Feb 26 2010

The Green Seen

Posted by: Leonard Anderson

Several items relating to the business and technology of clean energy and the environment caught our attention this week:

Defense contractor General Atomics plans to develop a small commercial nuclear reactor that would run on spent fuel rods from large reactors. The reactor would be about one-quarter the size of a conventional reactor and have the ability to burn used fuel. The company expects it would take 12 years to develop the liquid-helium-cooled reactor at a cost of $1.7 billion and would need financial help from the Department of Energy. Babcock & Wilcox Co. and NuScale Power Inc. also are exploring small reactors amid renewed interest in nuclear energy.

The Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 this week to block a 20-year license extension for the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant owned by nuclear operator Entergy, citing leaks of radioactive tritium at the 38-year-old plant, misstatements in testimony by plant officials and other problems. The license expires in 2012. Unless the Senate reverses itself, it would be the first time in more than 20 years that the public or its representatives decided to close a reactor, the New York Times reports. Vermont is the only state where the Legislature has a role in deciding a nuclear power plant’s future. "We remain determined to prove our case to the legislature, state officials and the Vermont public," Entergy said.

Internet giant Google has received permission from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to buy and sell electricity in bulk. FERC's authorization will allow subsidiary Google Energy to better manage its own energy costs and to possibly add electricity marketing services. CNet notes that the company "has expressed a desire for access to larger amounts of renewable energy to help produce the electricity it consumes as part of its vast search-engine empire."

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