Variability, Uncertainty, Risks & Complexity

A recent shift on clean energy coverage hasn’t gone unnoticed. — “Bloomberg, the global business and financial information and news leader, gives influential decision makers a critical edge by connecting them to a dynamic network of information, people and ideas.” The company says that the purpose it was born with — to change the world for the better — is “proven…

We can only have a rational debate about the risks and benefits of nuclear power if we can put the risks into a balanced perspective. ~ Professor Geraldine Thomas In March 2011 the advanced industrial nation of Japan was brought to its knees by a record 9.0 magnitude earthquake. A…

In the final installment of our three-part special by Oscar Archer, we learn how the nuclear terrorists’ plans were always doomed to failure… “Look, I know what I was going to do was abhorrent,” Iain Bottrell said. His hands balled into fists upon the table surface. “I know that. Even…

In the second part of our exciting ‘what if’ series, Oscar Archer goes full-on Bond movie as the terrorists reach their secret underground lair… — The only sound in the well-lit room was the faint air conditioner whoosh somewhere behind the ceiling vent. Agent Michelin regarded Doctor Bottrell coolly as he slouched slightly in his chair and collected his thoughts. “What exactly were you going to do with the stolen used fuel assemblies?” she prompted.

In the first part of this ‘what if?’ scenario, Oscar Archer imagines what might happen if terrorists descended on the sleepy coastline of Suffolk… — The well-lit room was drab and grey-walled with a single broad laminate table in the centre. One of the two metal chairs was occupied by a stocky man in a dark green chequered shirt, with a worried, slightly sweaty face and receding blond hair. …

In some very important ways, “nuclear waste” is the best type of energy-related waste. — First let’s be crystal clear on what we’re talking about: the irradiated fuel discharged from conventional nuclear reactors, the long assemblies of metal-clad ceramic pellets that have generated heat to raise steam to drive big generators for years of steady bulk electricity — without direct greenhouse gas emissions. Not cold…

The IEA has been endorsed as the foremost forum on world energy by participating nations, and its leadership on aggressive clean energy progress and climate action has been sought by many stakeholders. — The recently released NZE special report was hailed as an ambitious roadmap towards rapid phaseout of unmitigated fossil fuel consumption and a future dominated by renewable energy sources. Many celebrating the envisaged clean energy future may not necessarily have been so enthusiastic about the asserted need to more than double…

We really need to talk about scale. — In Australia we’re seeing no deceleration in additions of solar- and wind-based capacity, which is steadily displacing fossil fuelled generation on our grids. Rooftop solar aside — since it serves a rather unique role, with its own emergent challenges — what we have seen in recent years is a small…

‘It was becoming clear that nuclear energy would never be the same and that the industry needed a different approach.’ — For the last few years, GE Hitachi have been quietly working away at a reactor design that might blow its competitors out the water — including natural gas. Jon Ball, Executive Vice President at GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, last year talked about the birth of GE’s BWRX-300 small modular reactor…