News Articles
MBEF is following strategic national energy news that impacts both the economy and our environment.
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Azom News: Westinghouse and Ameren Missouri Announce NexStart SMR Alliance to Rapidly License and Deploy Westinghouse Small Modular Reactor Technology
May 18, 2012
Westinghouse Electric Company and the Missouri Electric Alliance led by Ameren Missouri today announced the formation of a utility participation group called the NexStart SMR Alliance. [read more]
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The Southeast Missourian: Southeast receives $500K grant from Energy Department
May 10, 2012
Southeast Missouri State University will develop a center to train students on energy engineering, funded by a $500,000 U.S. Department of Energy grant. [read more]
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FORTUNE: It's dangerous to depend on natural gas
May 9, 2012 by Christine Todd Whitman
The United States needs an "all of the above" energy strategy that focuses on low-carbon electricity sources that will lower energy costs, reduce dependency on foreign fuel sources and promote clean electricity. This is a prudent strategy to help drive American manufacturing and transportation networks of the future. Most importantly, this approach can put the country on a sustainable path toward long-term economic growth. [read more]
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The Daily Iowan: Iowa (and Bill Gates) could lead the way
May 9, 2012 by Deborah D. Thornton
Everywhere you turn, someone is having a "green" energy conference or an "environmental" awareness day. These events focus on solar and wind energy, on electric cars, on reducing your carbon footprint, and living a sustainable life. What they do not focus on is increasing the use of the greenest energy of all — nuclear energy. [read more]
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Sen. Mike Kehoe Capitol Report: Kehoe: SMR project could create thousands of boots-on-the-ground jobs
May 1, 2012 by Sen. Mike Kehoe
*Budget Passed, Work Remains* [read more]
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Kansas City Star: Federal aid sought to build nuclear reactors in Missouri
April 26, 2012 by Jason Hancock & Steve Everly
Westinghouse Electric Co. and Ameren Missouri announced Thursday they would seek federal funds to help build a new generation of smaller and safer nuclear reactors. [read more]
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Missouri News Horizon: Missouri seeks to become global producer of small nuclear reactors
April 26, 2012 by Tim Sampson
Missouri is putting its own plans for a second nuclear reactor on hold in an effort to be become the leader in new nuclear reactor technology. [read more]
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The Joplin Globe: Our View: Practical energy plan
April 24, 2012 by Editorial Board
In today’s charged political environment, one of the rarest of rare events occurred this past Thursday. Politicians from both sides of the political aisle and representatives of all Missouri’s electric utilities stood in solidarity on the lawn of the governor’s mansion behind not just one, but two common causes: energy and jobs. [read more]
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St. Louis Beacon: Ameren supports effort that could lead to new nuclear generation in Missouri
April 24, 2012 by Dale Singer
Ameren Missouri[http://www.ameren.com/sites/aue/Pages/home.aspx] and other publicly owned utilities in the state have agreed to support Westinghouse Electric Co. in its attempt to secure federal funds for nuclear technology that could result in new construction at the utility’s power plant in mid-Missouri. [read more]
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St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Ameren, Westinghouse seeking to build small nuclear reactors
April 24, 2012 by Jeffrey Tomich
Ameren Missouri and Westinghouse Electric Co. are teaming up to seek more than $450 million in federal money to license and develop small-scale, next generation nuclear reactors at the Callaway plant site outside of Fulton. [read more]
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St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Ameren, Westinghouse nuclear deal could clear political path
April 24, 2012 by Jeffrey Tomich
Ameren Missouri and Westinghouse Electric Co. are teaming up to seek more than $450 million in federal money to license and develop small-scale, next generation nuclear reactors at the Callaway plant site outside of Fulton. [read more]
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St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Letter to the Editor: Planning for the future
April 23, 2012 by William H. Miller
The editorial "The nuclear guy" (April 15) misses some important points. Even with recent rate increases, the utility has electric rates 30 percent below the national average. As a regulated utility, we are not talking about the free market. Just as costs can be recovered from ratepayers, any income the company makes is restricted to modest percentage above costs, and blunders on Ameren's part come out of the shareholders' pockets. There are no windfall profits. And to be honest, who are the winners? The unions, pension funds and individual families who have put money into a utility stock that offers modest, low-risk investments. [read more]
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The Columbia-Missourian: WHAT OTHERS SAY: Building nuclear reactors would benefit Missouri
April 23, 2012 by Jefferson City News-Tribune
A pair of energy companies with long Jefferson City ties have offered new hope for Missouri's proponents of nuclear energy. [read more]
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National Rural Electric Co-Ops Association: Missouri Electric Co-ops Join Gov. Nixon, Ameren and Others in Supporting Westinghouse Application for Small Nuclear Reactor Funding
April 23, 2012
Barry Hart, CEO of the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives, joined Gov. Jay Nixon and representatives from Ameren Missouri and Westinghouse Electric Company to announce an agreement with Westinghouse to exclusively support the company’s application for the Department of Energy's (DOE) Small Modular Reactors (SMR) investment funds of up to $452 million. The investment funding, announced by the DOE on March 22, will support first-of-its-kind engineering, design certifications and operating licenses for up to two SMR designs over five years. [read more]
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The Columbia Daily Tribune: The Tribune's View: Callaway
April 23, 2012 by Henry J. Waters III
Late last week, Ameren Missouri and Westinghouse announced a project Gov. Jay Nixon said could transform the state's economy. [read more]
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Energy.gov: Obama Administration Announces $450 Million to Design and Commercialize U.S. Small Modular Nuclear Reactors
April 19, 2012
Original publish date: 3/22/12 [read more]
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The Scientific American: Small Reactors Make a Bid to Revive Nuclear Power
April 19, 2012 by David Biello
Original publish date: 3/27/2012 [read more]
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U Chicago News: Small reactors could figure into U.S. energy future
April 19, 2012 by Steve Koppes
Original publish date: 12/13/2011 [read more]
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Missourians for a Balanced Energy Future: PRESS RELEASE: MBEF: Great News for Energy/Jobs in Missouri
April 19, 2012 by Irl Scissors
*MBEF: Great News for Energy/Jobs in Missouri* [read more]
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Kirksville Daily Express: TradeWind project blows out
April 6, 2012 by Taylor Muller
A northeast Missouri wind energy project that was hoped to have been completed and in operation months ago has fallen through as the lead company pulled out of the entire state citing a lack of a market for renewable energy. [read more]
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Gallup: Americans Still Favor Nuclear Power a Year After Fukushima
March 26, 2012 by Frank Newport
One year after the tsunami and resulting failure of the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan, a majority of Americans continue to favor the use of nuclear energy as one of the ways to provide electricity for the U.S. The 57% who favor nuclear power this year is identical to the percentage measured in early March 2011, just before the Fukushima incident. [read more]
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Barnes for Missouri: Mo House Endorses American Oil and the Keystone Pipeline
March 21, 2012 by Representative Jay Barnes
I’m pleased to report the House passed HCR 37[http://www.house.mo.gov/billtracking/bills121/biltxt/intro/HCR0037I.htm] by voice-vote this morning, a resolution I sponsored calling on Congress and the President to support continued oil exploration in the United States and Canada and the Keystone XL Pipeline. I’d rather get my oil from Canadian Mounties and the Bakken Reserve in Montana and the Dakotas than from Middle Eastern despots. American energy exploration is good for national security and both short and long-term job creation. [read more]
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Des Moines Register: Lawmakers need to keep nuclear power an option for Iowa
March 17, 2012 by John Shors
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Eastern Iowa Government: Iowa nuclear power plan okayed; Senate passage expected
March 13, 2012 by James Q. Lynch
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The News-Tribune: Kehoe introduces early nuclear plant permit bill
March 1, 2012 by Bob Watson
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