The latest issue of Nuclear Energy Insight is now available online. In it, you'll find an article on how the Megatons to Megawatts program is fueling the U.S. electricity grid. There also are reports on a new survey that finds strong support for nuclear energy among nuclear plant neighbors and a nuclear therapy that shows promise in fighting cancer. Other articles discuss a scholarship effort for future nuclear engineers, scientific findings on low-level radiation and international reactor construction efforts.
Ohio faces a decision soon about its two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse and Perry, and on Wednesday, neighbors of one of those plants issued a cry for help. The reactors’ problem is that the price of electricity they sell on the high-voltage grid is depressed, mostly because of a surplus of natural gas. And the reactors do not get any revenue for the other benefits they provide. Some of those benefits are regional – emissions-free electricity, reliability with months of fuel on-site, and diversity in case of problems or price spikes with gas or coal, state and federal payroll taxes, and national economic stimulus as the plants buy fuel, supplies and services. Some of the benefits are highly localized, including employment and property taxes. One locality is already feeling the pinch: Oak Harbor on Lake Erie, home to Davis-Besse. The town has a middle school in a building that is 106 years old, and an elementary school from the 1950s, and on May 2 was scheduled to have a referendu
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