One of the great things about living and working in Washington, D.C., is being in the heart of the action, such as watching President Obama’s 2012 State of the Union address from the House gallery. Although I’ve have the good fortune to attend most of President Obama’s joint session speeches, as well as joint sessions under previous administrations, it never gets old.

Observing the pre-speech activities – watching the Members interaction, applauding the First Lady’s entrance, chatting with Members afterward and, of course, the electric moment when the House Sergeant-at-Arms calls out: “Mr. Speaker, the President of the United States!” and then watching the President enter chamber are all high points of these events.

But beyond the political theatre and pageantry, hearing the President’s message to Congress, in which he lays out the roadmap for his policies in the next year is always the most compelling part.

As a member of the AREVA Community Advisory Council, I am particularly interested in the Administration’s energy policy, so I leaned in when, halfway through his speech, the President turned his attention to this topic. It was very gratifying to hear him not only refer specifically to “America’s energy future,” but to offer up specific proposals to get us there.

The President praised the clean energy industry, saying it has “rarely been more profitable … never been more promising.” He acknowledged that today’s political climate makes it impossible to pass a comprehensive climate change plan, but called on Congress to begin taking steps to create a clean energy standard for innovation.

The President went on to announce a plan to develop clean energy on enough public land to power 3 million homes and revealed that the Navy would purchase enough capacity to power 250,000 homes a year – one of the largest federal commitments to clean energy in history. He also proposed to help incentivize manufacturers eliminate energy waste in their factories and upgrade their buildings, noting that this will result in a less pollution, more jobs, increased manufacturing and a $100 billion reduction in energy costs over the next decade.

While the President did not specifically mention nuclear energy in his speech, his plan encompasses the energy mix of which nuclear is a key part. And the following day, the White House offered more details of the plan in “A Blueprint to Make the Most of America’s Energy Resources,” which noted that 80% of the nation’s electricity will come from clean sources, including renewable sources, such as nuclear, wind, solar and biomass.

Just as I carefully noted the President’s clean energy plans, I also paid close attention to how the Members of Congress responded to his proposals. Fortunately, I had a perfect seat both to watch the President and to scrutinize the reaction. While much of the reaction to the speech was partisan – with members of the President’s party applauding loudly while members of the opposition remained silent – Members of both parties reacted positively to some of the President’s clean energy proposals.

It was good to hear the President so clearly restate his commitment to clean energy and creating jobs in the clean energy industry. It was also encouraging to see the possibility for a bipartisan approach to clean energy.

This possibility may be a slight one; much will get lost in the noise and smoke of 2012 presidential and congressional politics. But let’s hope that the White House and Congress will rise above partisan politics and work together to ensure that clean energy is an integral part of America’s energy future.

During his speech, the President assured us that “I will not walk away from clean energy.” That’s a promise we should all help him keep.

A coal-fired electrical plant in Tucson, Ariz., is going green — or at least “greener” — partnering with a French, state-owned nuclear company to install a solar add-on that will generate enough clean electricity to power 600 homes using high-pressure, superheated steam warmed by a series of mirrors.

The new solar project is expected to begin construction in Spring 2012 and to be up and running at the current H. Wilson Sundt Generating Station in Tucson by 2013, according to a news release from plant operator Tucson Electric Power and AREVA, the French energy company behind the solar technology.

“Solar booster projects like this are gaining momentum in the United States and around the world as a way to leverage existing power infrastructure to provide needed energy with no new emissions,” said Bill Gallo, CEO of AREVA Solar, in the joint news release on Tuesday.

You can read the entire article here.

Recently, GreenBiz brought hundreds of thought leaders and sustainability executives for the New York installation of their annual forum. The program included insight and innovation from Interface , IBM, Wal-Mart, and Gazelle on topics that ranged from sustainable consumption, to the further integration of sustainability into core business areas, to the conVERGEnce of energy, building, information, and transportation technologies.

Last week, I made my way to the Big Apple to facilitate a GreenBiz Guru session on stakeholder engagement, a topic that is near and dear to AREVA as evidenced by our recent dialogue in partnership with the Greater Washington Urban League. The dialogue I facilitated on stakeholder engagement touched upon how companies can and should develop a multi-pronged approach to stakeholder outreach that serves as a platform for collaboration and innovation, facilitates stakeholder feedback, supports business’ license to operate, and helps companies to anticipate and respond to a variety of stakeholder expectations. AREVA’s approach to stakeholder engagement includes national and international stakeholder dialogues, local mapping, and community engagement activities and is complimented by our participation in industry level groups and initiatives.

In the broadest sense, we (business, government, civil society) are all critical stakeholders regarding the challenge and global imperative known as sustainable development. We influence and participate in a complex and interconnected system that results in our various economic, environmental and societal realities. Clean, safe, affordable energy is at the heart of many of the solutions that effectively balance responsible growth, to which AREVA is committed, with the well-being of the global community and the fundamental sustainability of our planet.

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 …

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.

The article goes on to describe the basic calculations spurring these energy policy choices:

With growth rates of more than 5%, these emerging economies are going to need more and more energy, especially given their role as the globalized world’s new centers of manufacturing. Nuclear energy offers these countries obvious benefits, particarly in terms of cost.

In China, there are no fewer than 25 nuclear reactors currently under construction. Authorities are considering even more nuclear projects that together could make China the world’s biggest nuclear energy producer by 2030.

India has proposed upping the percentage of electricity it generates from nuclear plants from the current 3% to 25% by 2050. And between now and 2030 Brazil plans to build between four and eight new atomic power plants.

According to the International Atomic Energy Association (IAEA), between 90 and 350 new reactors will be built worldwide over the next 20 years. Most of those will be in emerging countries.

The English version of article is here.