Duke Energy issued the following news release:

Duke Energy's Oconee Nuclear Station has received the Nuclear Energy Institute's (NEI) prestigious "Best of the Best" Award for the first digital upgrade of a nuclear safety-related system in the U.S.

Japan may be able to cut greenhouse gas emissions only by up to 19 percent in 2020 from 1990 levels under a scenario that would see the ratio of nuclear power generation reach 35 percent by 2030, according to estimates released Wednesday by an Environment Ministry council.

With a large population of over 180 million and a rapidly developing economy, Pakistan's energy needs are potentially huge. The country, historically a net energy importer, is confronting serious imminent energy shortages as its economy and population grow while global fossil fuel prices continue their upwards spiral. Thus, Pakistan needs to initiate a sustained, long-term transition towards greater use of renewable energy and abundant resource whose considerable potential the country has yet to tap meaningfully. The government of Pakistan intends to pursue this objective of harnessing power from renewable resources with the full participation and collaboration of the private sector.

Presently, the government has released Rs7 billion to IPPs that would improve the electricity supply in the next coming days. It is expected that the government will disburse another Rs4 billion in coming days against the immediate demand of Rs23 billion made by the power producers. The government has given Rs119 billion subsidy to the power sector so far in the current financial year 2011-2012.

Today's publication of the Energy Bill confirms the Government's continued momentum on Electricity Market Reform. The new investment framework is crucial for the low carbon investment the country needs.

The ICE said it was to scrutinise the draft Energy Bill to assess its fitness for purpose

The bill was unveiled by energy secretary Ed Davey yesterday. It bill seeks to secure a low-carbon future for the UK by investing in a new generation of nuclear power stations, the creation of new gas-fired power stations, and of large-scale renewable plants. It puts in place measures to attract the £110 billion investment which is needed to replace current generating capacity and upgrade the grid by 2020, thereby ensuring that the UK can meet its requirement for secure and flexible supplies of energy, while meeting its carbon targets.

Energy is the lifeblood of modern economies and there's no more amazingly useful form of energy than electricity. That's why I was initially startled to read the recent news that the last of Japan's 54 nuclear power plants has been shut down, a turn of events that makes Japan the first major economy of this century to run without operating any such reactors.

The news impressed me because prior to the mega-quake and tsunami of 2011, Japan powered 30 percent of its electrical grid from nuclear plants.

The following information was released by the Nuclear Energy Institute:

Duke Energy Corp. employees at the Oconee Nuclear Station in South Carolina have been honored with the B. Ralph Sylvia "Best of the Best" Award for completing the first digital upgrades to commercial reactor protection systems in the United States. The conversion from the analog instrumentation common in these systems uses digital electronics technology to enhance the monitoring and control of reactor safety functions. The new digital system at Oconee 1 also has diagnostic capabilities that increase reactor efficiency and operational reliability.

The Best of the Best Top Industry Practice (TIP) award was presented today at the Nuclear Energy Institute's annual meeting. The TIP awards recognize industry innovators in 14 categories-four reactor vendor awards and nine process awards for innovation to improve safety, efficiency and nuclear plant performance, as well as an award for vision and leadership.

The government is to unveil the biggest shake-up of the industry since privatisation in a draft energy bill, intended to secure £110bn of investment in power generation.

Pursuant to delegation by the Commission dated December 29, 1972, published in the Federal Register , 37 FR 28,710 (1972), and the Commission's regulations, see, e.g., 10 CFR 2.104, 2.300, 2.309, 2.313, 2.318, and 2.321, notice is hereby given that an Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (Board) is being established to preside over the following proceeding:

Green River » More than 100 demonstrators gathered on the sun-baked desert just south of a proposed nuclear power plant here Saturday evening, protesting both the envisioned reactors and the big gulp of disputed river water needed to cool them.

A "No Green River Nuke Coalition" that included Uranium Watch, HEAL Utah, Living Rivers and residents of southeast Utah chanted along with an American Indian blessing of the land, and some donned costumes including mushroom clouds and foam fish heads honoring endangered species of the Green and Colorado rivers.

SUMMARY: The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC or Commission) is issuing a revision to Regulatory Guide (RG) 1.160, "Monitoring the Effectiveness of Maintenance at Nuclear Power Plants." This guide endorses Revision 4A to Nuclear Management and Resources Council (NUMARC) 93-01, "Industry Guideline for Monitoring the Effectiveness of Maintenance at Nuclear Power Plants," which provides methods that are acceptable to the NRC staff for complying with the provisions of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations (10 CFR) 50.65, "Requirements for Monitoring the Effectiveness of Maintenance at Nuclear Power Plants," Part 50, "Domestic Licensing of Production and Utilization Facilities." Revision 4 of NUMARC 93-01 provides enhanced clarity regarding scoping non-safety related Systems, Structures and Components based on their use in Emergency Operating Procedures, gives guidance on consideration of fire risk in (a)(4) risk assessments, and provides enhanced consistency in unavailability monitoring between the Maintenance Rule and Reactor Oversight process by providing clarification to the definition for monitoring of short term unavailability resulting from periodic system or equipment realignments.

The following information was released by Delaware Senator Tom Carper:

Today, Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Nuclear Safety, issued a statement following the announcement that Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Dr. Gregory Jaczko will resign following the confirmation of his replacement:

WASHINGTON, May 21 -- Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued a notice called: Impact of Construction (Under a Combined License) of New Nuclear Power Plant Units on Operating Units at Multi-Unit Sites.

U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer has requested documents about design changes made in the San Onofre nuclear plant's troubled steam generators and whether the changes were properly reviewed by federal regulators.

Dhaka, May 17 -- As this segment of the view from Tokyo reaches its readers, Japan by then will turn totally non-nuclear in generating electricity. All is now set for the deadline of midnight of Saturday, May 5, when the last of the 54 nuclear reactors that the country has is to shut down for a routine check-up. The shutdown of Number 3 reactor at Tomari nuclear power plant in Hokkaido is to leave Japan without nuclear power for the first time since 1970 when two reactors operating at the time were turned off for maintenance.

Japan's first nuclear reactor went operational in 1966 heralding the age of nuclear power generation in the country. Since then Japan had aggressively pushed forward with nuclear energy, reaching almost 30 percent of total electricity generation by the beginning of 2011. By then everything looked promising and the country set the next target of increasing the proportion of nuclear power generation to 50 percent by 2030. More nuclear reactors were ordered and related industries like manufacturing of nuclear fuel rods and reprocessing of spent fuel also developed, keeping pace with the expansion of nuclear power generation capacity. And then hit the great disaster that has now virtually stopped all activities in one of the most vibrant sectors that only recently seemed so promising.

• Officials: Emergency plans gain flexibility

Associated Press

Without fanfare, the nation's nuclear power regulators have overhauled community emergency planning for the first time inmore than three decades, requiring fewer exercises for major accidents and recommending that fewer people be evacuated right away.

Nuclear watchdogs voiced surprise and dismay over the quietly adopted revamp - the first since the program began after Three Mile Island in 1979. Several said they were unaware of the changes until n ow, t hough t hey t ook e f fect in December.

Atomic energy is unavoidable if humanity wants to rid of CO2 emissions and ensure sustainable energy supply. Hydropower and biofuel may supplement atomic energy, while solar and wind power can hardly be an option, Global Energy Award Committee member, President of the Science Council for Global Initiatives Tom Blees said.

The following information was released by the Energy Information Administration (EIA):

The combination of one of the warmest winters (November-March) in decades and low spot natural gas prices contributed to low wholesale electric prices at major market locations during the winter of 2011-2012 (see chart below). Warm weather kept electric system load low across the East Coast and helped dampen the need for coal-fired generation. Natural gas generation was up significantly to take advantage of low natural gas prices. Reduced nuclear generation due to outages and reduced hydropower generation both served to moderate declining electricity prices in much of the country.

Spot Prices

TIVERTON, Ont. - Damage to some non-nuclear equipment at the Bruce Power complex in southwestern Ontario will delay putting one of its refurbished units back into service.

Bruce Power said Friday that inspections this week determined repairs were needed at an electrical generator on the non-nuclear side of the plant, which is located on the eastern shore of Lake Huron near Tiverton, Ont.