Old Russian Bombs Provide US With Power

Old Russian Bombs Provide US With Power.

The New York Times (11/10, B1, Kramer) reports on the front page of its Business Day section that about 10 percent of electricity in the United States is powered by "fuel from dismantled nuclear bombs, including Russian ones. ... But if more diluted weapons-grade uranium isn't secured soon, the pipeline could run dry, with ramifications for consumers, as well as some American utilities and their Russian suppliers." And, "finding a substitute is a concern for utilities today because nuclear plants buy fuel three to five years in advance." Although salvaged bomb material has played an important role in US energy use – "by comparison, hydropower generates about 6 percent and solar, biomass, wind and geothermal together account for 3 percent" – utilities have been reluctant "to publicize the Russian bomb supply line for fear of spooking consumers: the fuel from missiles that may have once been aimed at your home may now be lighting it."

        UK To Expand Nuclear-Power Capacity. The Washington Post (11/10, Faiola) reports, "The British government unveiled plans Monday to launch one of the world's most ambitious expansions of nuclear-power capacity, calling for the construction of 10 plants to help meet surging energy demands in the era of global warming." Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government "identified 10 sites in England and Wales for new nuclear plants, with the first expected to come online by 2018." Many of the new facilities "are envisioned to replace aging plants that are set to be decommissioned in coming years and are a vestige of a period of accelerated nuclear construction from the 1950s to 1980s." The article notes, "After years of resistance to construction of nuclear-power plants, the British plan underscored how nations around the world are scrambling to find ways to generate more energy while slashing" greenhouse emissions. "To do that, nations including the United States are considering more reliance on nuclear power, which, while generating radioactive waste, produces almost no carbon emissions."