those who value data over image or ideology, 2023 doesn’t… More 2023’s climate: It was a meh year for the U.S.
Blackouts are among the worst things that can happen to electric utilities, particularly when customers are freezing in the dark for long periods. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) recently observed, “Any blackout imposes profound effects upon industry, business, community, and life, which would be compounded during an extreme cold weather event.” Getting generating units… More FERC addresses electric blackstart problems
U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos in Manhattan Monday (Dec. 18) sentenced Trevor Milton, founder and former CEO of e-truck company Nikola Corp. (NKLA:NASDAQ) to four years in prison for defrauding investors. Prosecutors had sought a sentence of 11-years in the slammer. He will be out on bail pending an appeal. Ramos also ordered Milton to pay… More Trevor Milton, E-truck Nikola Corp. founder, headed to prison?