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Steve's favorite news links

* The Newseum's daily compendium of front pages from around the world

* Nevada state government's nuclear-oriented "What's New" page, updated daily with links to fresh articles from around the world.

* Google News, updated continuously throughout the day.

* America's Party News - God-fearing, liberty-loving, sovereignty-conserving folks have a great plan to save our nation

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July 30, 2012

nuclear.com editorial: it's wrong to lump nuclear plant loan guarantees into 'No More Solyndras' bill

by Steve Schulin, nuclear.com's founding editor

Nuclear.com supports the idea of loan guarantees and other incentives for building new nuclear plants, despite the fact that federal spending needs to be severely cut. Taxpayers for Common Sense, which opposes the loan guarantees, reports that at least nineteen applications for nuclear plant loan guarantees have been submitted to the US Dept of Energy. Their opposition to nuclear plant loan guarantees is described in "'No More Solyndras Act' Moves Forward" which is included in their website category titled "Avoid Unnecessary Liabilities".

The folks at TCS want you to believe there's no difference between the Solyndra-type loan guarantees and the nuclear program. I respectfully and vehemently disagree. The Solyndra-type loans are an unconstitutional, unwise, political slush fund. The nuclear plant loan guarantees are constitutional, wise, and, hopefully, we can ensure that they are not used to reward the politically-connected.

As to constitutionality, I'm a supporter of dismantling much of the federal government on constitutional grounds. I see no constitutional basis for the non-nuclear Dept of Energy loan guarantees. But the nuclear plant guarantees are a fair balance for the regulatory uncertainty inherent in building new nuclear plants. This uncertainty has long existed, and seems especially acute in this post-Fukushima era. A couple of months ago, I jotted down a comment from a felow who claimed to be a nuclear engineer. His words rang true: "It is estimated that some 95% of the cost of a nuke is based on regulations. I quote an NRC official to me when I raised cost as an objection to his dictate, 'Mr. Hails, I will add $1 bn to your cost to make the design 1% safer. Cost is your problem, not mine.' No American ever knew the cost of a new nuke; this was, and is, our basic problem. The ground rules are ever changing and vaporous, one regulator can easily add a fortune to the cost. There are now libraries of regulations which never have been put to the test, cost effectively control the design, construction and operation of a facility spanning decades. This is, and has been true since the first nuke." (quote from R. L. Hails Sr., P. E.).

As to wisdom of having nuclear plants provide a significant part of our electric power, I point to the health effects studies which have compared various energy sources over the years, such as the one highlighted atop the Environment news page here at nuclear.com.

As to preventing our elected officials from treating the federal treasury as a political slush fund, well, I've concluded that we need to throw the bums out -- Democrats and Republicans alike. I support a new party, called America's Party, designed from the foundation up to best ensure the election of principled candidates, and to ensure they remain accountable after election, too. Check out the "Donations Not Accepted" button on the website. We don't want your money. We want you to do your duty as a citizen. The big money, big media conglomerate can not continue to succeed if enough folks of good will start their own 'front porch campaigns', using America's Party approach.

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