By Ross Kerber
Oct 16 (Reuters) - Thirteen years ago, after the disaster at Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant, a colleague and I wrote up the problem vexing the U.S. nuclear power industry: how to handle thousands of tons of spent fuel rods.
I recently learned that only a little has changed in the years since, throwing some cold water on all the excitement about new nuclear power deals. You can read more in this week's column via the link below.
This week I have also included links to stories about training problems at Citigroup and Nvidia's share run-up, plus a milestone for a go-to retirement expert at Boston College.
A reminder that you can send along news tips, comments, etc via LinkedIn. You can also reach me at
Nuclear renaissance must still solve for spent fuel A U.S. nuclear-power renaissance is plunging ahead without a long-term solution for some 92,500 metric tons of spent fuel piled up at power plant sites around the country. Another 2,000 metric tons of it is added every year, according to trade group Nuclear Energy Institute.
That's even before recent deals for new nuclear capacity built on the voracious power needs of AI foreseen by Microsoft in its recent deal with Constellation Energy, and a deal between Alphabet's Google and Kairos Power. And just this morning Amazon.com said it signed three agreements on developing small modular reactors, while the International Energy Agency said the world is on the brink of a new age of electricity with fossil fuel demand set to peak by the end of the decade.
Click here to read my column this week on the challenges facing the industry and how a long-term solution won't happen quickly.
Company News Grappling with a production slump and a union strike, Boeing
announced plans to raise up to $25 billion through stock and debt offerings and a $10 billion credit agreement with major lenders.
Citigroup has struggled to adequately train employees in risk, compliance and data roles, according to the bank's own assessment, shedding light on why it is taking it years to fix regulatory issues even as billions are spent on an overhaul.
European airlines urged Brussels to do more
to secure a level playing field
in the industry, complaining that Chinese rivals enjoy a huge cost advantage because they can fly over Russia and do not face extra environmental costs.
On my radar Brown University's governing body voted on Oct 8 against a proposal it divest from 10 companies that some students described as facilitating "the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory." Leaders cited an advisory analysis that it had no direct investment in any of 10 companies targeted for divestment, according to the school in Providence, Rhode Island.
Alicia Munnell, founding director of Boston College's Center for Retirement Research, will step down after more than 20 years. A onetime Fed official and White House economic advisor, Munnell built the center into a go-to data source for analysts, economists and journalists, yours truly included.
Soaring demand for certain minerals for electric vehicles has led to more mining tied to human rights abuses, says Amnesty International in a new report. It found most of 13 global brands "are not sufficiently demonstrating that they are meeting international human rights standards or even putting their policies into action."
(Reporting by Ross Kerber in Boston; Editing by David Gregorio)
((ross.kerber@thomsonreuters.com; (617) 412 0093;))
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