The Nuclear Regulatory Commission signed off today on a proposal to build a uranium enrichment plant near Idaho Falls. Continue reading →

Filed under: Energy, Areva, Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility, Nuclear energy, U.S. Rep. Mike Simpson

Seventeen Oregon lawmakers are politely asking the U.S. Department of Energy not to choose Hanford as a permanent storage site for radioactive waste around the country. The DOE is considering Hanford for storage of waste that is "Greater than Class C" – not spent nuclear fuel but other kinds of waste like contaminated metal from decommissioned nuclear plants with radioactivity ... Continue reading →

Filed under: Energy, Hanford Site, Nuclear energy

Some interesting findings came out of a poll conducted last week for OPB and Fox 12 news. The survey found Oregonians are still evenly split in their support for nuclear energy – just as they were last June. But the opposition is stronger now than it was in a similar poll taken last year. Continue reading →

Filed under: Energy, Japan's tsunami, Nuclear energy

This is a guest post by OPB reporter Rob Manning Continue reading →

Filed under: Energy, Water, Japan's tsunami, Nuclear energy, Reed College

If I'm reading this news correctly, it appears the U.S. has a $24 billion fund for nuclear waste management that's sitting unused in the U.S. Treasury with little prospect of being spent on a permanent nuclear waste storage site. In the absence of a permanent storage site, 104 commercial nuclear plants in the U.S. are storing spent fuel on site ... Continue reading →

Filed under: Energy, Nuclear energy

The New York Times reports on new comments from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission chairman on the radiation threats from failing nuclear power plants in Japan. The radiation levels are "extremely high" at Fukushima No. 4 reactor's spent fuel pool, he said. The NRC is now recommending evacuation for Americans within 50 miles of the Fukushima power plant. (Note, however, ... Continue reading →

Filed under: Pacific Ocean, Japan's tsunami, Nuclear energy

Everyone is talking about the virtues and perils of nuclear energy in light of Japan's unfolding nuclear disaster. Continue reading →

Filed under: Energy, Nuclear energy

I guess this makes sense, as the world watches Japan struggle to avert a nuclear disaster in the wake of Friday's back-to-back earthquake and tsunami: Continue reading →

Filed under: Renewable energy, Japan's tsunami, Nuclear energy, Solar power, Wind energy

The New York Times reports the threat of nuclear meltdown is still very real at Japanese reactors impacted by Friday's tsunami. At Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station's Reactor 2, at least parts of the fuel rods have been exposed for several hours, suggesting some of the fuel has begun to melt. The Times quotes an anonymous nuclear industry executive saying ... Continue reading →

Filed under: Energy, Pacific Ocean, Nuclear energy

Oregon Public Health Division Director Mel Kohn released a statement this weekend saying the state is monitoring radiation levels in Oregon following reports of a radiation release at a Japanese nuclear reactor. Given the size of the radiation release and the distance from Oregon, Kohn said he doesn't see any public health risk to Oregon. (However, several reactors are still ... Continue reading →

Filed under: Energy, Pacific Ocean, Nuclear energy