April 9 NEC Energy News
¶ “Will Washington Halt The Global Renaissance Of Nuclear Power?” • New rules mandated by US Congress were supposed to provide a streamlined licensing process for small reactors, which are in advanced stages of development. Instead, the NRC staff simply cut and pasted the existing rules for conventional reactors into a 1,200-page regulation. [Foreign Policy]
¶ “’You Could Feel The Stress And Terror’: Inside Fukushima’s Abandoned Hospitals” • Urban explorer Bob Thissen and crew explored two abandoned hospitals near the Fukushima Daiichi Power Plant that had meltdowns in 2011. His documentation is a stunning time capsule inside one of the worst nuclear disasters in history. [Business Insider]
¶ “Masdar To Construct Three Solar Projects In Uzbekistan” • Masdar announced that it has closed on three solar PV projects in Uzbekistan. The plants will have a combined capacity of about 900 MW and represent the largest solar development program in Central Asia. Construction is to begin on all three projects in first half of this year. [Energy Digital Magazine]
¶ “Why MLB Players Could Be Hitting Hundreds Of More Home Runs Each Season By The End Of The Century” • Whether it’s a change in the baseballs, better analytics, or more robust training, many have wondered about what could be behind the increase in Major League Baseball home runs in recent years. But research raised another possibility: climate change. [CNN]
¶ “New Ways To Protect Food Crops From Climate Change And Other Disruptions” • As climate and security crises destabilise our food sources, researchers are taking a critical look not just at how we produce food, but at the entire systems behind our food supplies. In this case, the systems behind the seeds that produce our food crops. [Partner Science Norway]
¶ “Gas Generators Get Caught With Their Plants Down” • Gas power plant owners are facing performance penalties levied by the grid operator PJM, which they are attacking for enforcing the rules. An added irony is that the penalties, over $1 billion, are meant to pay incentives to the plants that over-performed their obligations, including wind farms. [CleanTechnica]
¶ “A Two-Year Degree Lands A Green Energy Job That Pays ‘A Pretty Penny’” • Leah Benne has no worries about finding a job. She’s in her first year of a two-year program at Cloud County Community College, and when she graduates with a degree in wind technology she expects several job offers, most of which pay at least $40,000 a year to start. [USA Today]
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