Law Commons^™

U.S. Energy Information Administration Information Resources, Bert Chapman

Libraries Faculty and Staff Presentations

Provides information about the resources produced by U.S. Department of Energy's Energy Information Administration. These resources cover energy statistics for U.S., states, the United States, and foreign countries. They also cover energy products as varied as coal, natural gas, nuclear energy, petroleum, and renewable energy.

Diversifying Nuclear Technology: A Technical Analysis On Small Modular Reactors And Its Impact On Nuclear Energy Policy, Carolina Lugo Mejia, Marcos Lugo

Helm's School of Government Conference - American Revival: Citizenship & Virtue

The energy policy debate in the United States has revolved around the diversification of energy sources while promoting advantageous economic profits. One drive for this has been the discussion of anthropogenic, environmental endangerment concerns (Vlassopoulous 2011, 104). However, despite the environmental concerns, the U.S. has for some time only relied on one type of energy source—fossil fuels. Fossil fuels are categorized as natural gas, coal, petroleum, and other gases responsible (U.S. Energy Administration 2019). Natural gas is responsible for 38.4%, coal for 23.4%, petroleum for 0.4%, and other gases for 0.3% of the U.S.’s electrical generation (U.S. Energy Administration 2019). …

Civil Liability Of The Nuclear Operator: A Comparative Study, Mohamed Mohamed Sadat

UAEU Law Journal

One of the most important discoveries of modern science is nuclear energy, which has become a necessity due to the use of conventional energy sources is nearing completion in addition to the many uses of nuclear radiation in medicine and industry. Many states have taken the initiative to establish them private nuclear energy production in an attempt to capitalize on what this new type of energy facilities offers.. Through the study, we will address the study civil liability of the nuclear operator through the study of both the Egyptian and UAE laws, and that was the motivation for their choice …

An Analysis Of United States Nuclear Power Plant Decommissioning Policy And The Public Participation Process, Alexis Stabulas

International Development, Community and Environment (IDCE)

As the number of nuclear power plants slated for decommissioning increases, reflecting on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) decommissioning regulations in relation to public participation becomes increasingly important. When plants close, communities lose security in economics, employment, and environmental and human health. The NRC’s regulations on public involvement are very limited and generally stakeholders do not feel supported in the decommissioning process. Local and tribal governments, citizen groups, the general public, and those directly affected have all found the NRC’s public involvement inadequate, ineffective, and infrequent. The case studies of two completely decommissioned plants, Maine Yankee and Big Rock …

T-Rex, Jurassic Park And Nuclear Power: Nuclear Power Plants And The Courts After The Fukushima Nuclear Accident, Shigenori Matsui

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

No abstract provided.

Subsidizing Advanced Nuclear Energy, Maxwell S. Bayman

Oklahoma Journal of Law and Technology

No abstract provided.

New York State's Zero Emission Credits: Exploring The Drivers And Significance Of Nuclear Energy Subsidization In The Empire State, Michael R. Sciascia

Honors Theses

This thesis reviews New York State's recently announced subsidization of nuclear energy, which has been a subject of dissent due to its cost, propagation of nuclear activity, and potential unlawfulness in its influence on competition within wholesale energy markets. Examining the structure and recent trends within New York's energy market and their effect on the state's nuclear energy industry will provide insight into the necessity of such subsidization in preserving in-state nuclear generation. Through an analysis of the expected costs, economic impact, and influence on statewide carbon emissions, the true significance of this legislation and New York's motivations behind its …

Economic Solutions To Nuclear Energy's Financial Challenges, Zachary Robock

Michigan Journal of Environmental & Administrative Law

This Note presents a legal, economic, and regulatory roadmap to drive long-term innovation in sustainable energy generation. Next-generation nuclear power, which fundamentally mitigates many safety and nuclear waste issues, is the focus of this Note; however, the economic concepts can be applied to encourage solar, wind, advanced battery, and other sustainable technologies with high upfront costs and low long-term variable costs. Advanced nuclear energy generation is economically competitive on a long-term levelized cost basis, but suffers from a timing issue—a large amount of capital is needed upfront, with repayment over several decades, during which time significant capital costs can accrue …

Resolving The Energy War Through International Law And Solar Technology, Aldo Armando Cocca

Akron Law Review

A striking feature of the past decade has been a new form of war. This war, a controversy carried to extremes, apparently will not remain isolated. This conflict may be seen as a predecessor of future battles for survival, for instance a "non-renewable resources war." Such wars are not concerned with territorial boundaries; they have a much wider economic effect. They involve the entire civilized community.

The energy conflict presently has gone beyond the crisis stage. Not only is a forthcoming peace beyond the horizon, the war itself is becoming increasingly aggressive. The fact that the weapon is an exhaustible …

Chernobyl's Legal Fallout - The Convention On Early Notification Of A Nuclear Accident, Sharon Mcbrayer

Georgia Journal of International & Comparative Law

No abstract provided.

Environmental Federalism's Tug Of War Within, Erin Ryan

Erin Ryan

Anyone paying attention has noticed that many of the most controversial issues in American governance—health care reform, marriage rights, immigration, drug law, and others—involve questions of federalism. The intensity of these disputes reflects inexorable pressure on all levels of government to meet the increasingly complicated challenges of governance in an ever more interconnected world, where the answers to jurisdictional questions are less and less obvious. Yet even as federalism dilemmas continue to erupt all from all corners, environmental law remains at the forefront of controversy, and it is likely to do so for some time. From mining to nuclear waste …

Compensating The Victims Of Japan’S 3-11 Fukushima Disaster, Eric A. Feldman

All Faculty Scholarship

Japan’s March 2011 triple disaster—first a large earthquake, followed by a massive tsunami and a nuclear meltdown—caused a devastating loss of life, damaged and destroyed property, and left hundreds of thousands of people homeless, hurt, and in need. This article looks at the effort to address the financial needs of the victims of the 3/11 disaster by examining the role of public and private actors in providing compensation, describing the types of groups and individuals for whom compensation is available, and analyzing the range of institutions through which compensation has been allocated. The story is in some ways cause for …

Balancing Domestic Nuclear Industry Viability With International Security: Imminent Changes To Nuclear Export Control Regulations, Brendan Burke

Brendan Burke

In August 2013, the Department of Energy promulgated a supplemental notice of proposed rulemaking to revise the Code of Federal Regulations title 10, part 810 (part 810). Part 810 controls the export of technology pertaining to special nuclear material (SNM) and its production outside the United States by U.S. citizens or corporations. Its purpose is to protect national security interests relating to nuclear non- proliferation while facilitating civil nuclear trade. The most noteworthy changes in the proposed revision pertain to how potential trade partner host countries are classified. This classification directly affects the volume of regulatory requirements applicable to transac- …

Nuclear Chain Reaction: Why Economic Sanctions Are Not Worth The Public Costs, Nicholas C.W. Wolfe

Nicholas A Wolfe

International economic sanctions frequently violate human rights in targeted states and rarely achieve their objectives. However, many hail economic sanctions as an important nonviolent tool for coercing and persuading change. In November 2013, the Islamic Republic of Iran negotiated a temporary agreement with major world powers regarding Iran’s nuclear program. The United States’ media and politicians have repeatedly and incorrectly attributed Iran’s willingness to negotiate to the effectiveness of economic sanctions.

Politicians primarily focus on immediate domestic effects and enact sanctions without a thorough understanding of the long-term effects on the United States economy and the public within a targeted …

Fukushima: Catastrophe, Compensation, And Justice In Japan, Eric Feldman

All Faculty Scholarship

Well before the Fukushima disaster of March 11, 2011, governments in the developed world struggled with victim compensation in cases of environmental contamination, harms caused by pharmaceutical products, terrorist attacks, and more. All of those are important precedents to Fukushima, but none of them approach the breadth of harms resulting from the triple disaster of huge earthquake, massive tsunami, and nuclear meltdown now known in Japan as 3/11. With close to 20,000 people dead or missing, one million homes fully destroyed or seriously damaged, and 100,000 people displaced, getting those whose lives were affected by the events in Fukushima back …

Slides: The Peril Of Energy Usage, Mike Tupper

The Promise and Peril of Oil Shale Development (February 5)

Presenter: Mike Tupper, Executive Vice President, Composite Technology Development, Inc.

9 slides

Slides: The Elusive Bonanza, Randy Udall

The Promise and Peril of Oil Shale Development (February 5)

Presenter: Randy Udall, Co-founder, Association for the Study of Peak Oil-USA

62 slides

An Unattainable Wedge: Four Limiting Effects On The Expansion Of Nuclear Power, Tanya K. Mortensen

Tanya K Mortensen

With a cap and trade system likely imminent, concerns about the costs of generating electricity and how electrical generators can best mitigate the effects of a carbon trade system are resurfacing. As a result, interests in nuclear power are resurging world-wide. Although, the purpose of this paper is aimed at national decision making, the problems and processes that confront decision makers internationally are effectively the same as those confronting decision makers in the United States. This paper examines the feasibility of using nuclear power as a wedge to reduce CO2 emissions, and puts forth four effects that may prevent or …

An Unattainable Wedge: Four Limiting Effects On The Expansion Of Nuclear Power, Tanya K. Mortensen

Tanya K Mortensen

With a cap and trade system likely imminent, concerns about the costs of generating electricity and how electrical generators can best mitigate the effects of a carbon trade system are resurfacing. As a result, interests in nuclear power are resurging world-wide. Although, the purpose of this paper is aimed at national decision making, the problems and processes that confront decision makers internationally are effectively the same as those confronting decision makers in the United States. This paper examines the feasibility of using nuclear power as a wedge to reduce CO2 emissions, and puts forth four effects that may prevent or …

Seeking An Informed Decision: Early Site Permits And Energy Alternatives In Environmental Law And Policy Center V. United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Vincent Manapat

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

American Wartime Values In Historical Perspective: Full-Employment Mobilization Or Business As Usual, Timothy A. Canova

Faculty Scholarship

This paper explores the range of values implicated by war and compares today's dominant values with those that prevailed during previous American wars, with a particular emphasis on the World War Two and early Cold War period. War is related to values, and as economists like to remind us, what we value becomes apparent in the movement of people and prices. Part I of this Article considers the moral, ethical and monetary values that prevailed throughout the 1940's and early 1950's. The normative threads that kept the World War Two effort on track were those of mobilization and shared sacrifice. …

Reviving The Nuclear Power Option In The United States: Using Domestic Energy Law To Cure Two Perceptions Of International Law Illegality, James E. Hickey Jr.

Hofstra Law Review

Two perceptions, right or wrong, of international law illegality on the part of the United States have arisen in the last few years with regard to both the use of military force in Iraq and to global warming. The first perception is that the United States invaded Iraq illegally to secure a significant source of foreign oil. The second perception is that the United States ignores the letter and spirit of the evolving international climate change regime to reduce greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions.

Both perceptions of international law illegality directly reflect the domestic growth energy policy of the United States …

Restructuring Of The Electric Utility Industry: Free Markets And Environmental Protection, Rick Gilliam

Dams: Water and Power in the New West (Summer Conference, June 2-4)

12 pages.

Contains 1 page of references.

Global Benefits Versus Local Concerns: The Need For A Bird's Eye View Of Nuclear Energy, Kathleen C. Reilly

Indiana Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Medzamor: Weighing The Reopening Of Armenia's Unstable Nuclear Power Plant And The Duties Of The International Community, Tamara C. Gureghian

Villanova Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Nuclear Employers No Longer Shielded From Whistleblower State Tort Claims: Fallout From English V. General Electric Company, Thomas Michael Rittweger

Hofstra Labor & Employment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Chernobyl Fallout: Recent Iaea Conventions Expand Transboundary Nuclear Pollution Law, Michael A. Heller

Faculty Scholarship

After releasing a radioactive cloud over Europe, the April 1986 nuclear power plant accident at Chernobyl in the USSR sparked a chain-reaction of diplomatic negotiation that culminated in two recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conventions on nuclear accidents. The Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident (Convention on Early Notification) and the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency (Convention on Assistance) were both opened for signature on September 26, 1986 at the end of a three-day IAEA special session on the lessons of the Soviet nuclear plant disaster. In the months …

Nuclear War, Citizen Intervention, And The Necessity Defense, Robert Aldridge, Virginia Stark

Santa Clara Law Review

No abstract provided.

Atomic Veterans' Tort Claims: The Search For A Tort Remedy Dead Ends With The Veterans' Administration, Christopher C. Williams

Notre Dame Law Review

No abstract provided.

Waste Not, Want Not: The Role Of The State In Nuclear Waste Facility Siting, Daryl H. Owen

Louisiana Law Review

No abstract provided.