The latest announcement about Hinkley Point C was predictable. The first reactor at the plant in Somerset is now expected to begin generating electricity in 2030. The cost estimate has climbed again, now reaching roughly £35B in 2015 pounds or about £49B in current money according to Electricité de France. … [continued]
On February 9, 2026, Japan restarted Unit 6 of its largest nuclear power plant, the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa Nuclear Power Station in Niigata Prefecture, which was shut down following the 2011 Fukushima tsunami and nuclear accident. As the reactor returns to full operations, the resulting increase in nuclear generation is likely to … [continued]
Sometime around 1989 or the early 1990s, Carlo Rubbia, the Director-General of CERN, put together a special working group with instructions to design a way to generate electricity using radioactive materials that would be different from anything that had come before. The method had to do its work without producing … [continued]
Recently I took part in a discussion in Ottawa as part of CAFES Network’s work to raise local energy literacy, hosted by Invest Ottawa and attended by a mixed audience of residents, municipal and provincial policy observers, students, and people already working in energy and climate. Angela Keller-Herzog, founding executive … [continued]
Ontario Power Generation (OPG) has asked the Ontario Energy Board to approve a sharp increase in regulated nuclear payment amounts, including a year over year jump of more than 40% in 2027. The weighted average regulated payment amount rises from about $78/MWh in 2026 to roughly $110/MWh in 2027, driven … [continued]
I visited IBM’s headquarters in Yorktown last December, arriving just after a snowstorm had rolled through the Hudson Valley. The timing was fitting. Quantum computing, like winter weather, is something people talk about constantly but many don’t experience directly. At IBM’s Quantum Technology labs, you can at least hear the … [continued]
I was scrolling through energy posts on LinkedIn recently and came across yet another argument for nuclear power that leaned heavily on David MacKay’s 2008 book Sustainable Energy Without the Hot Air. It was presented as a decisive reference, as if the book still represented the state of the art … [continued]
Renewable energy in China is surging, with follow on effects that impact the entire world community on the way to the future.
Before diving into a reflection on the year, it feels important to start with gratitude. None of this work happens in isolation. Over the past year, an extraordinary number of people took the time to share their expertise, challenge my assumptions, correct my mistakes, and patiently help me understand subjects … [continued]
Yesterday, I covered Donald Trump’s latest effort to pretend he’s king and violate states’ rights, an AI executive order. (Apologies if he’s already tried to act like king in some other way and I’ve missed that.) The executive order tries to force fossil fuel pollution on more people, among other … [continued]
