Nuclear - Inside Climate News

Pennsylvania’s Governor Wants to Cut Power Plant Emissions With His Own Cap-and-Invest Program

By Jon Hurdle — Wed, 13 Mar 2024 22:00:00 +0000

Gov. Josh Shapiro promises to pull the state out of a broader cap-and-invest cooperative involving 11 Northeast states, known as RGGI, if lawmakers approve his plan. But Shapiro promised to press on with his appeal of a court ruling that effectively blocked RGGI membership, until his own plan is passed.

By Jon Hurdle

Pennsylvania would run its own cap-and-invest program for cutting carbon emissions from power plants and increase its use of renewable fuels if lawmakers approve two bills outlined by Gov. Josh Shapiro on Wednesday.

Maya van Rossum, the Delaware Riverkeeper, Shouts Down Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro Over a Proposed ‘Hydrogen Hub’

By Kiley Bense — Tue, 12 Mar 2024 17:20:00 +0000

Activists want more public participation in a proposal to produce hydrogen in southeastern Pennsylvania. Touted by the Biden administration as “crucial” to the nation’s climate goals, advocates fear the federally-funded project will create more pollution and further burden environmental justice communities.

By Kiley Bense

Protestors disrupted a public meeting on Monday about a federally-funded “hydrogen hub” to be located in southeastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware that would produce, transport and store the controversial fuel at sites across the region.

Tribes Meeting With Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Describe Harms Uranium Mining Has Had on Them, and the Threats New Mines Pose

By Noel Lyn Smith — Sun, 10 Mar 2024 09:05:00 +0000

As spiking uranium prices drive a surge of proposals for new mines, the Navajo Nation joined the Ute Mountain Ute, Havasupai, Northern Arapaho and Oglala Sioux tribes in a commission hearing with federal officials to push back against mining on and near their lands.

By Noel Lyn Smith

Members of five tribes told the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that Indigenous communities in the United States continue to suffer from the legacy of uranium mining and will face a persisting threat if new proposals for uranium extraction in the West are authorized during a hearing on Feb. 28 about mining to support the nation’s nuclear industry.

Virginia Utilities Seek Unbridled Rate Adjustments for Unproven Small Modular Nuclear Reactors in Two New Bills

By Jake Bolster — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 10:00:00 +0000

Under the proposed legislation, Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power would be able to pass the exorbitant cost of building SMRs onto consumers. Environmentalists warn the legislation contains no protections for ratepayers.

By Jake Bolster

Dominion Energy and Appalachian Power, Virginia’s two primary utilities, may soon be able to extract hundreds of millions of dollars from customers to cover the costs of building small nuclear facilities, an unproven form of emissions-free energy generation.

New Online Dashboard Identifies Threats Posed by Uranium Mines and Mills in New Mexico

By Noel Lyn Smith — Thu, 08 Feb 2024 10:00:00 +0000

The state where the U.S. nuclear weapons program was born has dozens of now-closed uranium mines and facilities where the radioactive mineral was handled. The new program will help everyone from community members to regulators see the hazards they pose.

By Noel Lyn Smith

Over the span of 50 years, New Mexico saw the development of dozens of uranium mines mostly in the northwest part of the state on federal, state, tribal, private or mixed land.

2023 in Climate News: Did Renewable Energy’s Surge Keep Pace With a Radically Warming Climate?

By ICN Staff — Wed, 27 Dec 2023 10:00:00 +0000

The push and pull of progress and catastrophe made 2023 one of the most discordant—and consequential—years for the world’s climate.

By ICN Staff

In 2023, clean energy progress and the horrors of a radically warming climate fought almost to a draw.

Wyoming Could Gain the Most from Federal Climate Funding, But Obstacles Are Many

By Marianne Lavelle — Wed, 30 Aug 2023 09:15:00 +0000

Ambitious climate action could reap rewards for the No. 1 coal state, one study concludes. But the state economy remains tied to fossil fuels.

By Marianne Lavelle

Wyoming Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis, leading Republican voices on energy policy, have been among the foremost critics of the nation’s first comprehensive climate law.

Amid Glimmers of Bipartisan Interest, Advocates Press Congress to Add Nuclear Power to the Climate Equation

By Emma Ricketts — Sat, 29 Apr 2023 09:00:00 +0000

Cost overruns and missed deadlines remain a powerful deterrent to investors. Still, the nuclear industry hopes clean energy goals will help unleash federal aid.

By Emma Ricketts

Even as climate change spurs interest in low-carbon energy sources, high costs and stubborn construction delays are impeding global investment in nuclear power, an expert told Congress this month.

Meet the Millennial Scientist Leading the Biden Administration’s Push for a Nuclear Power Revival

By Dan Gearino — Thu, 16 Feb 2023 14:00:00 +0000

Kathryn Huff, head of the Office of Nuclear Energy, on the administration’s plans for how and where to build new plants, and why some in her generation are bullish on atomic power—despite the skepticism.

By Dan Gearino

Kathryn Huff grew up in Bellville, Texas, a city of about 4,200 residents in the rural area west of Houston, and discovered at a young age that she had an aptitude for math.

What Lego—Yes, Lego—Can Teach Us About Avoiding Energy Project Boondoggles

By Dan Gearino — Thu, 02 Feb 2023 14:00:00 +0000

A new book looks at why big projects fail and finds that solar, wind and transmission lines are some of the best kinds of big projects, while nuclear power is among the worst.

By Dan Gearino

In the late 1980s, Denmark’s government announced plans for a massive bridge and tunnel project, the largest infrastructure plan in the history of a country that had little experience building tunnels. Bent Flyvbjerg watched the announcement on the news with his father, who had worked in bridge and tunnel construction.