Clean Energy Insight - Moving Energy Forward

[Approx Read Time: 2 minutes]

Recently, Lakshmi Pendyala blogged about two seperate reports done by EPRI and CBI in the United States and UK respectively.  Both of these reports suggested that in order to meet growing future energy needs, the two respective countries would have to invest more in nuclear power along with other renewables.  A seperate study commissioned by the UK Government resulted in the same findings, but put substantially more emphasis on nuclear power.  Here’s an article from the World Nuclear News on the study’s findings:

( By Carrington Dillon ) [Approx. Watch/Read Time: 5.5 minutes]

In case you haven’t turned on the TV or visited an online media outlet, today is the 40th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 visit to the Moon.  I’d like for everyone to watch these videos and really let the depth of this human achievement sink in.  I don’t really feel that any commentary is necessary.  Neither is it appropriate to relate this accomplishment to nuclear power and try to make a point in any way.  I feel that younger generations don’t realize how important this feat was to the entire world.  Hopefully, this post will spark someone’s interest and make a change in the perception of the Apollo 11 Mission.  Enjoy.

First, here is the remastered video that NASA released earlier this week courtesy of the AP:

Here are some really great pictures from the Apollo 11 Mission:

( By Carrington Dillon ) [Approx. Read Time: 2.5 minutes]

The News & Advance from Lynchburg, VA recently provided a short re-cap of the recent Waxman-Markey Cap-and-Trade Bill that passed in the House of Representatives.  In this article, the News & Advance noted that Nuclear Power wasn’t given its due in the Bill’s pages.  The newspaper from Virginia also encouraged readers to contact their Senators (Mark Warner and Jim Webb) and encourage them to revise the Senate version of the Bill to include more provisions that recognize that more Nuclear Power is needed for this country to gain energy independence and greenhouse gas reduction goals.  See the article here.

“As initially crafted by Democratic Reps. Henry Waxman, of California, and Edward Markey, of Massachusetts, HR 2454 contained no mention whatsoever of the role of nuclear power in America’s energy future. For a major piece of legislation designed to plot America’s 21st century energy roadmap and address concerns about climate change, that omission was shocking, to say the least…

…so far as nuclear energy is concerned, the bill is woefully lacking. Many people in the environmental community become apoplectic at the very mention of the word “nuclear,” with visions of Three Mile Island in their heads.

The bill is now in the hands of the U.S. Senate where, perhaps, more rational thinking will emerge.

For America to reach the energy goals set forth in the bill, especially those on carbon emissions and renewable generation, more power will have to be generated by nuclear plants. It’s that simple. The nation’s generating capacity is stretch to the limits today, with coal doing much of the heavy lifting. But coal is also the biggest source of carbon emissions.

Conservation, wind generation, biomass generation and any other niche source of power simply will not meet the nation’s growing needs. Nuclear has to be the linch pin of America’s energy future…

So start calling and e-mailing Sens. Mark Warner and Jim Webb (warner.senate.gov and webb.senate.gov). Tell Virginia’s two U.S. senators that the energy bill needs some serious revisions and that nuclear power needs a bigger presence.

Time’s a’wasting.”

Thank you, News & Advance.  You people from Virginia–get on it.

( By Carrington Dillon ) [Approx. Read Time: 1 minute]

Starting today, we are going to be trying out a new format for the blogs posted on Clean Energy Insight.  Instead of longer news and opinion pieces being posted, we are going to start posting short news-brief style blogs.  Hopefully, this will keep you more interested and effectively informed.  We will still be posting the “old-style” blogs, but less often.

I would also like for this change to start more conversation in the comment section of each blog.  Without as much information presented in the blogs as before, our readers are allowed to get more involved with explaining and discussing the implications of the news in the blog.

By trimming down our blog categories into a few News blogs, we will be able to better present some of our advocacy activities from all over the country in new categories.  These new categories will be phased in by the end of the week.

Let us know what you think.  We hope you enjoy the new blogging strategy, and thank you for checking out Clean Energy Insight.

( By Carrington Dillon ) [Approx. Read Time: 3.5 minutes]

With all the attention that yesterday’s meeting between President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev received, I thought that it was necessary to raise awareness of the “Megatons to Megawatts” program that turns former Russian nuclear warheads into nuclear energy fuel.  This program wasn’t mentioned a single time in yesterday’s negotiation announcements.  This is especially a shame since the “Megatons to Megawatts” program is such a great program that largely goes unnoticed on a public stage.

From the negotiations between the two countries came one agreement to negotiate, by the year’s end, a reduction in one another’s nuclear weapon arsenals.  I felt that this may have left some people wondering, “where do these weapons go?”

I only recently learned of this private program that, at no cost to taxpayers, turns nuclear weapons into nuclear energy fuel.  You may have heard of the phrase “10% of American lightbulbs are powered by a former Russian nuclear warhead.”  Thanks to the “Megatons to Megawatts” program, that is true.

The goal of the program is to recycle 20,000 Russian nuclear warheads into nuclear energy fuel by 2013.  As of June 30th, 2009, 14,686 Russian nuclear warheads have been eliminated and turned into nuclear fuel.  Another relevant statistic from this program is that 367 metric tons of weapons-grade uranium has been recycled into 10,621 metric tons of nuclear energy fuel–a testament to the importance and effectiveness of this program.

With the recent and upcoming agreements between the Russian and American governments to reduce their nuclear weapon stockpiles, hopefully, this program will be expanded and brought to light on a larger stage.

You can learn more about the program here: http://www.usec.com/megatonstomegawatts.htm

( By Carrington Dillon )

I’d like to share something with all of you that I, for some reason, started thinking of the past couple of days.  This short excerpt from an essay by Albert Einstein entitled “The World As I See It,” had a very profound effect on my life when I read the piece in college.  Take from it what you may, but for some reason it struck a chord in me.  And looking at it now, how ironic is it to come from someone who had such a profound impact on all of our American nuclear industry lives?

“How strange is the lot of us mortals!  Each of us is here for a brief sojourn; for what purpose he knows not, though he sometimes thinks he senses it.  But without deeper reflection one knows from daily life that one exists for other people — first of all for those upon whose smiles and well-being our own happiness is wholly dependent, and then for the many, unknown to us, to whose destinies we are bound by the ties of sympathy.  A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving…”

Thanks and Happy Independence Day, Albert.

( By Carrington Dillon )

Welcome to Clean Energy Insight.  We are a group of nuclear industry professionals volunteering our time to advocate nuclear energy.  Clean Energy Insight was born out of discussions between members of NA-YGN (North American Young Generation in Nuclear) on how to better encourage political action in favor of nuclear energy.

NA-YGN is a national not-for-profit organization for nuclear industry professionals to develop professionally, share their passion for nuclear technology, and give back to the community.

Here at Clean Energy Insight, we believe that the time has come for the nuclear industry to quit taking a backseat and become proactive in the public debate on clean energy.  The goal of Clean Energy Insight is to give you the tools you need to become advocates for the most environmentally friendly, affordable, and reliable form of energy.

We created and will operate this website in our spare time, with our own financial backing.  We hope our efforts create a genuine and effective website to join the existing online nuclear advocacy movement.  There are no corporate special interests at play here. Our special interests include scientific research and realistic solutions to the issues that affect our daily lives.

As the newest generation of nuclear industry professionals, we will take control of this debate and force science, not politics, to be the judge in the debate on clean energy.  We have the tools, intellectual capital, and youthful initiative to take control of this debate and enlighten the American public on what nuclear energy can do for them.

We will be the ones to “put science back in its rightful place.”  We will move energy forward.

Sincerely,
Carrington Dillon