By Nancy Spannaus Sept. 18, 2019—Just as the future of the young United States depended upon a decision to industrialize, so the future of our country today depends upon investing in a vast expansion of nuclear power, both fission and fusion. Thus it is a good sign that the debate […]
by Nancy Spannaus Sept. 7, 2019—Unfortunately, the illiteracy and irrational fear of nuclear power, with several key exceptions, was once again on display during the all-night CNN Climate Change debate on Sept. 4. Virtually all the candidates, pandering to an audience whose majority were anti-nuclear climate change advocates, either denounced […]
By Nancy Spannaus July 18, 2019—A thoughtful analysis of the recent Manhattan blackout published in the City Journal of July 15, prompts this brief post. The author, the former editor of Popular Mechanics, puts the blackout in the context of the miserable state of the aging electrical transmission system in […]
By Nancy Spannaus June 24, 2019—Ohio state legislators are currently working against the clock to save the state’s only two nuclear power plants. The plants’ owners, FirstEnergy Solutions, have set a deadline of June 30 in order to decide whether to order more nuclear fuel, or move to close the […]
May 25, 2019—The state of Pennsylvania will lose one of its five nuclear power plants in September, according to an announcement by its owner, Exelon, on May 5. Slated for the chopping block is the remaining plant at Three Mile Island—not because it represents any danger or is malfunctioning, but […]
April 11, 2019—The state of Pennsylvania is currently the front line in a critical battle to save the nuclear power industry in the United States. In the face of the potential shutdown of plants at Three Mile Island and Beaver Creek, some legislators are fighting to save them by adding […]
March 21, 2019—It’s good news that the state of Connecticut has reached a deal to keep its Millstone nuclear plant open. That plant, owned by Dominion Energy, supplies half of Connecticut’s electricity, and 19% of the electric power for New England as a whole. Similar actions to maintain economically-stressed nuclear […]
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JFK’s Conservation Policy versus Today’s Environmentalism features Kennedy’s 1963 speech in Hanford, Washington.
By Nancy Spannaus Nov. 22, 2018—The coincidence of this year’s Thanksgiving holiday with the 55th anniversary of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy has provoked me to write this post. Kennedy’s assassination was a horrific turning point in our nation’s history, the opening shot in a series of assassinations […]
History Does Not Come in Black and White By Nancy Spannaus Oct. 11, 2019—The first issue of the revived Bulletin of Loudoun County History is a “must-read” for those seriously committed to achieving racial harmony in the United States. Three of the articles in the yearly journal focus on the […]
By Nancy Spannaus Oct. 13, 2019—If one is to take the actions of the Federal Reserve since Sept. 17 into account, the United States banking system (and perhaps the global one) has already entered into a new systemic crisis. The Fed is issuing tens of billions of dollars a day […]
Nuclear Energy & the Environment: Bring on Small Modular Reactors
By Nancy Spannaus December 29, 2018—Surprise! The worst news for the environment last year was not President Trump’s energy deregulation, but the continued momentum toward shutdown of the fleet of U.S. nuclear reactors. Fortunately, there’s good news on the horizon. But, first, where we stand. Suicidal Shutdown Despite the actions […]