This post represents the latest link in an unbroken chain of more than five years of the weekly summaries of the best of the pro-nuclear blogs.

With the recent completion of the Climate Change Conference in Paris, the leveraging the nuclear energy to mitigate future growth of CO2 emissions comes even more prominently into the public eye. Want to know what’s going on? Read all about it here.

Previous editions of the Carnival have been posted at the blogs cited below and elsewhere.

See the “Blogs We Read” sidebar at the ANS Nuclear Caféfor a complete list. It is published by the American Nuclear Society. A great site for the industry perspective is the blog and the dynamic blog roll at NEI Nuclear Notes. It cites new blog posts from around the nation as they are published.

For day-to-day breaking news and updates, check out the entries on Twitter list posted on this blog which contains more than 80 pro-nuclear sources. This is a Twitter list you can follow.

About these bloggers

The bloggers who write the posts cited here do so because they have come to see, based on experience, that nuclear energy is a cost-effective, carbon emission free, source of electrical power which can raise the standard of living for any population which benefits from access to it.

Your kind attention to these blog posts is appreciated. Please repost or cite in your favorite social media channels. There are live icons, with one click action, for doing so, at the end of this blog post

Carnival 296

Jim Conca, Forbes

Iran Measures Up To The Nuclear Deal

Despite another round of drama, Iran is actually meeting the terms of the nuclear deal hammered out in Switzerland last summer by the United States-led P5+1 Group.

Some of the biggest requirements of the deal are actually being met. Iran shipped nearly its entire fissionable stockpile, over 12 tons of enriched uranium, to Russia last month. Iran is mothballing thousands of centrifuges necessary to enrich uranium for an atomic bomb. And Iran has supposedly removed the core of its heavy water reactor at Arak, and filled it with concrete. That reactor could have produced plutonium for the other type of atomic bomb.

For these actions, Iran stands to get almost $60 billion released back to itself. Some Iranian citizens will be removed from U.S. government blacklists, Europe will allow trade in software, gold and metals, and transportation equipment.  Iran will be allowed to rejoin the international banking system and sell oil on the open market, which is presently in a surplus profile.

Matt Wald – NEI Nuclear Notes

What Joe Romm Gets Wrong About James Hansen & Nuclear Energy

Joseph J. Romm, a former DOE assistant secretary of energy for efficiency and renewables, and a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, has recently gone after James Hansen, the climatologist who issued the clarion call warning about global warming way back in 1988. Romm says that Hansen puts too much emphasis on nuclear power as a tool to reduce the carbon-loading of our atmosphere.

Romm has never liked nuclear power, and perhaps we should feel complimented that he acknowledges any productive role for the technology. He is praising us with faint damn.

Romm and others suffer from a “silver bullet syndrome.” They argue that nuclear plants take years to build, and that recently we’ve been adding them at a slow rate, so nuclear won’t solve the problem; therefore it’s time to move on to technologies that are growing faster, like solar panels and wind turbines, they argue.

There are two problems with the argument: it’s wrong and it’s counter productive.

Brian Wang – Next Big Future

China plans 60 MWE modular nuclear reactor by 2020 and a floating reactor by 2025

China General Nuclear (CGN) expects to complete construction of a demonstration small modular offshore multi-purpose reactor by 2020.

CGN said development of its ACPR50S reactor design had recently been approved by China’s National Development and Reform Commission as part of the 13th Five-Year Plan for innovative energy technologies.

The company said it is currently carrying out preliminary design work for a demonstration ACPR50S project. Construction of the first floating reactor is expected to start next year, it said, with electricity generation to begin in 2020.

The 200 MWt (60 MWe) reactor has been developed for the supply of electricity, heat and desalination and could be used on islands or in coastal areas, or for offshore oil and gas exploration, according to CGN.

Rod Adams – Atomic Insights

Atomic Insights Radar – Second week of 2016

This post includes nine short stories/commentary on important energy-related news events. There’s something for everyone interested in energy.

Gail Marcus – Nuke Power Talk

Sake & Radioactivity

At Nuke Power Talk, Gail Marcus kicks off the year by reporting another case where there appear to be some possible benefits from an alcoholic beverage in protecting against radiation effects.  In this case, a study shows that the moderate consumption of sake might provide some protection against radiation poisoning—at least in mice.  A similar effect had previously been reported for red wine.

Dan Yurman – Neutron Bytes

Feds award cost sharing grants for advanced nuclear reactor designs

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded two $6 million cost sharing grants as the first installments of what could be, over time, up to $80 million in funding for design work on advanced nuclear reactors.

Two companies, and their partners, won the competitive awards. They are X-Energy and Southern Company.  DOE says that the cost sharing money will be used to “address key technical challenges” involving the design, construction, and operation of the next generation of reactors.

Meredith Angwin – Yes Vermont Yankee

The New, New, New! Vermont Energy Plan

Vermont is supposed to switch to 90% renewables for all energy use (not just electricity) by 2050. The newest version of the state Comprehensive Plan includes Vermont cutting energy use by over 33% by 2050. Warning: this post contains many quotes, and drips with cynicism.

Steve Aplin – Canadianan Energy Issues

Nuclear or methane: Ontario at the crossroads, not quite on its knees

Post Blurb: Ontario, having achieved the biggest electricity sector carbon reduction in the western hemisphere, now faces a crossroads: it must decide whether to tie its energy future to nuclear or to natural gas. Using the example of space heating and some estimates of real-time heat load, Steve Aplin of Canadian Energy Issues tells why Ontario not only must choose nuclear, but must at least double the capacity of the current nuclear fleet.

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