In a previous post on the ANS Nuclear Cafe, I discussed how a Clean Energy Standard (CES) that included nuclear energy would be more effective (as well as more fair) than a portfolio standard that includes only "renewable" energy sources. There have been encouraging signs recently that this CES concept is gaining traction in Washington.

With Vermont's governor-elect, Peter Shumlin (D.)-the self-described number one opponent of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant-picking his cabinet and maintaining a high profile, the struggle continues unabated by the plant's proponents who want to keep it from being shut down.

This is the weekly Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers with contributions from the leading pro-nuclear blogs in North America.

National Nuclear Science Week will be held on January 24-28, 2011. The week is designed to recognize the contributions of the nuclear science industry and those who work in it every day.

Wind turbines are now a politically popular way for generating emission-free electricity for the grid. There are now windmills operating in many parts of the United States and more of them are proposed.

The December issue of Nuclear News is now available electronically to ANS members. The issue contains a special section on nuclear fuel, featuring the following articles:

Third Way and the Idaho National Lab are hosting the New Millennium Nuclear Energy Summit, a bipartisan forum on the future of nuclear energy in the United States. Today's event features Energy Secretary Steven Chu, White House Advisor Carol Browner, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko, and more than two dozen industry CEOs, labor and Non-Governmental Organization representatives, and energy investors.

On Sunday, December 5, 2010, the Financial Times reported on a story (subscription required) that has been available in nuclear-energy focused corners of the Web for about three weeks: A consortium worthy of serious attention has begun a study of the viability of nuclear propulsion for oil tankers. The three-member consortium includes Lloyd's Register,  BMT Nigel Gee, and Hyperion Power Generation. Enterprises Shipping and Trading, a Greek company that manages a large fleet of modern, double hull tankers, is funding the study.

Having recently attended a Pillsbury and Nuclear Energy Institute seminar on "Export Controls for the Nuclear Renaissance," it became clear to me why the United States is losing its leadership position in nuclear energy:  The bureaucracy is winning the war over effectiveness of policy and nonproliferation.

The 30th Carnival of Nuclear Energy blogs is up at Yes Vermont Yankee

At the American Nuclear Society's 2010 Winter Conference & Technology Expo, its Board of Directors revised and approved two position statements that are now available online (click here):

Capacity planning targets keep going up

PopAtomic Studios, the non-profit organization that is dedicated to arts-integrated outreach in support of nuclear energy, is raising funds to help it complete its 501c3 federal tax exemption application.

By Wayne Laib

The push for books

The 29th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Blogs is up at Idaho Samizdat.  The carnival features blog posts from the leading U.S. nuclear bloggers and is a roundup of featured content from them. If you want to hear the voice of the nuclear renaissance, this is where to find it.

Happy Thanksgiving! The topic for the American Nuclear Society's Special Award in 2011 is "Innovations in Small Modular Reactors."

What does it mean to be a nuclear engineer? That question is not as