Publications: Commentary

Nuclear Nexus Challenges for the Coming Year

The decision by 25 nations at the COP28 international climate conference to support the tripling of nuclear energy by 2050 was a major milestone in the recognition of reality about how global zero-carbon energy will be achieved. This is a big aspiration and probably an unattainable objective. One analysis notes that this goal will require building “the equivalent of about…
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Moving Nuclear Expansion from Aspiration to Action After COP28

The yearly U.N. climate agreement conference of the parties long ago devolved into a cacophonous circus. But this year in Dubai, it at least added a dedicated ring for the clean energy attributes of nuclear power. The IAEA’s Atoms 4 Climate pavilion alone hosted over 40 events. The issue now is whether the “aspirational goal”…
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Reality Fractures the Next-Gen Nuclear Fairy Tale

The cratering  of the NuScale Power-UAMPS Carbon Free Power Project is not the end of the world for next-generation nuclear energy. But it is the end of the fairy tale phase. So much hot air was being blown into the next-gen nuclear narrative that it was inevitable the balloon would burst when it rubbed up…
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