Science and Technology:
¶ NuScale Power, LLC announced a new NuScale Module for nuclear power plants that does not require any electrical power, on-going operator action, or additional water to be able to achieve safe cooldown should the need arise. [MarketWatch]
¶ Joule announced the direct conversion of waste carbon dioxide into the essential components of gasoline and jet fuel. The process uses waste carbon dioxide as a feedstock, allowing industrial emitters to produce valuable fuel as a way to deal with emissions. [Business Wire]
World:
¶ In the UK, a High Court judge ruled that large wind turbines can be erected just 350 metres from homes, and that an attempt by a Buckinghamshire town council to impose a 1.2 km buffer zone between the turbines and the nearest house was “unlawful.” [The Week UK]
¶ A Japanese court rejected a petition to close down the Ohi nuclear plant’s two operating reactors. Anti-nuclear advocates wanted to have the reactors shut down because they sit directly on top of a fault seismologists believe is active. [Asahi Shimbun]
US:
¶ A proposal to allow renewable energy developers to take advantage of a tax structure that has long been popular among fossil fuel companies is gaining traction among lawmakers tasked with overhauling the tax code. [Midwest Energy News]
¶ Walmart President and CEO Mike Duke announced that the company intends produce or procure 7 billion kWh of renewable energy each year, a 600 percent increase from 2010 levels. [Power Engineering Magazine]
¶ Ernest Moniz, nominee for energy secretary, told a Senate committee that he would prioritize consideration for energy storage, which some people regard as vital to renewable integration, to take up the issue within 30 days of taking office. [PV-Tech]
¶ Admirals Bank has launched a new division, Admirals Alternatives, specifically to finance residential solar and renewable energy systems. Their innovative loan programs help homeowners to own, rather than lease, their system while saving money. [San Francisco Chronicle]
¶ California’s Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) has reached an agreement with consumer, labor and other groups to give electric customers an opportunity to support 100% renewable energy. [Renew Grid] (PG&E owns the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant.)
¶ After bombs went off at the Boston Marathon, killing and injuring numbers of people , security for nearby nuclear plants has been tightened. [Huffington Post Canada]
¶ Entergy Nuclear, owner of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, will again be required to give the Nuclear Regulatory Commission a $40 million letter of credit because of shortfalls in Vermont Yankee’s decommissioning trust fund. [Barre Montpelier Times Argus]
¶ The NRC will hold a public meeting on April 24 in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, to discuss the plan to shut the Kewaunee nuclear reactor. The reactor will be shut down for decommissioning on May 7. [MSN Money]
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