The future of spent nuclear fuel 

A blue ribbon commission on spent nuclear fuel will hold its first meeting March 25-26

A panel of nuclear energy experts appointed by the federal government will take up the issue of what to do with 60,000 metric tons of spent nuclear fuel. Appointed by Department of Energy Sec. Steven Chu, the 15 members of a Blue Ribbon Commission will look at a broad range of options for managing the material and related nuclear waste from the nation’s nuclear reactors. The one choice they won’t have is to use Yucca Mountain in Nevada. That option is off the table.  Read the full details of what issues the panel will discuss and some of the options they'll consider during the next 18 months.

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President Obama supports two new reactors in Georgia 

President Barack Obama finally came out in support of nuclear energy after a year of apparent indifference. This past week he approved $8.3 billion in federal loan guarantees for two new Westinghouse AP1000 1,150 MW nuclear reactors at Southern's Vogtle site. In doing so he also extended a hand across the partisan aisle to Republicans in the Senate in an effort to gain support for pending climate change legislation.

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Stewart Brand in free online web talk Feb 18 

Stewart Brand has a new book out in which the life long environmentalist endorses nuclear energy as a solution to the challenge of climate change.  four profound transformations are under way on Earth right now.

• Climate change is real and is pushing us toward managing the planet as a whole.
• Urbanization-half the world's population now lives in cities, and 80% will by midcentury-is altering humanity's land impact and wealth.
• Biotechnology is becoming the world's dominant engineering tool.
• Nuclear energy is a solution to reducing carbon emissions.

Brand says these changes will require environmentalists to reverse some long held opinions and embrace tools that they have traditionally and profoundly distrusted. 

Also, you can hear Brand talk about his ideas online Feb 18.  Read the blog post for details.

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Nuclear Reactor Scorecard 

The question for the job seeker is which of the nearly 20 new nuclear reactor projects has the best prospects for actually moving forward to construction?  No one wants to invest a few years of a career in a nuclear energy project that bites the dust because of political opposition or inability to get financing.  Project readiness also means having a reactor design that is on time for the U.S. market.

The list of places to look can be boiled down to choices in three broad categories. They are, in baseball terms (1) ducks on the pond, (2) close but no cigar, and (3) sent down to the minors.  Here's a quick review of who's on first.

 This schedule, and the ratings, aren't cast in stone.  Utilities change their minds based on economic conditions, the actions of state and federal regulatory agencies, and the interest of investors. 

Keep in mind that a few years experience at one site can position you for work at new reactor projects later in your career.  Your first job is unlikley to be your last.  Good luck and good job hunting.

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Job Outlook for Class of 2012 

What are the real opportunities in the nuclear energy field for a college graduate with a degree in nuclear engineering? The answer is the opportunities are really good in the U.S., and excellent if you are willing to travel to the U.K., France, India, China, Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. Here's a breakdown of where to look in the spring of 2012 as you contemplate how to turn that sheepskin into cold hard cash.

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Ge Hitachi makes progress on new reactor 

GE Hitrachi's ESBWR reactor has had a rough couple of years, but the firm is now making progress. It has a firm date from the NRC for completion of the safety evaluation report by 2011.  The first orders may come from the U.K. in 2015, but Detroit Edison is also moving ahead with plans for the FERMI III project in Michigan.  Overall, it's longer term prospects are looking better.

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Is nuclear energy gaining support from green groups? 

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More bad news for USEC 

The Energy & Water appropriation does not include $30 million promised by the Department of Energy (DOE) to USEC to help it with its plans to build a uranium enrichment plant in Piketon, OH. It is the second time in recent months that DOE's plans to rescue the project have run into a political firewall.

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TVA's new nuclear deals 

By 2020 the government utility will generate 50% of its power from nuclear reactors

The fullest expression of the nuclear renaissance to date has been in 18 license applications to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) mostly by commercial utilities. In the middle of the pile, the  Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) is developing an interesting track record not only in bringing moth balled reactors back to life, but also planning new ones. A nuclear engineer looking for a chance to work on the "big iron" would do well to consider TVA as a place to work.

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Small reactors offer big rewards 

What’s of interest to a nuclear engineer who doesn’t want to get swallowed up in the bureaucracy of a mega utility is that these small reactor projects are organized like Silicon Valley start-ups. Venture capitalists are willing to roll the dice on small reactors.  Two of the small reactor firms, Hyperion and NuScale, landed some of their initial funding from these types of investors.

So, if you have an entrepreneurial fire in your soul, take a look at small reactors.  Here’s a brief profile of some of them.

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Tales of two Texas cities  

There are stark difference in the dialog in two key Texas cities over the role of nuclear energy in the future of electricity supply.  In San Antonio the city council is poised to approve more than $2 billion in new spending over the next decade to support construction of Units 3 & 4 of the South Texas Project (STP).  In Austin, anti-nuclear activists who fought the industry in the 70s are now part of the political establishment and successfully spiked new investments in the plant.  So what accounts for differences?

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Targeting nuclear job growth opportunities 

The nuclear energy industry has two major growth sectors which should be commanding the attention of job seekers with backgrounds in mechanical, electrical, chemical, and nuclear engineering. The sectors the ramping up of design and construction of new plants and license renewals for current operating plants.

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Nuclear indexes track company performance by industry segment 

For people entering the nuclear industry, the usual question is how to present your qualifications.  However, there is a second question in these uncertain economic times. It is how do you qualify a potential employer and their industry?

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Welcome new contributor 

  New blogger in town Jeff Madison, cool guy in charge, welcomes Dan Yurman, publisher of the nuclear energy blog Idaho Samizdat to this site. Dan will be blogging here twice a month. Look for ... read more