Stephanie Jones, President, Stephanie Jones Strategies

One of the reasons I got involved with the AREVA Community Advisory Council was AREVA’s genuine interest in reaching out to diverse communities and my desire to help bridge the gaps that keep communities from fully engaging in the clean energy conversation. So it was a pleasure to help AREVA kickoff 2012 with a fantastic networking event that brought together young professionals from AREVA and the Greater Washington Urban League (GWUL) to discuss clean energy, jobs, nuclear issues and other important topics.
 
“Don’t Get Stuck in the Dark: Plug Into a Better Energy Future” was the first of a series of events that AREVA will sponsor with the GWUL, and it was a tremendous success. Hosted by the Thursday Network, the GWUL’s young professionals organization, it was a wonderful opportunity for AREVA to share information about America’s energy options and to socialize and connect with a great group of influential, engaged young professionals.
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The topic for Day 4 of National Nuclear Science Week is “Nuclear Safety,” and our contract announcement today is a good example of the nuclear industry actively responding to safety lessons learned from Fukushima.

Safety systems at Units 1 and 2 at CNE Cernavoda nuclear power plant in Romania will have an added defense-in-depth layer with the installation of AREVA’s Filter Containment Venting System (FCVS). This compact, modular and proven system can be used in all types of reactors: Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR), Boiling Water Reactors (BWR), and CANDU plants.

Bigger picture—the FCVS is just one component of AREVA’s comprehensive Safety Alliance, an initiative providing expert safety analyses, upgrades and enhancements to help utilities meet post-Fukushima safety requirements. Last year’s spate of extreme U.S. weather events and U.S. nuclear energy facilities’ successful safety responses and return to reliable energy generation clearly showed the benefits of decades of ongoing safety upgrades and enhancements.

World-view—New Gen III+ nuclear reactor projects are designed from the foundations up to incorporate these decades of safety experience in multiple redundant passive and active safety systems, for example, in AREVA’s EPR^TM reactor. With more than 60 nuclear reactors under construction in 14 countries, the benefits of modern nuclear facilities generating reliable, safe clean energy will be a reality in these locations. Now, for the rest of the world …

If a picture’s worth a thousand words, then an app is worth a million.

We launched the AREVAinc App today to do just that— spread the good word and provide instant smartphone access to everyone curious about the company, our North America activities, our clean energy portfolio, and our latest announcements.

You can download the AREVAinc App onto iPhones or BlackBerry devices now.

As stated in the press release,

With the AREVAinc App, users have direct access to the latest AREVA North America content, including blog posts, images, videos, news releases, company information and links to online resources. Where available, the content is enabled for personal download and sharing via popular social media tools and email.

And speaking of pictures, be sure to peruse the media library for incredible technology shots and even a floating robot to download for your screen image.

This new app joins an expanding social community presence for AREVA in North America, including the Next Energy blog, Twitter accounts for nuclear (#AREVAinc) and renewable (#AREVArenew) energies, Facebook page, YouTube channel, Google+ page, and LinkedIn company profile.

For all these links, check the right column of our North America website or (of course) connect to them with the new AREVAinc App.

“But with only 2 percent of the world’s oil reserves, oil isn’t enough. This country needs an all-out, all-of-the-above strategy that develops every available source of American energy – a strategy that’s cleaner, cheaper, and full of new jobs.”

- President Obama from the State of the Union Address

Welcome to National Nuclear Science Week … This is a week “designed to recognize the contributions of the nuclear science industry and those who work in it every day. Each day of the week of January 24-28, 2011, we will be promoting a different aspect of nuclear science.”

Follow this effort on Twitter, or Facebook or their blog …

We liked this article from Denise Carpenter, the President and CEO, Canadian Nuclear Association, as a guest blogger on the Canadian Energy Association webiste. She makes the case that Canadians want energy security, energy jobs, and affordable safe and reliable energy power, and that nuclear energy needs to be a central part of any national solution.

Here in Canada, we have 17 operational CANDU reactors that supply 15% of all electricity in Canada and over 50% in Ontario. The Ontario Government’s Long-Term Energy Plan sees this role continuing, calling for the addition of two new units and for the mid-life refurbishment of ten existing reactors in the province. Nuclear units are also installed in New Brunswick (where a mid-life refurbishment is nearing completion) and in Quebec (where a refurbishment decision is due in the near future)… Refurbishing these nuclear units is one of the most effective ways to use public dollars to reduce carbon emissions, maintain generating capacity, and create jobs.

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Our friends at NEI put together a great animated overview of how securely and safely the United States nuclear plants withstood what was a dramatic year of unprecedented natural events. 2011 included a 5.8 earthquake striking ten miles from a nuclear energy facility, massive flooding surrounding another, and a direct hit from a category 3 hurricane on multiple facilities up the East Coast. Our industry is always improving and implementing new safety features, and this animated infographic illustrates the successful steps taken at each nuclear facility to ensure safety and security in every situation.

One of France’s top business daily papers, Les Echos, recently published an opinion on Nuclear growth in 2012 after a Post-Fukushima slowdown stating, “But as 2012 begins, it is becoming clear that the freeze is beginning to thaw. And the BRICS nations [Brazil, India, and China] will lead the way.”

Les Echos describes the global pause in nuclear efforts after Fukushima, but suggest that, “seven months later, however, nuclear power suddenly looks as if it may be on the comeback trail.” They make their case for this point saying:

Even if the Japanese disaster didn’t mobilize anti-nuclear activists in the United States the way it did in Europe, U.S. authorities still decided to put new nuclear power plant projects on hold. That construction freeze, however, is now beginning to thaw.

On Dec. 22, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced its approval of the latest version of Westinghouse Electric’s AP1000 reactor design. Analysts hailed the move as a symbolic step toward new atomic power plant construction in the United States.

The United States isn’t the only large western power ready to delve back into nuclear energy. The British government, concerned about diminishing North Sea oil reserves and keen to limit its dependence of foreign fossil fuels, has decided to build a dozen nuclear plants between now and 2020. The decision had almost universal support in the British parliament, where it was supported by both the Conservative and Labour parties…

The principal emerging powers – notably China, India, Brazil and South Africa – likewise put their respective nuclear programs on hold during the months that followed Fukushima.

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Over at the investment site Seeking Alpha, writer Simet Patel noticed another trend in 2011, that Oil prices rose by 19% over the year, the third year of increases. He cites this chart on the price of crude oil:

He notes these factors of currency devaluation, political tensions, speculators as market forces at work, but then he suggests a bigger picture with larger issue: “…a growing factor that suggests the price rise will continue is the supply/demand imbalance in the oil market. In other words: demand for oil and other fossil fuels is only growing, but the supply of them is diminishing.”

His conclusion to investors?

“While I believe the world will likely be using fossil fuels as a primary source of energy for some time, we are clearly at a point where a new source of energy is needed. I believe nuclear energy is the primary candidate destined to grow, for the following reasons:

1. It can provide “baseload” – meaning always on – energy
2. It is emission-free
3. It has high power density, which means it does not require an inordinate amount of land and thus is conducive to powering cities
4. It is inexpensive

No other source can really make these same claims. Wind and solar are much more expensive and cannot effectively provide baseload energy, which is precisely why they remain insignificant sources of power on a global basis. Technological breakthroughs may change this, though I don’t see this on the horizon, and believe renewables will have limited roles in the global energy market until this changes.

And so, the rise of nuclear energy is virtually inevitable — the world will demand it for survival.”

We already have an energy source that is relatively cheap to use and that produces less environmental and public health impact than fossil fuels. That source is nuclear energy. Until we are able to develop renewable sources of energy that are more efficient, it will remain the best alternative to coal and oil….

Every day we read about gas explosions, car fires, and many other accidents in which fossil fuels were at least contributors. We hardly notice the deaths from cancer and lung disease caused by pollutants from burning fossil fuels.

We have become so jaded to these deaths that we hardly associate them with fossil fuels. In the rush to exploit these fuels, we also discount the possible dangers of ground water pollution from “fracking” (as well as the problems associated with consuming vast amounts of water in drought-stricken regions that fracking requires), the potential for gas explosions, and other human and environmental risks.

Every energy source has built in dangers….Wind farms decimate migratory bird populations, corn ethanol drives up food prices around the world and consumes enormous amounts of water, and the production of solar cells also produces toxic waste. There’s no such thing as safe energy, but only relatively safe energy.

- Mario Salazar, from his article in the Washington Times