Up, up and away

As goes the dollar, so goes nuclear in the States? Interesting comment from Mr. Crane that who is going to build these things comes BEFORE the cost analysis. That seems backasswards to me.

NRG's Estimate for Texas Nuclear Reactors Still Climbing - Dallas Morning News - 27 Mar 08

"Last summer, officials with the power plant developer said the reactors at the South Texas Project would cost between $6 billion and $7 billion. Then the estimate moved to $7 billion. On Wednesday, executives said the reactors will probably cost $8 billion. 

Blame higher costs for material used to build power plants, such as steel and concrete, and the weak dollar.  U.S. companies no longer make some of the massive parts for nuclear reactors, since the country hasn't built nuclear power plants in decades. So NRG must import about 30 percent of the parts for the reactors from Japan."

"'There's a lot of focus in the analyst community about the cost,' Mr. Crane said. 'There's actually a question that has to be answered before the cost, and that's who is going to build these plants.'"

"Since the last round of reactors was built, Texas deregulated its power industry.  A nuclear reactor developer can no longer pass along higher costs to consumers in electricity rates."

Up, up and away

As goes the dollar, so goes nuclear in the States? Interesting comment from Mr. Crane that who is going to build these things comes BEFORE the cost analysis. That seems backasswards to me.

NRG's Estimate for Texas Nuclear Reactors Still Climbing - Dallas Morning News - 27 Mar 08

"Last summer, officials with the power plant developer said the reactors at the South Texas Project would cost between $6 billion and $7 billion. Then the estimate moved to $7 billion. On Wednesday, executives said the reactors will probably cost $8 billion. 

Blame higher costs for material used to build power plants, such as steel and concrete, and the weak dollar.  U.S. companies no longer make some of the massive parts for nuclear reactors, since the country hasn't built nuclear power plants in decades. So NRG must import about 30 percent of the parts for the reactors from Japan."

"'There's a lot of focus in the analyst community about the cost,' Mr. Crane said. 'There's actually a question that has to be answered before the cost, and that's who is going to build these plants.'"

"Since the last round of reactors was built, Texas deregulated its power industry.  A nuclear reactor developer can no longer pass along higher costs to consumers in electricity rates."

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Maybe they should set up a state-owned nuke firm in the UK and the US of A and have a kumbaya moment?

Areva CEO Wants More Cooperation with Atomenergoprom - Reuters - 27 Mar 08

"Areva wants to expand its cooperation with Russia's state-owned nuclear group Atomenergoprom, the head of the French state-owned nuclear reactor maker said on Thursday at a nuclear summit. 'I am absolutely convinced that we have many things to do together, and certainly more than what we have done in the past, in particular when it comes to the construction of new types of reactors,' Areva Chief Executive Anne Lauvergeon said.

'We often see each other. We have existing partnerships. We have discussions,' she added. Atomenergoprom was created from Rosenergoatom, which manages Russia's 10 atomic power stations, as well as state-owned uranium trader Tekhsnabexport (Tenex), and nuclear fuel producer TVEL."

Can't We All Just Get Along?

Maybe they should set up a state-owned nuke firm in the UK and the US of A and have a kumbaya moment?

Areva CEO Wants More Cooperation with Atomenergoprom - Reuters - 27 Mar 08

"Areva wants to expand its cooperation with Russia's state-owned nuclear group Atomenergoprom, the head of the French state-owned nuclear reactor maker said on Thursday at a nuclear summit. 'I am absolutely convinced that we have many things to do together, and certainly more than what we have done in the past, in particular when it comes to the construction of new types of reactors,' Areva Chief Executive Anne Lauvergeon said.

'We often see each other. We have existing partnerships. We have discussions,' she added. Atomenergoprom was created from Rosenergoatom, which manages Russia's 10 atomic power stations, as well as state-owned uranium trader Tekhsnabexport (Tenex), and nuclear fuel producer TVEL."

Hey! Bag It!

I've thought using a bag of compressed air under water to store energy had potential for sometime now.  Glad to see that someone is actually doing something with the concept.  Seems like any reasonably large mass of water would do. Unfortunately, here in Nebraska, Big Mac is just about empty because of the droughts. Some of the other options are silted in behind their dams. No luck there either.

I'm not so keen on the piston-in-blade part for a compressor. That seems like not so good of an idea vs. old time multi-stage compressors that are currently being developed. Sometimes you can get a bit too clever with these things. A better approach if one was to go that way seems like it would be to mimic the radial engines of aircraft from olden days. The link includes a video.

The Man Making "Wind Bags" - BBC News - 26 Mar 08

"Seamus Garvey wants to 'store the wind'.  He believes the future of energy is storing it as compressed air in giant bags under the sea.  And a major power company has invested in the scheme."

Hey! Bag It!

I've thought using a bag of compressed air under water to store energy had potential for sometime now.  Glad to see that someone is actually doing something with the concept.  Seems like any reasonably large mass of water would do. Unfortunately, here in Nebraska, Big Mac is just about empty because of the droughts. Some of the other options are silted in behind their dams. No luck there either.

I'm not so keen on the piston-in-blade part for a compressor. That seems like not so good of an idea vs. old time multi-stage compressors that are currently being developed. Sometimes you can get a bit too clever with these things. A better approach if one was to go that way seems like it would be to mimic the radial engines of aircraft from olden days. The link includes a video.

The Man Making "Wind Bags" - BBC News - 26 Mar 08

"Seamus Garvey wants to 'store the wind'.  He believes the future of energy is storing it as compressed air in giant bags under the sea.  And a major power company has invested in the scheme."