WASHINGTON — In an effort to encourage nuclear power, Congress voted in 2005 to authorize $17.5 billion in loan guarantees for new reactors. Now, six years later, with the industry stalled by poor market conditions and the Fukushima disaster, nearly half of the fund remains unclaimed. And yet Congress, at the request of the Obama administration, is preparing to add $36 billion in nuclear loan guarantees to next year’s budget.
Even supporters of the technology doubt that new projects will surface any time soon to replace those that have been all but abandoned.
“My gut feeling is that there is going to be a delay,” said Neil Wilmshurst, a vice president of the Electric Power Research Institute, a nonprofit utility consortium based in Palo Alto, Calif. News on Thursday that Exelon Corporation, the nation’s largest reactor operator, planned to buy a rival, the Constellation Energy Group, only reinforces the trend; until late last year, Constellation wanted to build, while Exelon was firmly against it.
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Dave "Phoenix" Farrell in Camp Corail
Join us for an evening for Japan's children at the Bowery Hotel. Hosted by Candice Kumai, Harold Dieterle, and Angelo Sosa of Top Chef! We are sadly finding that donations to Japan are much lower than those made to Katrina and the Indonesia/Thailand, so let's do our part to get help out there!
Follow us @4JapanKids #EPH
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Nearly 40 A-list artists have contributed tracks to a new compilation meant to benefit victims of Japan's tsunami. Available now for $9.99 via iTunes, Songs for Japan features top hits from artists like U2, Eminem, Lady Gaga, John Lennon, and literally dozens more. Check out the full tracklisting below.
All artists, music publishers, and labels involved have waived any royalties for these songs, and iTunes will donate its proceeds from all album sales worldwide -- all funds go towards the Japanese Red Cross Society.
Songs for Japan is available now.
Songs for Japan tracklisting...
If you want your favourite artists to contribute a track to Japan's relief effort "Download to Donate", a compilation of unreleased music presented by Music for Relief, just send them a tweet and ask them. This is what Mike Shinoda, Linkin Park's singer, songwriter and producer, told ArtisanNews. The important thing is that the fans make noise. Help collecting money for Music For Relief's project by tweeting Lady Gaga, Justin Bieber, 30 Seconds To Mars, Kanye West, Katy Perry, Rihanna, My Chemical Romance, etc. the following:
Please help #Japan through @MusicforRelief's Download to Donate by contributing a song http://t.co/dTeCq7O"You could also write on their message boards and Facebook walls. 100% of the proceeds go to Save The Children! Check out the current tracklist and Mike's Interview after the jump. ...