The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) latest report on federal energy subsidies, released on August 1, underreported direct and indirect federal subsidies to the nuclear and fossil fuel industries, creating an inflated view of the subsidies that benefit renewable energy and efficiency programs, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Although the agency concedes that […]
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A Resurgence of Nuclear Power Poses Significant Challenges
Advocates of nuclear power are promoting a “nuclear renaissance” based on claims that a new generation of reactors will produce relatively cheap electricity while solving the threat posed by global climate change. U.S. power producers have proposed building more than 30 new nuclear reactors — and some proponents have called for building as many as […]
Renewable Energy Likely to Become Dominant Climate Change Solution by 2050, U.N. Study Concludes
But Support for Renewable Energy Policies Remains Key to Reaching Goals Renewable energy is likely to become the world’s dominant climate change solution by the middle of the century, according to a new study by the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It has the potential to be more competitive than nuclear power, […]
Nuclear Accident ABCs
In reporting on the nuclear situation in Japan, terms describing the possible state of the reactors have been used by Japanese officials and international experts. Unfortunately, these terms are not always used consistently. We discuss some of them below. The reactor core containing nuclear fuel is the “engine” of a nuclear power reactor. The reactor […]
Update on Fukushima Reactor
Update at 11pm EST Saturday 3/12/11: On Saturday March 12 at 3:36 pm local time (1:36 am EST) an explosion occurred in the Unit 1 reactor building at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. (Original reports suggested that the explosion took place in an adjacent turbine building, but we no longer believe this is the case.) […]
Nuclear Crisis in Japan: What We Know
The massive earthquake off the northeast coast of Japan has caused a potentially catastrophic situation at one of Japan’s nuclear power plants. The situation is still evolving, but below is a preliminary assessment based on the facts as experts at the Union of Concerned Scientists currently understand them. The plant’s owner, Tokyo Electric Power Company […]
