"In the country that gave the world the word tsunami, the Japanese nuclear establishment largely disregarded the potentially destructive force of the walls of water. The word did not even appear in government guidelines until 2006, decades after plants — including the Fukushima Daiichi facility that firefighters are still struggling to get under control — began dotting the Japanese coastline."
As the public and news media alike tally the outcomes of this week’s U.S. midterm elections, it is the costs of energy — to the economy and the environment, today and into the future — that will continue to grow to dominate global discourse. A Backgrounder Analysis looks at how environmental journalists must seek the fuller story of this vast energy beat.
"The conditional commitment aims to boost output across 15 reactors in three states, expanding clean power capacity far faster than building new reactors."
"The United States is making an unprecedented attempt to revive three shuttered nuclear plants to meet rising energy demand, including from large-scale data centers."
"The top U.S. nuclear regulator wants to make it easier to build and operate nuclear power plants in this country — without compromising public health or safety."
"The nation’s largest federally owned utility received permission on Tuesday to build a new type of small nuclear reactor in Tennessee, in the latest sign of growing momentum for U.S. nuclear power."
"Small towns in the Permian Basin have become a petri dish for the perils of living amid the nation’s largest oil fields."
"The Energy Department said on Tuesday that it would lend up to $1.9 billion to help restart a shuttered nuclear power plant in Iowa, in the Trump administration’s latest move aimed at reviving nuclear energy in the United States." "No company in the United States has ever restarted a reactor that was seemingly closed for good, but there are now three major efforts underway to do so."
"Officials in New Mexico, the nation’s largest historic producer of uranium ore, banned new leasing of state lands for uranium mining on Friday." "The move to block new mining projects comes as the Trump administration seeks to revive American uranium production."
Solar and wind power are critical for combating climate change, but some energy experts warn they won’t be enough. Their vision for an emissions-free grid depends on technologies ranging from long-duration batteries to nuclear reactors. Journalist Nicolás Rivero on clean firm power’s potential, the challenges ahead and how Big Tech is driving the pursuit of always-on zero-carbon electricity.
