‘(Reuters) – The European Union will likely reach a deal on the shape of stress tests for the bloc’s 143 nuclear reactors in the next few days, European Union Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger said on Thursday.’

via EU energy chief sees nuclear deal in days | Reuters.

‘The United States does not have a decades-long supply of inexpensive, locally sourced natural gas, according to a new report commissioned by the Post Carbon Institute, a nonprofit think tank that examines issues related to the economy, energy and the environment.’

via Natural gas: study raises doubts on U.S. supply | Greenspace | Los Angeles Times.

‘WASHINGTON MarketWatch — The U.S. Energy Department has approved a $740 million loan guarantee for SolarReserve LLC to build a solar power plant in Nevada, helping to launch a project that has received broad support from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid D., Nev..’

via SolarReseve offered $740M federal loan guarantee – MarketWatch.

‘(Reuters) – Solar power is in place in nearly a million homes in rural Bangladesh, which is drastically short of electricity, the World Bank said on Monday.’

via Solar power lights up Bangladesh rural areas | Reuters.

‘(Reuters) – The United States should develop temporary storage facilities to hold the waste produced by the country’s nuclear reactors until a permanent burial site can be developed, a federal panel proposed on Friday.’

via Panel proposes network of nuclear waste sites | Reuters.

‘A report by a scientific group sponsored by the Vatican blames man-made emissions for recent global warming and the retreat of mountain glaciers and calls for urgent action to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases. “We call on all people and nations to recognize the serious and potentially irreversible impacts of global warming caused by the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases and other pollutants,” the group says.’

via On Our Radar: Vatican Panel Calls for Climate Change Action – NYTimes.com.

‘The nation’s scientific establishment issued a stark warning to the American public on Thursday: Not only is global warming real, but the effects are already becoming serious and the need has become “pressing” for a strong national policy to limit emissions of heat-trapping gases.’

via Scientists Cite ‘Pressing’ Need to Limit Greenhouse Gases – NYTimes.com.

‘”There must be a large leak,” Junichi Matsumoto, a general manager at the utility also known as Tepco, told a news conference Thursday.

“The fuel pellets likely melted and fell, and in the process may have damaged … the pressure vessel itself and created a hole,” he added.’

via Fukushima reactor water leak risks delaying crisis plan | Reuters.

‘TOKYO—The amount of water leaking from one of the reactors at the earthquake-hit Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex is much greater than previously thought, plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Thursday, a finding that points to severe damage to the reactor and could force a change in plans for stabilizing the unit.’

via Tepco: Leak Suggests Severe Damage – WSJ.com.