Jacques Besnainou, CEO of Areva North America, on Monday applauded the Obama administration’s decision in February to award federal nuclear loan guarantees to The Southern Company. Southern will use the guarantees to borrow US$3.4 billion to build two Westinghouse AP 1000 reactors in Georgia. Yes, the head of a French company is happy to see an […]

Over the last couple days I have participated in a very interesting discussion on the relevance of proliferation concerns to the renaissance in civilian nuclear energy. This closely preceded the announcement, a few minutes ago, by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists that the hands of its famous “Doomsday Clock” have been reset from 5 to 6 […]

U.S. presidential candidate John McCain talked up energy and the environment in a campaign speech in Ottawa this afternoon. Climate climate figured prominently in his speech. McCain called for cap and trade as an effective way to reduce carbon emissions, underscoring the importance of the first punch in the decisive one-two combination that will jolt […]

Climate change and nuclear weapons proliferation are the biggest dangers facing humanity. The two issues are inextricably and dramatically linked in the U.S.-India civilian nuclear deal.
In its drive to industrialize, India will need enormous amounts of electricity. As in many other major economies in the world, most of India’s new power will come from two […]

Last week, the Ontario Clean Air Alliance and Toronto Environmental Alliance demanded that Ontario stop exporting coal-fired power to the U.S. Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty “knows that the pollution from coal-fired electricity kills Ontarians,” said the TEA’s Franz Hartmann.
Hartmann’s death-by-coal claim is based on a series of reports from a few years ago, which estimated […]

P-Rod bangs out huge double for federal LiberalsYou know that fall has truly arrived when the “Rods” pick up their games. Baseball fans are enjoying the matchup between the Yankees’ A-Rod (Alex Rodgriguez) and the Tigers’ I-Rod (Ivan Rodriguez) in the ALDS. And politics fans in Canada are enjoying the House exploits of the federal […]

P-Rod bangs out huge double for federal LiberalsYou know that fall has truly arrived when the “Rods” pick up their games. Baseball fans are enjoying the matchup between the Yankees’ A-Rod (Alex Rodgriguez) and the Tigers’ I-Rod (Ivan Rodriguez) in the ALDS. And politics fans in Canada are enjoying the House exploits of the federal […]

Electricity as an Ontario (and a Canadian) election issueI mentioned in my October 3 post that the Ontario Liberals’ loss in Parkdale–High Park occurred for reasons other than their nuclear expansion policy. This is not to say electricity won’t be an issue in the provincial election in October 2007. It will.With all the talk of […]

Electricity as an Ontario (and a Canadian) election issueI mentioned in my October 3 post that the Ontario Liberals’ loss in Parkdale–High Park occurred for reasons other than their nuclear expansion policy. This is not to say electricity won’t be an issue in the provincial election in October 2007. It will.With all the talk of […]

Why isn’t the Ontario nuclear restart a bona fide green move?

In 1994, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from Ontario’s electricity generating sector were nine million tonnes below Kyoto compliant. Of course Kyoto hadn’t been signed yet in 1994 but that’s not the point. The nine million tonnes is what’s important: it means Ontario’s GHGs from […]