Stimulus + Energy Loan Guarantees = ?

I've gotten two emails about an upcoming Senate Appropriations Committee vote on the economic stimulus package and an amendment by Senator Bennett (R-UT) to provide $100 billion in loan guarantees for renewable (and supposedly nuclear) energy. Another student of nuclear must also have gotten this news.

I can't be sure, but the amendment would seem to modify the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan, the fancy name for a Senate version of the stimulus plan.

Anybody know more than I do?

I was browsing the standard nuclear journals today and found in NS&E a paper on the French fission product experiments, which has been heavily analyzed at ORNL over the past couple years. It will be interesting to learn more about these experiments and how new analysis techniques I'm trying to develop could be used on their data in burnup credit analyses.

Last night I baked bagels (myself) for the first time. Let me say first that they are superb, and second, that molasses works well as a malt extract substitute in small quantities. Tonight, we host a largely nuclear-grad gathering for a "veggie-mex" dinner...