Reactor Reax Top Stories - Another Solyndra

The latest roundup of stories about nuclear power, energy, and the inherent dangers that go along with it.

Courtesy: toonpool.com

(WASHINGTON D.C.) - Here is the latest Reactor Reax report from 'Physicians for Social Responsibility'. Each week they send out the latest stories about the myriad subjects that accompany and inevitably surround nuclear power.

Anyone who has really watched the video clips on YouTube of the tsunami striking Fukushima prefecture in Japan, can understand the sheer raw power and force of nature. Anything man creates is potentially subject to removal and destruction by forces that mankind has no ability to reckon with.

This week in an op-ed by Henry Sokolski and Autumn Hanna, for the National Review titled Another Solyndra, we learn how after weeks of outrage over an ill-fated $535 million federal loan guarantee to Solyndra — a bankrupt, politically backed solar-energy company — you'd think Washington would back away from such boondoggles.

We also learn that the Florida Public Service Commission faces a regulatory vote, and a lawsuit over whether or not it can charge for nuclear projects, and that mayors in Florida are leading the opposition to nuclear power fees.

From the Asheville, N.C. Citizen-Time, a study aims to brings facts to nuclear power debate, including facility north of Asheville, and in Cleveland, a crack at Davis-Besse nuclear plant spurs nuclear opponents...

Another Solyndra, (op-ed by Henry Sokolski and Autumn Hanna), National Review, October 28, 2011. "After weeks of outrage over an ill-fated $535 million federal loan guarantee to Solyndra — a bankrupt, politically backed solar-energy company — you'd think Washington would back away from such boondoggles. Yet, there's a good chance lawmakers will do it again, this time awarding a $2 billion loan guarantee to an Ohio nuclear-fuel project that, like Solyndra, is almost certain to fail. But rather than being a liberal project to promote "green" energy and enrich Democratic donors along the way, this loan guarantee is an attempt of Ohio politicians — of both parties — to bring the bacon home to their swing state." Henry Sokolski is executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center in Arlington, Va., and editor of Nuclear Power's Global Expansion: Weighing Its Costs and Risks (2010); Autumn Hanna has worked extensively on energy-related issues as the senior program director at Taxpayers for Common Sense in Washington, D.C.

FPL faces regulatory vote, lawsuit over whether it can charge for nuclear projects, Palm Beach Post, October 22, 2011. "A Florida law that allows utilities to collect pre-construction costs from customers for nuclear plants that may never be built is being contested on two fronts - in the courts and in the legislature. On Monday, the Florida Public Service Commission is scheduled to vote on whether Florida Power & Light Co. should be allowed to charge customers $196 million for nuclear projects in 2012."

Mayors lead opposition to Fla. nuclear power fees, Associated Press, October 21, 2011. "Florida law lets utilities charge customers for planned nuclear power plants before they are operational and even if they never get built. South Miami Mayor Philip Stoddard and Pinecrest Mayor Cindy Lerner on Thursday urged that it be repealed. They also are against $337 million in nuclear fees proposed for 2012. The Public Service Commission will consider them Monday."

Study aims to brings facts to nuclear power debate, including facility north of Asheville, Asheville (NC) Citizen-Times, October 22, 2011. "As the nation explores whether to invest more in nuclear energy, the National Academy of Sciences is working on a study of cancer rates among people living near nuclear facilities."

Crack at Davis-Besse nuclear plant spurs nuclear opponents, ABC Cleveland/Associated Press, October 23, 2011. "A 30-foot hairline crack discovered in concrete at an Ohio nuclear plant has prompted anti-nuclear activists to step up their opposition to renewing the plant's license. Contractors replacing a cracked reactor head at FirstEnergy's Davis-Besse plant outside Toledo recently discovered a small crack in thick concrete on the outside of the reactor's containment building."

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