The Necesary Evil of Nuclear Power?

The US department of energy expects to fund $49.7 million in nuclear power research through its Nuclear Energy University Programs in fiscal year 2010. The department under the direction of the Obama administration has invested in a vast cross section of energy technologies in the last 8 months. Technologies in solar PV,thermal,wind,marine,batteries,fuel cells, bio-fuels, conservation and sequestration have received billions of dollars in funding. 

At first glance nuclear energy would seem to look like a square peg in a round hole with these obviously green technologies. Nuclear plants however produce clean energy in very large quantities and on paper are capable of supplying much of our future electricity demand. Nuclear energy then does seem to be green when you look at it in the short term and as long as the world does not have another  3 mile Island or Chernobyl incident it will remain so. 

“Nuclear energy is our largest source of carbon free energy and must play a major role as we face the threat of climate change and transition to a thriving clean energy economy,” said Secretary Chu. “This announcement reflects a strong partnership with our great research institutions to ensure that America remains on the cutting edge of nuclear energy research and development. It will help us to create the jobs of the future that will power America’s economy.”

DOE expects to fund up to $49.7 million in research through its Nuclear Energy University Programs in fiscal year 2010 pending final appropriation. The maximum total amount awarded per project will be $1.5 million for three to four years.

The request for research and development pre-applications is available at the University Programs link at the NE website. Proposals are due November 10, 2009, and must be submitted through Nuclear Energy University Programs to be considered. In early November, DOE anticipates inviting principal investigators of selected proposals to submit full proposals by mid-December 2009.

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Posted by Tracey A. Smith on Oct 13 2009. Filed under Alternative Energy, Energy Tech, Nuclear power. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry