“The House bill [H.R. 6544] would also extend the Price-Anderson federal accident insurance subsidy, first enacted in 1957 and renewed seven times since then. The program expires at the end of 2025. It isn’t clear why this federal subsidy for nuclear in still needed when the industry insists its new, advanced reactor designs are ‘inherently’ walk-away safe.”

The U.S. nuclear industry in recent days has hit three cherries on the federal money-and-policy slot machine. The open question is whether the largess (some might call it pork) will have the intended results: revitalizing a moribund industry by hitching its wagon to the feverish fear of climate change and long-run animosity toward nuclear rivals China and Russia.

First, the money–the most tangible of the goodies Congress and the White House have doled out.…

Ed. Note: This post excerpts energy and climate material from the Media Balance Newsletter, a free fortnightly published by physicist John Droz Jr., founder of the Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions. The complete Newsletter for this post can be found here.

Unreliables (General):
*** US counties are blocking wind and solar energy: These maps, graphics show how
*** The American revolt against green energy has begun
*** Blackouts, Here We Come
Out Of Transmission Revisited
Planning for climate blackouts

Wind Energy:
*** Taking the Wind Out of Climate Change (referencing 60± studies)
*** A Blow to Big Wind?
*** Hurricane Threats to Ocean Wind Turbines

Nuclear Energy:
*** U.S. Seeks to Boost Nuclear Power After Decades of Inertia
*** The Role of Nuclear in the Global World of Energy
*** On Radiation: Nuclear energy myths versus facts

Fossil Fuel Energy:
*** Biden liquefied natural gas export ‘pause’ hurts Americans and our allies
*** Chinese Control Over U.S.…

“The green movement calls for a shutdown of coal and gas power plants. At the same time, it demands a switch to electric vehicles, electric home appliances, and green hydrogen produced by power-intensive electrolyzers. This and the AI revolution portend a breakdown of the so-called energy transition.”

Twenty-three states have adopted goals to move to 100 percent clean energy by 2050. State governments propose to retire coal- and gas-fired power plants and adopt wind and solar systems. But these goals conflict with efforts to promote electric vehicles (EVs), electric appliances, and a new application (AI) that will increase the demand for electric power.

The green energy push seeks to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions to fight human-caused global warming. Leaders tell us that without a complete transformation of electric power, transportation, and home appliances to achieve Net Zero carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, we are doomed to suffer from increasingly severe climate change impacts.…

Ed. Note: The news about nuclear is not good, which has been true for the last 70 years. Kennedy Maize at the Quad Report has the latest.

Holtec Decommissioning Scandal (800 MW Palisades)

New Jersey-based Holtec International on January 30th  agreed to pay its home state a $5 million fine in order to avoid criminal prosecution for falsifying documents related to a 2018 state-awarded tax break program.

The development in New Jersey could scuttle widespread rumors, most likely spread by Holtec, that the U.S. Department of Energy is about to loan the company $1.5 billion for its project to recommission the shuttered 800-MW Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan. Bloomberg first reported the rumor, commenting that the DOE loan would be “the latest sign of strengthening federal government support for the atomic industry.”…