States rebel against financing Small Modular Nuclear reactors (SMRs)
Experts: Nuclear Power Industry Woes Spreading Across Nation From Florida To Iowa Market Watch WASHINGTON, May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ – As Ratepayer Rebellion Rages in Florida, Small Modular Reactor and “CWIP” Advance Financing Drive Stopped Dead in Iowa; Next Battleground States: Missouri and North Carolina.
Though its trials and travails at the national level get all the attention, the nuclear power industry is finding fewer and fewer friends in statehouses across the nation. In the Southeast, traditionally the stronghold of new nuclear power projects, a growing ratepayer rebellion in Florida seeks to curb advance financing of reactors that experts say will most likely never be constructed.
In Iowa, even Warren Buffett could not help to persuade state lawmakers to permit advancing financing of a small modular reactor (SMR) in that state. The Iowa defeat marked the nuclear power industry’s failure in its first attempt to push its much-ballyhooed SMR technology through a state legislature. Opposition to advance financing of a new reactor is so strong in Missouri that the industry has been forced to go to Washington, D.C., to seek a $452-million taxpayer-funded grant in the absence of state-level and Wall Street support. In North Carolina, diverse groups are coming together to block a push by Duke to
liberalize construction work in progress (CWIP) provisions to dig even deeper into the pockets of ratepayers in that state.
Examples of the growing state-level opposition to advance financing of SMRs and other new nuclear reactors include the following: Read more »
Taxpayers dudded on loan guarantees for Vogtle Nuclear Power Plant
The credit subsidy cost these documents reveal for the Vogtle project is absurdly low. It is now years out of date and little information on how it was justified is provided. This information shows that taxpayers should be even more worried about signing off on an $8.3
billion loan guarantee for the Vogtle reactor.” “A one percent fee doesn’t even begin to reflect the risk of default”
Taxpayers deserve to see the basis on which the ridiculously low fee for Southern Company was calculated.
SACE has filed a FOIA request to unearth what the new estimates are in order to understand what risks taxpayers still face…… the terms
of the updated loan guarantee deal are still being held in secret.
Secret Documents Highlight Nuclear’s Risk to Taxpayers Market Watch, ATLANTA, May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ — A closer look at new documents shows Department of Energy significantly underestimated controversial Vogtle Nuclear Plant’s risk of default
Late last week Southern Alliance for Clean Energy (SACE) successfully negotiated the release of hundreds of pages of secret nuclear loan guarantee documents to settle Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation spanning nearly two years. These documents reveal that one of the nation’s largest utilities, Southern Company, was aggressively pursuing controversial federal nuclear loan guarantees at significantly below market rates. Read more »
German government working carefully on phasing out nuclear power
Germany beefs up monitoring of nuclear shutdown, Google News By JUERGEN BAETZ, Associated Press 24 May 12, BERLIN (AP) — The German government will more closely oversee the country’s move from nuclear power to renewable energy, Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday — a mammoth 10-year project for Europe’s biggest economy that has been going slowly so far.
Merkel said she will be meeting with all of Germany’s 16 state governors twice a year to take stock of the transformation’s progress and shortcomings, stressing that everything must be done to avoid blackouts and ensure affordable energy. Read more »
Nuclear Regulatory Commission extends Hanford nuclear license for 20 more years
License for nuclear power plant at Hanford extended to 2043 Oregon Live.com , May 23, 2012 YAKIMA, Wash.-- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has extended the license for the Northwest’s only commercial nuclear power plant by an additional 20 years, the plant’s operator announced Wednesday.
The license extends operations at south-central Washington’s Columbia Generating Station through 2043. The plant had been operating on a 40-year license that expires at the end of 2023.
The plant is operated by Energy Northwest, a public power consortium composed of 28 member utilities. Controversy swirled around the plant last year because it is the same general type as those stricken after the tsunami in Japan…. http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2012/05/license_for_hanford_nuclear_po.html
Iowa wise to stop dead a plan for Small Modular Nuclear reactors
”The still substantial economic, technical and regulatory uncertainties surrounding Small Modular Reactors make their future role as a competitive, safe, clean electricity source only speculative, and given the track record of nuclear power there are reasons for pessimism.”
Experts: Nuclear Power Industry Woes Spreading Across Nation From Florida To Iowa Market Watch WASHINGTON, May 23, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -”…….Steven Falck, senior policy advocate, Environmental Law and Policy Center, Iowa, said: “Common sense prevailed in Iowa to stop the advance financing of a small modular reactor. Read more »
UK government’s folly in persisting with nuclear power plans
the UK, where the nuclear industry is so embedded in government it supplies staff free-of-charge to work within the energy ministry. Perhaps it’s no wonder that even when half of the UK’s big six energy companies bale out of nuclear on cost grounds, ministers plough on regardless.
while mass-produced renewable energy technologies are pushing the costs downwards, nuclear energy is completing the journey from “too cheap to meter” to “too expensive to count”
Only renewables – not nuclear – could be too cheap to meter http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/damian-carrington-blog/2012/may/22/energy-nuclear-renewables Damian Carrington, The Guardian UK, 22 May 12, Germany’s long support for wind and solar energy is delivering zero-cost electricity at times. In contrast, the UK’s new energy policy seeks to underwrite the rising cost of nuclear ”Too cheap to meter”: that was the infamous boast of the nuclear powerindustry in its heyday. It has been catastrophically discredited by history. Read more »
Promote clean energy, don’t subsidise nuclear – says Scotland
” the UK Government must recognise that the purpose of this reform is to support renewable energy, not to provide subsidies for nuclear energy.”
Government: Renewables not nuclear Google News(UKPA) – 23 May 12, Planned reforms to the electricity market must focus on renewable energy rather than nuclear subsidies, according to the Scottish Government.
The comment follows publication of the draft UK Energy Bill which the British Government hopes will deliver the £110 billion investment needed to build new low-carbon capacity. Read more »
Britain setting up huge subsidies for nuclear industry, poorly hidden in consumers’ costs
Britain’s proposals appear to be drafted to sidestep E.U. restrictions on state aid that might prevent direct subsidies for the construction of new nuclear power plants.
Britain hopes that this guaranteed price, to be paid by businesses and consumers, will secure the financial commitment from energy utilities to construct nuclear reactors
This proposal has distorted policy in order to try to disguise the massive subsidies nuclear will need, but they remain so huge that the policy will fail anyway,”
Britain Charts Way to Wider Nuclear Investment, NYT, By STEPHEN CASTLE, May 22, 2012 LONDON — Britain announced plans Tuesday to finance a new generation of nuclear power plants and renewable energy facilities in a move that illustrates divergent energy policies within the European Union as it grapples with the challenge of reconciling economic and environmental objectives. While Germany intends to phase out nuclear power and France’s new president, François Hollande, aims to reduce his country’s reliance on it, the British government appears to be moving in the opposite direction with its proposals, aimed at luring investment of £110 billion, or $175 billion, to build new reactors and renewable energy plants. Read more »
USA govt and nuclear industry have got rid of too-thorough nuclear regulator Jaczko
the pressure became too great from both, several industry and government officials say. Both parties wanted to expand the use of nuclear facilities and further explore options for storing nuclear waste. Jaczko had largely put the kibosh on both
members of Congress, mostly senior Democrats, have defended Jaczko as a thoughtful and thorough regulator
Jaczko’s resignation still illustrates the influence of the nuclear industry.
Nuclear Commission Gregory Jaczko Calls It Quits, The Daily Beast, May 21, 2012 After a long campaign to drive the nation’s top nuclear regulator from office, NRC commissioner Greg Jaczko resigned Monday. Daniel Stone reports on how the industry claimed its casualty. Read more »
Nuclear industry lobbying hard to get Pilgrim plant relicensed
the nuclear industry has been busy making its concerns known in Washington about the Pilgrim delays and what they could mean for other contentious relicensing cases.
Delays in Pilgrim nuclear plant’s relicensing draws the ire of some GOP leaders in Congress Mass. Market, 2012 May 22 by Jon Chesto Massachusetts politicians aren’t the only ones closely watching the fate of the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth. A group of GOP congressmen, led by energy committee chairman Fred Upton, sent a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday, essentially scolding the NRC for taking so long with its review of Pilgrim. Read more »
Iowa’s ratepayers win in defeat of nuclear industry Bill
The failure of this nuclear bill shows that the Iowa Legislature is listening to the people of Iowa and not to the well-financed nuclear power industry or to MidAmerican Energy’s lobbyists.
Nuclear bill’s failure a win for all Iowans The Gazette, By Mike Carberry, 20 May 12 In a major blow to the nuclear industry, the Iowa Legislature adjourned without passing a bill that would pave the way for MidAmerican Energy to charge ratepayers in advance for new nuclear reactor construction.
The utility could have been allowed to keep the money even if construction was never completed. MidAmerican lobbied extensively for the bill but Iowa ratepayer concerns about nuclear power doomed the proposal. Read more »
Political, economic, pressure on Japan to restart nuclear reactors, despite community opposition
How Close Is Japan to Pushing the “On” Button on Reactors? WSJ, By Mitsuru Obe and Phred Dvorak, May 18, 2012, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said Thursday the government’s “close” to a decision on whether to restart two nuclear reactors in western Japan — the first pair in line to switch back on after last year’s terrible accident in Fukushima.
So what’s the controversial decision going to be and where does it stand? JRT expects it’ll be a “yes,” but the pressures against restarting are so great that the order to bring
them back online could be delayed for months — possibly after peak electricity demand in the summer. Here’s our attempt to cut through the obscure, politically charged process….. Read more »
Majority of Americans want renewable energy, see USA politics as corrupt
the public has clearly picked up on the fact that corrupt politics is a key reason we don’t have more of that. 82% of Americans (69% of Republicans, 84% of Independents, and 95% of Democrats) agree with this statement: “The time is now for a new, grassroots-driven politics to realize a renewable energy future.
76% of Americans Want Clean Energy Instead of Nuclear, Natural Gas, & Coal Clean Technica MAY 15, 2012 BY ZACHARY SHAHAN Yet another recent poll showed that Americans really support clean energy, across political affiliations (though, there’s clearly more support on the left).
The ORC International survey, conducted for the nonprofit and nonpartisan Civil Society Institute (CSI), found that 76% of Americans (58% of Republicans, 83% of Independents, and 88% of Democrats) want to see ”a reduction in our reliance on nuclear power, natural gas and coal, and instead, launch a national initiative to boost renewable energy and energy efficiency.” (And who knows what the remaining 24% are smoking?) Read more »
UK govt’s problem – how to make a nuclear subsidy look like ‘not a subsidy’
The coalition government pledged ‘no public subsidy’ for nuclear in its ‘programme for government’ in May 2010.
When is support not a subsidy? UK nuclear London South East, Gerard Wynn , LONDON, May 16 – A British government argument that its planned
support for new nuclear power stops short of a subsidy, to satisfy EU regulators and a coalition pledge, only adds to the sense of a policy in trouble.
The planned UK nuclear build programme would be the biggest in the developed world, but is under threat after the exit of two backers. The economics are not helped by delays and cost over-runs at projects elsewhere in Europe and by low wholesale power prices.
The awkwardness of trying to stand by a commitment to ‘no subsidy,’ even while it accepts the technology needs support, risks boxing the government into a corner. Its predicament illustrates how the technology is struggling to maintain a toehold …
Whether the British programme proceeds will depend on cost, including the amount of price support, plus public acceptance of the technology and the government’s ‘no subsidy’ position, Read more »
Indian Member of Parliament demands scrapping of nuclear power programme
Scrap nuclear power programme, demands Lok Sabha MP Business Standard, Press Trust of India / New Delhi May 17, 2012, An Independent MP today demanded scrapping of the country’s nuclear power programme saying it would have adverse effect on farm production, environment and people.
“I demand that the government should stop the nuclear power programme because it can affect our farm productivity, environment and people,” Tarun Mandal said during Zero Hour. He pointed out that radiation can be spread through water used in the atomic power plants which can badly hit crops, environment and people of the country. Mandal suggested that the government should harness other sources of
energy like hydro-power to meet power demand….. http://www.business-standard.com/generalnews/news/scrap-nuclear-power-programme-demands-lok-sabha-mp/9901/
1 THIS MONTH
- http://ifyoulovethisplanet.org/?p=5755 Mary Olson on how women are more vulnerable to atomic radiation
http://soundcloud.com/flashpoints/flashpoints-daily-newsmag-05-6Fukushima reactor 4 still threatens the world Dr. Micio Kaku
of the week http://www.youtube.com/user/GoddardsJournal
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San Onofre: Bad Vibrations http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RP7e83MErWw&feature=share - Low-Dose Radiation ☢ NEW A-Bomb Study http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VAncqK6bl0&feature=share
“Pay-to-print”: How Media Corruption Undermines Indian Democracy http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbjsQ_dYuJQ&feature=share
VIDEO http://vimeo.com/35212151 Cancer Risk To Young Children Near Fukushima Daiichi Underestimated
- and this VIDEO Kazakhstan’s Nuclear Legacy http://www.euronews.com/2010/04/14/kazakhstan-s-nuclear-legacy/
ACTION
USA EMERGENCY PLANNING PETITION NOW OPEN FOR PUBLIC COMMENT
PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS IN FAVOR OF EXPANDING EMERGENCY PLANNING ZONES; IMPROVING REGULATIONS The deadline for public comments is July 16, 2012. You can submit your comments here. more information at http://nuclear-news.net/action/
- Shut down the nuclear restart. Sign now!! http://www.avaaz.org/en/japan_no_to_nuclear_restart_ms/
- Stop Kudankulam - Please sign http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5502/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10090 –
EVENTS – USA
- May 31 - Portland, Maine, Bonnie Raitt benefit concert for New England Coalition on Nuclear Pollution
The Nuclear Industry and WOMEN- theme for May 2012
Although women have rarely been part of decision-making about nuclear power, they have been at the forefront in opposing it.Women in organisations Strongly present in anti-nuclear activities in peace, environmental, religious and civil liberties, women have also formed their own anti-nuclear organisations . e.g. Women’s International League For Peace and Freedom, Women For Peace. Women Against Nuclear Power, Women Against Nuclear Energy,
“When it comes to opposing nuclear power in Finland, the toughest and most active and conspicuous resistance has been among women. A rather small group of women working as teachers, freelance editors, authors and in rather alternative professions. Women who perfectly well are aware of the fact that they are far too radical to be promoted for high posts within traditional parties or getting well-paying jobs in some big companies. Women who are not trying to reach equality on male values. These women have kept the resistance alive, have invited foreign speakers getting through in the mass media, have arranged post-card campaigns aiming at parliamentarians, have written inserts in daily newspapers, have collected signatures from organizations worldwide against nuclear power, etc.
If women had been asked if nuclear power should be used for energy production or if nuclear weapons should be produced there would hardly be any nuclear power stations in the world and no nuclear weapons. Women represent half of humanity. Our voice must be heard! “- Ulla Klötzer WISE – Nuclear issues information service service
Below, a note on some of the courageous women who have stood out against the nuclear forces and apologies for the thousands of such women who are not mentioned here
Dr Helen Caldicott. - Australia and The World. The single most articulate and passionate advocate of citizen action to remedy the nuclear and environmental crises, Dr Helen Caldicott, has devoted the last 38 years to an international campaign to educate the public about the medical hazards of the nuclear age and the necessary changes in human behavior to stop environmental destruction. Helen Caldicott – About
Jean McSorley. – UK. A prolific writer and activist, Jean McSorley has advised government and environmental organisations, in the UK and abroad, for many years revealing the facts about Sellafield, and other UK nuclear facilities.
Her MajestyQueen Noor ofJordan is an international humanitarian activist and an outspoken voice on issues of world peace and justice. Today Her Majesty Queen Noor plays a major role in promoting international exchange and understanding of Arab and Muslim culture and politics, Arab-Western relations, and conflict prevention. Queen Noor | Global Zero
Ulla Klötzer - Finland. A powerful speaker and writer, Ulla Klötzer continues to oppose uranium mining, nuclear proliferation, and to expose the construction of Finlands reactor, Olkiluto OL 3 – the biggest nuclear reactor in the world.
Satomi Oba –Japan. Another leading voice for non-proliferation and disarmament was Japan’s Satomi Oba, former president of Plutonium Action Hiroshima and chair member of the international non-proliferation movement Abolition 2000. For decades before her untimely death in February 2005, Oba organized grassroots events, spoke to international groups and broke ground for other activists
Dianne Stokes – Australia An Aboriginal elder of the Yapa Yapa clan, which owns land at Muckaty in the Northern Territory, has for years continued the fight against the Australian government’s plan to put a nuclear waste dump on Aboriginal land, – resisting enormous pressure from powerful interests and politicians Toxic feelings at proposed nuclear dump – National – smh.com.au
Jean Grossholtz – (USA) Professor emeritus at the Dept. of Women’s Studies, Mt. Holyoke College, Jean helped organize the Women’s Pentagon Action (1980-82) and has long been active in peace and social justice work.
Ellen Diederich –Germany A peace activist for more than three decades, Ellen Diederich is Director of the German-based International Fasia Jansen Women’s Peace Archive, an extensive collection of books, print, audio-visual and artistic resources on women and militarism and women’s action for peace, world-wide, collected over 25 years.
Corazon Valdez Fabros - Philippines A lawyer by profession, Corazon Fabros is Chairperson of the Pacific Concerns Resource Centre (the Secretariat of the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement) and Secretary General of the Nuclear Free Philippines Coalition, which led the successful campaign to stop the nuclear power plant projects in the Philippines . Currently Philippine Coordinator of the No Nukes Asia Forum and the International Network on Military Activities and Environmental Justice.
Karen Silkwood remembered In 1974, US anti-nuclear activist Karen Silkwood was killed in a car crash many suspect was deliberately caused by the Kerr McGee nuclear company.Karen Silkwood will be remembered as someone who fought an uphill and often unpopular battle against the ruthless nuclear industry. She is an inspiration to all who believe in environmental justice and workers’ rights BY SHARYN JENKINS. Karen Silkwood remembered | Green Left Weekly
Much of the material here was obtained from Women and Life on Earth: English by Anna Gyorgy, Women & Life on Earth Network coordinator, English website editor. Contact: info(at)wloe.org
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