Electricity for Americans From Russia’s Old Nuclear Weapons

informally known as Megatons to Megawatts

In the last two decades, nuclear disarmament has become an integral part of the electricity industry, little known to most Americans.

Salvaged bomb material now generates about 10 percent of electricity in the United States — by comparison, hydropower generates about 6 percent and solar, biomass, wind and geothermal together account for 3 percent.

Today, former bomb material from Russia accounts for 45 percent of the fuel in American nuclear reactors, while another 5 percent comes from American bombs, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute.

Enriching raw uranium is more expensive than converting highly enriched uranium to fuel grade.  To make fuel for electricity-generating reactors, uranium is enriched to less than 5 percent of the isotope U-235. To make weapons, it is enriched to about 90 percent U-235.

Electricity for Americans From Russia’s Old Nuclear Weapons - NYTimes.com

Seminar addresses FOIA changes | Daily Chronicle

I attended this meeting and hope to post some of the handouts and information.

About 100 people attended a seminar Monday at Northern Illinois University that addressed changes to government transparency laws.
The free session was the first of 11 scheduled to be held throughout Illinois aimed at raising awareness about modifications to the state's Freedom of Information Act and Open Meetings Act.

Seminar addresses FOIA changes | Daily Chronicle

Fiat 500 Will Be in Chrysler Showrooms in 2010 | The CarGurus Blog

 

  Three versions will come to the U.S. First, the basic 1.4-liter will arrive in late 2010 in “metro areas at select dealers that house all Chrysler Group LLC brands and will include a dedicated salon inside the dealership.” This will be followed in 2011 by the 500 convertible, with rollback top (above), and in 2012 by an Abarth 500 with turbocharger and, we assume, some suspension mods. Go to Carscoop for a slew of photos.

Click on the following:  Fiat 500 Will Be in Chrysler Showrooms in 2010 | The CarGurus Blog

Chrysler's Complete Product Plan

Last Wednesday’s big conference in Detroit was basically a 335 slide power point production.  The key 13 slide as presented last week are available at this site.  The slides below have the Belvidere built models.

 

Click on the following for the rest of the slides:  Chrysler's Complete Product Plan

Chrysler’s new wing logo gets patent approval

CEO Marchionne asserted that the break-even was achieved in September and the last few months have seen more money roll in than out. With this, Marchionne remained confident the cash won’t deplete as new models are developed off Fiat technology. By 2010, it’s anticipated that “emergency” facelifts will renew 75% of the line-up while the remainder will be refreshed by 2012. This strategy will align with a range of new platforms from both Chrysler and Fiat arms. The Fiat 500 will place Chrysler into a new B segment market, while two further platforms set to be received from Fiat will allow new C and D segment offerings. New Chrysler platforms will underpin models in SUV, Minivan and CUV segments.

Chrysler’s new wing logo gets patent approval

Green Car Congress: Chrysler Disbands ENVI Electric Vehicle Group; Function Absorbed into Traditional Line Organization

 

Marchionne told reporters and analysts electric cars would only represent “one to two percent” of Chrysler’s sales by 2014, equivalent to less than 60,000 vehicles—a percentage consistent with the current proportion of hybrid to conventional vehicle sales for all OEMs in the US with the exception of Toyota. (Earlier post.)

As outlined in the plan, Chrysler is putting a more immediate focus on downsizing its engines and improving fuel economy across the entire portfolio.

Click on the following for more details:  Green Car Congress: Chrysler Disbands ENVI Electric Vehicle Group; Function Absorbed into Traditional Line Organization

Toledo Area: Solid Future? - Dodge Nitro Forum

This Toledo area blog discusses the competition between the Belvidere plant and Toledo for survival. 

Tracy Handler, who studies Chrysler for IHS Global Insight in suburban Detroit, said Toledo Jeep's Liberty and Nitro factory "is directly competing" with Chrysler's small-vehicle factory in Belvidere, Ill., for future work. Belvidere is where the fuel-efficient Dodge Caliber, Jeep Patriot, and Jeep Compass are manufactured.
Mrs. Handler said that while the Wrangler facility's future is solid, the Liberty and Nitro factory's future is less certain.
"Even if you add some Alfa-Romeo and other Chrysler-based product, if you only have the Liberty built at that plant, that's probably not enough," she said.

Click on the following for the complete story:  Toledo Area: Solid Future? - Dodge Nitro Forum