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Daily Archives: November 5, 2012

CRS — Managing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Policy Implications of Expanding Global Access to Nuclear Power

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Managing the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Policy Implications of Expanding Global Access to Nuclear Power. Mary Beth Nikitin, Coordinator, Specialist in Nonproliferation, Anthony Andrews, Specialist in Energy and Defense Policy. October 19, 2012.

  • “After several decades of widespread stagnation, nuclear power has attracted renewed interest in recent years. New license applications for 30 reactors have been announced in the United States, and another 548 are under construction, planned, or proposed around the world. In the United States, interest appears driven, in part, by tax credits, loan guarantees, and other incentives in the 2005 Energy Policy Act, as well as by concerns about carbon emissions from competing fossil fuel technologies.
    A major concern about the global expansion of nuclear power is the potential spread of nuclear fuel cycle technolog – particularly uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessin – that could be used for nuclear weapons. Despite 30 years of effort to limit access to uranium enrichment, several undeterred states pursued clandestine nuclear programs, the A.Q. Khan black market network’s sales to Iran and North Korea representing the most egregious examples. However, concern over the spread of enrichment and reprocessing technologies may be offset by support for nuclear power as a cleaner and more secure alternative to fossil fuels. The Obama Administration has expressed optimism that advanced nuclear technologies being developed by the Department of Energy may offer proliferation resistance. The Administration has also pursued international incentives and agreements intended to minimize the spread of fuel cycle facilities.”

    • Field Notes from the Super-Storm Sandy Catastrophe

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    Via SSRN: Field Notes from the Super-Storm Sandy Catastrophe, Elizabeth Burleson, Pace Law School, November 4, 2012 Sandy struck a strategically important city in a strategically important country within days of a strategically important election. Climate justice has many synergistic and sometimes competing dimensions. Irrespective of the degree to which climate change contributes to any… Continue Reading

    The “Fiscal Cliff”: Macroeconomic Consequences of Tax Increases and Spending Cuts

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    CRS – The “Fiscal Cliff”: Macroeconomic Consequences of Tax Increases and Spending Cuts. Jane G. Gravelle, Senior Specialist in Economic Policy, September 20, 2012 “A major policy concern for Congress is when and whether to address the “fiscal cliff,” a set of tax increases and spending cuts that would substantially reduce the deficit in 2013.… Continue Reading

    NY Fed – Nudging Inflation Expectations: An Experiment

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    Nudging Inflation Expectations: An Experiment – Basit Zafar, Olivier Armantier, Scott Nelson, Giorgio Topa, and Wilbert van der Klaauw “Managing consumers’ inflation expectations is of critical importance to central banks in the conduct of monetary policy. But managing inflation expectations requires more than just monitoring expectations; it also requires an understanding of how these expectations… Continue Reading

    The United States Government Manual – Searchable Database

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    “The United States Government Manual is the official handbook of the Federal Government. This special edition of the Federal Register is currently updated to provide comprehensive and authoritative descriptions of the programs and activities of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. The Government Manual also includes information about quasi-official agencies, international organizations with U.S. membership,… Continue Reading

    Research – Mountain meadows dwindling in the Pacific Northwest

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    Yale University, environment 360: “Some mountain meadows in the U.S. Northwest are steadily disappearing as the effects of climate change have allowed trees to invade the ecosystems in recent decades, a new study says. In an analysis of Jefferson Park, a 330-acre subalpine meadow complex in grasses, shrubs and wildflowers, researchers found that tree occupation… Continue Reading

    Institutional Investors and Stock Market Liquidity: Trends and Relationships

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    Institutional Investors and Stock Market Liquidity: Trends and Relationships, Marshall E. Blume and Donald B. Keim. This draft: August 21, 2012. First draft: March, 2008 “In this paper we show that institutional participation in the U.S. stock market in recent decades has played an ever increasing role in explaining cross-sectional variation in stock market illiquidity.… Continue Reading