Energy Options: Nuclear (Part 2)

Part 2 - The New Nuclear

In the second part of this series about nuclear's future as an energy source in the U.S., Chicago Bureau chief Diane Eastabrook finds out what the newest generation of nuclear power plants will look like.



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External Links/Articles*

• Exelon Corporation
  Exelon is an electric utility headquartered in Chicago. This links to information the company offers about its Clinton Power Station, which is a nuclear plant. The vice president of the Clinton Power Station, Bryan Hanson, is interviewed in Diane Eastabrook's report.
• Frontline: Nuclear Reaction
  Frontline on PBS produces "incisive documentaries covering the scope and complexity of the human experience." This links to the website home of a Frontline report titled, "Nuclear Reaction: Why Do Americans Fear Nuclear Power?" In addition to Frontline interviews, the site offers readings and maps & charts.
• GE Energy
  GE Energy is a unit of General Electric. The president and CEO of GE Nuclear, Andrew White, is interviewed in Diane Eastabrook's report. This links to the section of the GE Energy website that offers information about nuclear energy.
• International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
  The IAEA is an independent organization related to the United Nations that works with nations "to promote safe, secure and peaceful nuclear technologies." This links to a chart tracking the "Number of Reactors in Operation Worldwide." As the chart indicates, as of August 2007, the United States has the most nuclear reactors in operation.
• NuStart Energy
  NuStart Energy is a consortium of utility companies created to test the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's new nuclear power plant licensing process and to create new standardized nuclear plant designs. As Diane Eastabrook explains, NuStart is working with GE and Westinghouse.
• U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
  The NRC in an independent agency created by Congress to regulate nuclear power plants and the use of nuclear materials, part of its mission is to license commercial nuclear projects. The agency's chairman, Dale Klein, is interviewed in Diane Eastabrook's report.
• Westinghouse Electric Company
  Westinghouse "provides fuel, services, technology, plant design, and equipment to utility and industrial customers in the worldwide nuclear electric power industry." Like its competitor GE Energy, Westinghouse is working on new designs for nuclear plants.

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