Issues associated with new build nuclear plants
Quite often we hear about the problem of attracting financing to support new build nuclear projects. In fact financing will be a topic of major interest at a number of upcoming nuclear conferences. While it is easy to agree that financing nuclear projects is a big challenge, in my Read more…
A comment caught my attention at a recent nuclear industry event. The comment was that a hi-profile agency with a mandate to do research in advanced technology across industries had no interest in attending any events to learn more about nuclear power – primarily because “nuclear is not innovative”. In Read more…
As I started to read this year’s World Energy Outlook (WEO 2013) from the International Energy Agency (IEA), it was the very first line in the executive summary that caught my interest. The report starts out with “Many of the long–held tenets of the energy sector are being rewritten.” It Read more…
After many years of effort, this month it finally happened. The UK government and EDF Energy, the French-owned UK integrated energy company, agreed to a strike price making the first new nuclear build in the UK in a generation, at Hinkley Point C, a reality. It was a long hard Read more…
2012 was a challenging year. The industry continued to see the impact of the Fukushima accident. While the Japanese were working towards a policy of complete nuclear phase out by the 2040s; and other markets were looking at reducing reliance on nuclear power; and significantly France, the most nuclear country Read more…
Hard to believe we have already come to the end of another year. It was a year with both highs and lows for the nuclear industry. I will talk about this more in the new year. But for today, I wanted to close out 2012 by writing about something that Read more…
I have just done my first pass of the Word Energy Outlook 2012 issued by the IEA this November. Many of you will have seen some of the headlines – one of the most intriguing is that the US is expected to become the world’s largest oil producer by 2017 Read more…
I participated in the WNA Annual Symposium in London earlier this month. During the event I had ample opportunity to discuss my last post on developing a better understanding of the beliefs behind the public’s view of nuclear power and what we as an industry need to do going forward. Read more…
Since the Fukushima accident earlier this year, it has become clear that the nuclear industry has a fundamental problem. As so eloquently said in the introductory session of the WNA Annual Symposium in London last month by WNA Executive Director John Ritch there is a common belief that while nuclear Read more…
“Nuclear is a business, not a religion” John Rowe, Chairman and CEO of Exelon (August 15, 2011) In his speech to the American Nuclear Society Utility Working Conference in Hollywood, Fla. entitled “My Last Nuclear Speech”, Rowe, while accepting that nuclear is an important option to meet climate change and Read more…
Although it has been more than two months since I last posted; Fukushima continues to dominate the discussion both within and outside of the industry. So here I am, sitting on the balcony of my beautiful room in Brunei – overlooking the South China Sea – contemplating how this major Read more…
With everything going on due to this major natural disaster in Japan, it is absolutely incredible to watch how much of the reporting is about the Fukushima plant that goes well beyond the current status of the plant and efforts to get the situation under control. There is a lot Read more…
The UK is unique in its approach to the nuclear renaissance. Once the cradle of the nuclear industry, with some of the world’s oldest plants and research centres, the UK has mostly dismantled its nuclear industry in recent years. From privatizing British Energy to selling off Westinghouse and dismantling BNFL, Read more…
Looking back at my blog from last January, I can probably start the same way – “Where did the time go?” 2010 has been a very busy year with a huge amount of activity in the nuclear sector around the world. I am certain that we can expect an even Read more…
For some time we have seen the nuclear industry moving from west to east. The nuclear renaissance is somewhat stalled in the west, while new build nuclear in the east, led by China, continues to accelerate to extraordinary levels. There are numerous reasons for this shift from west to east. Read more…
As stated in my previous post, I was in Hong Kong recently. This gave me an opportunity to visit the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant. This is not my first time visiting a nuclear power plant in China. I have visited Qinshan many times, and in fact have been involved Read more…
As I write this I am on my way home from speaking at an event in Hong Kong put on by a think tank called Civic Exchange. I want to thank Civic Exchange for asking me to participate and congratulate them on their format. The topic for this, their 14th Read more…
Inspiring! That is the best word I can think of to describe Stewart Brand’s book “Whole Earth Discipline.” My faith in people has been restored. To be frank I have heard Stewart Brand speak twice when I went out and bought his most recent book. His conversion to an ardent Read more…
Recently read “The Black Swan” by Professor Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Anyone at all interested in the use of probabilities to assess and manage risk must put this on their reading list. Taking aim at the normal curve high priests, Taleb attacks by showing that most of what shapes our lives Read more…
Of course the answer is YES! “Rework” is an easy to read book from the people at 37signals, a small business (ok not so small anymore) that creates project management software. Their products are designed to enable us to more easily work together. So when they write a book to Read more…