America's Nuclear Energy Future: Final BRC Report

The Blue Ribbon Committee (BRC), appointed by President Obama and Energy Secretary Chu, to develop recommendations for America's nuclear energy future is releasing its final report.

In general, the report recommends the following way forward for the US nuclear program:

1. A new, consent-based approach to siting future nuclear waste management facilities.
2. A new organization dedicated solely to implementing the waste management program and empowered with the authority and resources to succeed.
3. Access to the funds nuclear utility ratepayers are providing for the purpose of nuclear waste management.
4. Prompt efforts to develop one or more geologic disposal facilities.
5. Prompt efforts to develop one or more consolidated storage facilities.
6. Prompt efforts to prepare for the eventual large-scale transport of spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste to consolidated storage and disposal facilities when such facilities become available.
7. Support for continued U.S. innovation in nuclear energy technology and for workforce development.
8. Active U.S. leadership in international efforts to address safety, waste management, non-proliferation, and security concerns.

What does this mean for the Aiken area? Perhaps the most significant point is No. 1 which indicates that national repositories will only be located at sites that have the consent of local communities. Very democratic. However, that also means that Yucca Mountain is off the table for the forseeable future, although it is the only such site that has been studied, scientifically tested, and found appropriate for licensing. It took over 30 years to arrive at this stage of Yucca Mountain's development as a national repository for commercial and legacy (left from producing nuclear weapons) nuclear waste. Presumably, it will take another 30 years to develop another site, or sites, plus the time it takes to locate geologically appropriate sites and enter into agreement with local citizenry and their governments. In other words, not in our life times. In the meantime, the waste housed at the Savannah River site has no pathway forward, while SRS continues to receive nuclear waste from both domestic and foreign research reactors.

As for item No. 2, the establishment of a new agency charged with the responsibility for managing a national nuclear waste cleanup program, there will probably be considerable opposition to adding another agency to the government. For one thing, down sizing the government is currently more popular than enlarging it.

Item No. 6 will get hung up in Congress for a long time while congressmen and senators argue over which states, cities, and towns will be on the transportation routes for nuclear waste enroute to national repositories (it they are ever sited and developed).

Another disappointment with the BRC recommendations is the lack of emphasis on funding the development of new technologies that will transmute nuclear waste to lower volumes, lower levels of radioactivity, and shorter half lives (called transmutation). Actually, we already developed that technology back in the 50s. It just got round-filed.

In short, the Blue Ribbon Commission final report may have significantly set U.S. nuclear waste management policy and practice back many years. Before the BRC report there remained a faint hope that Yucca Mountain might finally be completed and made ready to receive the nation's amassing nuclear waste, primitive as that concept is as a national nuclear waste management policy. Yucca Mountain residents have made it clear that they are not receptive to that project and with the new consent-based policy, they never will be. The good news may be that the waste at SRS, formerly scheduled for disposition to Yucca Mountain, will continue to be stored there while requiring billions of dollars and a large competent workforce on site.

RECALL UPDATE: Our presence is being felt!

The Tea Party groups are making headway in Wisconsin. It is essential to stop this recall effort and I encourage everyone to follow the link and contribute: RECALL UPDATE: Our presence is being felt!

The Last Word Before the First in The South Primary

The Last Word Before the First in The South Primary  Presidential Candidates Forum Tuesday January 17th USC Aiken Convocation Center The officers of the Aiken County Republican Party are proud to announce that the party will be holding it's fifth consecutive "Last Word Before the First in the South Primary" Presidential Campaign Rally All candidates have been invited to speak at this event. We invite all to come and hear the candidates and their issues. Rally Details: Location: USC-Aiken Convocation Center 375 Robert M. Bell Parkway Aiken SC, 29801 When: Tuesday January 17th 2012 Doors Open at 5:30 pm Rally begins at 7:00 pm sharp   IN AN EFFORT TO MAINTAIN A SECURE AREA INSIDE THE VENUE, PLEASE BE AWARE: NO HANDBAGS/PURSES OF ANY KIND WILL BE ALLOWED INSIDE THE BUILDING Cost: $10 per person $5 with student ID Free admission under age 10

CLICK HERE TO ORDER YOUR TICKETS NOW

Dennis Saylor Chairman, ACRP

Obama Places Himself on the Continuum of Greatness

John Hinderaker of Powerline sets the record straight.

Obama Places Himself on the Continuum of Greatness

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 07:49 PM PST (John Hinderaker) There was an initially-overlooked moment in President Obama’s recent interview with 60 Minutes. Excerpts from the interview were played on television, and CBS posted the interview in its entirety on its web site. Left on the cutting-room floor, it turned out, was a revealing moment when Obama judged himself against the greats of past eras: The “60 Minutes Overtime” video shows Obama telling correspondent Steve Kroft: “The issue here is not going be a list of accomplishments. As you said yourself, Steve, you know, I would put our legislative and foreign policy accomplishments in our first two years against any president — with the possible exceptions of Johnson, F.D.R., and Lincoln — just in terms of what we’ve gotten done in modern history. But, you know, but when it comes to the economy, we’ve got a lot more work to do.” So Obama thinks his record so far–nearly three years, not just two–stacks up favorably against any president with the “possible exceptions” of Lyndon Johnson, FDR, and Abraham Lincoln. The man is simply delusional. This is a game one could play for a long time, but let’s just compare President Obama’s record in his first three years (almost) in office with that of Ronald Reagan over the same time. Reagan inherited a worse crisis than Obama: interest rates and inflation at unprecedented levels; our national defenses in a state of near collapse, with the Soviet Union advancing aggressively around the world; recession, high unemployment and a stratospheric cost of living. His solutions to these problems, of course, were quite different from Obama’s approach. Let’s compare how they did .More

Lies, Damned Lies, and ‘Fact Checking’ | The Weekly Standard

Long article but well worth your time.

Lies, Damned Lies, and ‘Fact Checking’ The Weekly Standard

Wisconsin Recall Update

Important update from the Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama follows: As Vice Chair of The Campaign to Defeat Barack Obama I need to share with you some very important news from the Milwaukee Journal Sentineltoday. Democrat operatives allied with Barack Obama are reporting that in addition to the 500,000+ signatures they’ve collected in their drive to RECALL conservative Republican Gov. Scott Walker, they are also on pace to RECALL 4 Republican State Senators in Wisconsin. If they succeed, they will not only have ousted Wisconsin’s Republican Governor, but will have taken Wisconsin’s Republican-controlled legislature and turned the majority into a Democrat Party majority.  We simply cannot allow this to happen, friends. We have until this Friday – December 23rd – to raise as much money as we can to DEFEAT these 5 RECALL efforts against Republicans in Wisconsin.We urgently need your help now more than ever.  You can support this effort to help us DEFEAT the RECALL bymaking a contribution – HERE. The following is our “Hero’s List” of individuals who have made contributions of $200 or more supporting Governor Scott Walker in the past 3 days.  You can add your name to the list by contributing $200 or more online – HERE. Richard of Columbus, IN – $500 Eric of Carmel, IN – $500 Alexis of Rosindale, MA – $500 Lucia of Longboat, FL – $300 Brice of Ross, CA – $300 Pat of Tarzana, CA - $250 Taras of Jersey City, NJ – $250 Mark of Merced, CA – $250 David of Nashua, NH – $250 Gregory of Essington, PA - $250 George of Vancouver, WA – $250 Richard of Milwaukee, WI – $200 John of Port Ludluw, WA – $200 Mitch of Silverton, OR – $200 Steve of Richland Center, WI - $200 Josephine of San Antonio – $200 Dianne of Charlotte, NC – $200 William of Napa, CA - $200 Michael of Ft. Worth, TX - $200 Richard of Cincinnati, OH – $200 Burt of Dallas, TX - $200 Rusty of Baxter, TN – $200 Marianne of Alamagordo, NM – $200 Richard of Napa, CA – $200 Thomas of San Diego, CA – $200 Michele of Highland, MI – $200 You can contribute anywhere from as little as $5 up to the maximum allowed contribution of $5,000 to help us defeat this RECALL Gov. Scott Walker campaign. We would appreciate the most generous contribution you can afford so we can defeat this RECALL campaign, just as we defeated the previous 6 RECALL campaigns.  Many of you have contributed $250, $1,000 or more up to $5,000 and we thank you for your contributions.  The liberal groups we are facing have already raised millions of dollars, so we have to build as large of a warchest as possible to combat them. CONTRIBUTE HERE: https://secure.donationsafe.com/cdbo Thank you very much for your support.  If you prefer you can also mail in a contribution to our headquarters: Campaign To Defeat Obama P.O. Box 601684 Sacramento, CA 95860-1684