"I will see to it by some means or other. I will properly deal with it." So go the reported words of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe regarding the restart of nuclear power plants in Japan, as printed recently in the Japanese press. At the present time, while the Japanese government and courts seem to be at odds on restarting plants-with the public left in the middle-those at the nuclear plants themselves must count on eventual approval to restart and must ensure required measures are completed properly. Those preparing for restart continue to work toward that end while facing an improving, but not yet by any means certain, situation in the public and legal arenas.

The 219th edition of the Carnival of Nuclear Bloggers and Authors has been posted at The Hiroshima Syndrome.  You can click here to access this latest installment of a long running tradition among pro-nuclear authors and bloggers.

The 218th Nuclear Energy Blog Carnival has been posted at Yes Vermont Yankee.  You can click here to access this latest installment in a long running tradition  among pro-nuclear authors and bloggers.

The 217th edition of the Nuclear Blog and Author Carnival has been posted at Next Big Future.  You can click here to access this latest installment in a long running tradition among the world's top pro-nuclear authors and bloggers.

Recent developments in Japan concerning the Fukushima Daiichi plant recovery specifically, and nuclear energy generally, have not been exceedingly positive. The difficult recovery efforts at the crippled nuclear plant are not all proceeding smoothly; delays and technical problems continue to abound and confound. Meanwhile, on a broader scale, the national pullback from nuclear may be even more serious and have longer term effects than anyone realizes.

The 215th edition of the Carnival of Nuclear Bloggers and Authors has been posted at The Hiroshima Syndrome.  You can click here to access this latest installment of a long running tradition among pro-nuclear authors and bloggers.

Calvert Cliffs Plant; two unit nuclear generating station. Baltimore Gas and Electric Company brochure, October 1980.

I received an email this morning (in the midst of my daily avalanche of promotional emails) with a link to a brief story about uprating of nuclear plants worldwide (in other words, increasing the power output of an already-built plant)-what had been done, how many were planned, and so forth. I wondered to myself just how many nuclear plants in the United States had been uprated, and when they started-and given the recent hullabaloo over the recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency CO2 emission policy, it seems like (in addition to discussing small modular reactors) we might also want to toss the uprate card back on the table. Instead of flat or only slightly rising demand for electricity, we may face a steady lowering of generating capacity as plants that are high CO2 emitters (and thus violators) get shut down. Sure, renewables will play a part, and so will increased efficiency, but having more power is better than having less, or too little. I found no quick and easy reference for the kind of analysis I wanted, so I took a little time and did it myself.

The 214th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers has been posted at Atomic Power Review.  You can click here to access this latest edition of a long-standing tradition.

It's time for the 213th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers and Authors, hosted this week right here at the ANS Nuclear Cafe.  It's a big week for ANS, with the Annual Meeting going on in Reno... so without any further remarks we'll dive right in!

Pathfinder Atomic Power Plant. Press photo, Will Davis collection.

The recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announcement of policy regarding carbon emissions from power plants has triggered a renewed interest in nuclear energy over the past few weeks; along with this of course comes a focus on small modular reactors (SMRs) and their availability for replacing existing fossil-fueled plants or facilities. We have discussed this topic here at ANS Nuclear Cafe before, in terms of the possibility of adding an SMR onto an existing facility-see "The Hook-Ons."

The 211th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers and Authors has been posted at The Hiroshima Syndrome.  You can click here to access this latest entry in a long running tradition among the top English language pro-nuclear bloggers and authors.

The 210th Carnival of Nuclear Bloggers and Authors has been posted at Atomic Power Review.  You can click here to access this latest entry in a long running tradition among the top English language pro-nuclear bloggers and authors.

NS Savannah, Baltimore, May 17, 2014

The weekend of May 17-18, 2014, saw a beehive of activity on board the beautiful nuclear powered ship N.S. Savannah, docked now in Baltimore. The ship was being prepared on May 18  for open public touring-a rare event indeed for this ship that is still a Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensed facility-in commemoration of National Maritime Day (which actually is May 22.) To this end, the ship was abuzz with workers from the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) and its ever-present Ship's Master, Erhard Koehler, as well as workers from other organizations and, of course, the N.S. Savannah Association (NSSA), which works with MARAD to preserve and restore the ship.

It's time for the 208th Carnival of Nuclear Energy, and ANS Nuclear Cafe is proud to host the event!

The 207th Carnival of Nuclear Energy has been posted at Next Big Future.  You can click here to access this latest post in a long running tradition among the top English language pro-nuclear bloggers and authors.

In the 1960s, visions for nuclear power were hopeful and plentiful; nuclear plants of all sorts imaginable* were under consideration and under construction in areas both urban and remote, while future plans portrayed an enormous nuclear plant build-out with a complete fuel cycle that included fuel recycling and breeder reactors.

The 206th Carnival of Nuclear Energy has been posted at The Hiroshima Syndrome.  You can click here to access this latest post in a long running tradition among the top English language pro-nuclear bloggers and authors.

The 205th Carnival of Nuclear Energy has been posted at Atomic Power Review.  You can click here to access the latest post in a long running tradition among the top English language pro-nuclear bloggers and authors.

Nuclear barge STURGIS; photo from US Army Corps of Engineers

Last week, we were reminded of a mostly forgotten but ambitious effort spanning the late 1950's and 1960's by the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) and the U.S. Army-to develop a versatile range of small nuclear power plants-when it was announced that CB&I had been awarded a contract to decommission the former Army nuclear power plant barge STURGIS.  While many have recently touted the Russian Akademik Lomonosov as the "first floating nuclear power plant," the expected completion date for that plant in 2016 will put it almost exactly a half century later than the successful STURGIS.

It's time for the 204th Carnival of Nuclear Energy Bloggers and Authors - and this week, it's hosted right here at the ANS Nuclear Cafe.  The best pro-nuclear authors and bloggers have lined up to submit their choices for this week's compilation.