International

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/24/2015 Australian energy company AGL will close all of its existing coal plants by 2050 and will not build, finance or acquire any new plants which do not utilize carbon capture and storage technology, the company announced in a new Greenhouse Gas Policy released late last week. “AGL is the […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/24/2015 President Barack Obama would be required to begin research and development of counter-force and countervailing U.S. responses to Russia’s reported violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty of 1987, if Moscow does not become treaty-compliant before the enactment of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act. That’s according to […]

President Barack Obama would be required to begin research and development of counter-force and countervailing U.S. responses to Russia’s reported violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty if Moscow does not become treaty-compliant before the enactment of the Fiscal Year 2016 National Defense Authorization Act. That’s according to the House Armed Services Strategic Force’s Subcommittee’s […]

Although work on the Department of Defense’s Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) Program is shifting from joint U.S.-Russian government oversight to Russian control, cooperation between firms from the two countries remains strong and opportunities for CTR work still exists for American companies, an industry executive said yesterday. Orbital ATK is continuing to collaborate with International Space […]

Amec Foster Wheeler announced last week that the United Kingdom’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority awarded the company a four-year contract to increase its role in decommissioning and waste management services. The value of the contract has not been announced yet, but included in the scope of work is work related to site characterization, engineering design, and […]

Workers at the U.K.’s Sellafield site represented by the union Unite last week voted to back an industrial action and potential strike. At issue is the Sellafield Contractor Group’s “refusal to allow a full time union shop steward and a more proactive remit for the site’s health and safety committee,” according to a union statement. […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/17/2015 A top Defense Department official told the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces this week that the U.S. is working with NATO’s conventional and nuclear planning groups on potential responses to Russia’s alleged violation of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. NATO is going to “look at this […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 The World Bank Group, the Agence Française de Développment and roughly two dozen additional large development financial institutions have agreed to better track financial commitments for carbon capture and storage development as part of efforts to better monitor financial commitments aimed at mitigating climate change. The development banks agreed […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 As the United Kingdom gears up for next month’s Parliamentary elections, manifestos released by the three main British political parties this week illustrate a range of support for future investment in carbon capture and storage, with the Liberal Democrat party voicing the strongest support for continued efforts to get […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 The Canadian province of Ontario announced this week that it has joined the Western Climate Initiative, a cap-and-trade system that administers carbon allowance auctions and tracks and monitors allowances and offset certificates. “Climate change needs to be fought around the globe, and it needs to be fought here in […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 A type of smectite clay called lithium-fluorohectorite has been discovered to have impressive carbon capture capabilities, according to research performed at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and noted in a university news article last week. “Our experiments show that this kind of smectite can capture and retain […]

GHG Monitor 4/17/2015 ON THE INTERNATIONAL FRONT Norway and the Czech Republic will work together to perform pilot studies and surveys on the deployment of carbon capture and storage in the Czech Republic, the two countries announced last week. Norway will contribute €5 million to the research program, which will consist of four projects: a […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/17/2015 Members of Michigan’s congressional delegation introduced this week a resolution in the Senate and House that calls on the President and Secretary of State to intervene in the construction of a Canadian deep geologic repository near the Great Lakes. The resolution from Rep. Dan Kildee (R-Mich.), along with Sens. […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/17/2015 Strategic Systems Programs SSP announced on April 14 it intends to contract with Lockheed Martin Mission Systems and Training to support the Trident 2’s Navigation Subsystem. The contractor will provide support of U.S. and U.K. fleets, trainer systems and trainer SSP Shipboard System Integration (SSI) Development Activities. After award, Lockheed’s […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/17/2015 The New York Times Editorial Board published editorial April 16 criticizing Russian President Vladimir’s recent actions, including nuclear saber-rattling which is part of Putin’s “alarming behavior.” “Even for Mr. Putin, the recent nuclear threats have set a new benchmark for hostility in the conflict he has ignited with the West,” […]

Congress is reluctant to boost U.S. strategic capabilities to face the potential nuclear threat posed by Russia, two nuclear experts said yesterday during a breakfast event. “I’m not very confident that we will see the spending increases that we need to do something about beefing up the U.S. deterrent capability,” Dr. Mark Schneider, Senior Analyst […]

A Michigan U.S. Congressman plans to introduce a resolution today that calls on the President and Secretary of State to interfere in the construction of a Canadian deep geologic repository near the Great Lakes. Rep. Dan Kildee’s (R-Mich.) latest effort joins a list of state-side dissenters to the Ontario Power Generation’s proposed repository, which would […]

Kenneth Fletcher WC Monitor 4/10/2015 NuVision Engineering Inc. last week took over ownership of the company from the U.K.-based investor group Vision Capital, qualifying it to compete for small business set-aside contracts, the company announced this week. The investor group, which acquired NuVision in 2006, exited the business April 1 in a long-anticipated round of […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/10/2015 The United Kingdom’s Parliament last week passed a bill that could potentially take away a host community’s ability to veto any proposed high-level nuclear waste repository. The bill gives the Secretary of State for Energy the power to choose a location without local interference by declaring the effort one […]

Country to Focus on Storage, Not Utilization Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/10/2015 Coal will continue to dominate Australia’s energy production well into the future and, as a result the country will strive to foster a growing carbon capture and storage industry, according to an energy white paper the Australian Department of Industry and Science […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/10/2015 Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, joined Madelyn Creedon, Principal Deputy Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, April 9 for the first part of a two-day trip to Vatican City and Italy to discuss arms control and nonproliferation issues, including the Nuclear […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/10/2015 The International Atomic Energy Agency and National Nuclear Security Administration will support the Jamaican government in converting the Caribbean’s only research reactor from highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel later this year, according to an IAEA press release. Housed at the University of West Indies (UWI) […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/10/2015 A Russian delegate told the United Nations Disarmament Commission (UNDC) on April 7 that the United States deployment of a global missile defense system destroys disarmament prospects. The words from the delegate, Olga Kuznetsova, come during a time when diplomats and nonproliferation advocates have decried the slow progress on nuclear […]

Rose Gottemoeller, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security, is embarking on a nine-day trip to Europe, starting today with a two-day stay at the Holy See and Italy to discuss arms control and nonproliferation issues, including the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference starting later this month, according to a State […]

The International Atomic Energy Agency will support the governments of Jamaica and the United States in converting the Caribbean’s only research reactor from highly enriched uranium (HEU) to low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel later this year, according to an IAEA press release. Housed in Jamaica, the fuel will be returned to the U.S. “The additional […]

NuVision Engineering Inc. last week took over ownership of the company from the U.K.-based investor group Vision Capital, qualifying it to compete for small business set-aside contracts, the company announced this week. The investor group, which acquired NuVision in 2006, exited the business April 1 in a long-anticipated round of liquidations of a portfolio of […]

Abby L. Harvey GHG Monitor 4/3/2015 Expanding access to electricity in developing nations, while also avoiding building a reliance on high-carbon fossil fuels like coal in those nations, became a point of discussion as the Board of the Green Climate Fund met last week in Songdo, South Korea. “The Fund will need to address two […]

Todd Jacobson NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 After spiking in the fall, the size of U.S. and Russian nuclear stockpiles has dipped again, according to the latest New START Treaty data released by the State Department this week. The April 1 declaration revealed that the United States counted 1,597 strategic deployed warheads as of March 1, down […]

Brian Bradley NS&D Monitor 4/3/2015 While five diplomats agreed during last week’s Carnegie Nuclear Policy Conference that the upcoming Review Conference (RevCon) of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty would be successful, Russia’s annexation of Crimea and officials’ nuclear rhetoric are presenting new challenges for diplomats, according to Jacek Bylica, Principal Adviser and Special Envoy for Non-Proliferation […]

Jeremy L. Dillon RW Monitor 4/3/2015 Westinghouse and HOCHTIEF Infrastructure GmbH, a German-based engineering company, announced late last week that they have entered into teaming agreement to offer integrated decommissioning, decontamination and remediation services for nuclear power plants in Germany. Following the Fukushima disaster in Japan, Germany moved to shut down all of its nuclear […]