BRICs – Brazil, Russia, China, India, all nuclear prospects looking dodgy
China is looking much less committed to nuclear power than it was a year ago.
The reality is that China needs nuclear power much less than the nuclear industry needs China.
Prospects for Nuclear Power in 2012 Source: Platts - a leading global provider of energy, metals and petrochemicals information. London, 30 January 2012 “….BRICs [Brazil, Russia, India and China] + South Korea China has dominated new nuclear plant orders in the past few years, accounting for 25 out of the 38 reactors on which construction started worldwide between 2008-2010. Six of these units were for Gen III+ designs, four AP1000s and two EPRs. Almost all the others used a design imported from France in the 1980s, which in turn had been licensed from Westinghouse in the early 1970s. This design, the CPR1000, is showing its age and there was an expectation, even before Fukushima, that the AP1000 would replace it. This would have been a huge boost to the AP1000, giving it the volume of orders that might have allowed costs to come down and for teething problems to be solved. The EPR, by contrast, appears to have no prospect of further orders in China.
However, there were signs that the strain of the rapid pace of construction was beginning to show. In 2011, no new starts were made, compared with ten in 2010. Fukusima explains this to a degree, but some might have been expected in the first three months of 2011 before disaster struck. The reason behind the slowdown is the high cost of the AP1000. The large Chinese utilities appear to be looking at other options.
There is now talk of pursuing indigenous advanced designs developed from the CPR1000 as well as Small Modular Reactors. China has always been adept at convincing nuclear suppliers that there was a great future for their particular technology in China.
It is unclear whether talk of SMRs and new advanced designs will go any further. Read more »
Church leaders head anti nuclear protest in Kudankulam
Kudankulam: Anti-nuclear forum stages protest Tirunelveli: IBN Tamil, Nadu, Live 27 Jan 12, An anti-nuclear forum spearheading the stir against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant on Thursday staged a demonstration in a coastal village near the site in protest against moves to get it commissioned.
Organisers of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy said PMANE activists staged the demonstration at Chettikulam after coming in a procession from Perumanalpuram.
Both villages are about five km from the KNPP site.PMANE convenor SP Udayakumar and heads of various churches led the protestors.
The commissioning of the plant was earlier slated in December 2011, but has been delayed after protests by locals, who have been agitating since September last, demanding scrapping of the Indo-Russian project, citing safety concerns following the Fukushima disaster.
The previous three rounds of talks between the Central experts committee and Tamil Nadu Government panel set up to break the impasse over the project, held on November 7, 18 and
December 15 last year failed to make any headway towards commissioning of the first unit as locals were not satisfied with the replies given by the expert group to their queries.
The fourth round meeting between the committee and panel is planned to be held on January
31.http://ibnlive.in.com/news/kudankulam-antinuclear-forum-stages-protest/224546-62-128.html
Renewable energy development for Karnataka, India
Renewable energy potential 28GW+ in Karnataka, Construction Week online India, Jan 24, 2012 Karnataka’s renewable energy potential is more than 28 GW, says Pune based World Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE). Karnataka is one of the pioneers where states in India are concerned to draft an RE Policy for the state for the period of 2009-14.
The policy envisions a generation of 6600 MW of renewable electricity by 2014 and about Rs.23,890 crore of investments during the said period. Studies by the World Institute of Sustainable Energy (WISE), Pune, suggest that Karnataka has much more RE potential
than envisaged, which is more than 24 GW, out of which currently, only 3.45 GW has been tapped so far (as on Nov 2011). This includes 1929 MW of wind, 86 MW of biomass, 782 MW of bagasse cogen, 646 MW of small hydro, and 9 MW of solar. Wind offers the maximum potential with an untapped potential of 11 GW. Obviously the huge untapped potential also creates a huge investment opportunity…..
http://www.constructionweekonline.in/article-7672-renewable_energy_potential_28gw_in_karnataka/
Economic growth for India through renewable energy
Renewable energy holds key to growth, says Sheila, Times of India, TNN | Jan 21, 2012, NEW DELHI: Chief minister Sheila Dikshit on Friday unveiled the first Renewal Energy Assisted Pump (REAP) system at a function in Mayur Vihar. Developed by discom BSES Yamuna in collaboration with IIT Delhi, the REAP system is an easy-to-install submersible pump connected to a water tank, with a specially designed motor powered by a solar panel.
Officials said REAP would meet water storage and pumping needs in both rural and urban India by harnessing renewable energy sources. “It will help in combating global warming and other environmental issues. In addition to reducing dependence on fossil fuels, it will help BYPL manage the electricity demand better,” said an official.
The first REAP system was installed at a plot owned by the All India Panchayat Parishad (AIPS) in Mayur Vihar. Dikshit said the REAP technology would reduce consumption of power during morning peak hours, when most people switch on their pumps to get water as well as store it. “The technology will also prove useful in agriculture, hospitals, schools, hotels, restaurants, malls and group housing societies,” said a government official. The solar panel will be connected to a pump, which will draw ground water and store it in an overhead tank. The REAP has a capacity to draw 30,000l of water per hour. The CM said generation of power with coal and gas is not a viable solution as these resources are getting depleted. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Renewable-energy-holds-key-to-growth-says-Sheila/articleshow/11573708.cms
Solar energy investment looking up in India
USA and Australia should stop special nuclear favours to India
Australia in particular, along with the United States and the Nuclear Suppliers Group, must review recent decisions to positively discriminate in order to permit nuclear dealings with India.
The evidence is incontrovertible that India was a customer of the Khan network.
Gillard’s sexual education, Crikey, January 18, 2012 –, by NAJ Taylor ”…….. if Playboy’s January issue (the one with Lindsay Lohan on the cover) is approached with open eyes, I believe it has the capacity the recast the Australia-India relationship. In sum, the article by Joshua Pollack concerns an already infamous Pakistani and a group of Indian nuclear scientists – the evidence assembled suggests only one thing: there was once a time when they were all in bed together. Read more »
Pakistan’s A.Q. Khan’s treacherous nuclear deals with India
The Secret Treachery of A.Q. Khan, PLAYBOY, January 12, JOSHUA POLLACK “…… By now Khan has made nearly every possible claim about who bears responsibility for selling Pakistan’s centrifuge technology. He did it at the behest of the military. He acted purely on his own. The military was solely responsible. It was all done by foreigners. Khan lost many things during his ordeal, including his freedom and his credibility. But throughout, he retained one crucial secret: the identity of a fourth country, after Iran, Libya and North Korea, to which he had provided the shortcut to a nuclear weapon. Read more »
India leads in renewable energy investment
India Clean Energy Surge Enters Next Phase, Bloomberg, 18 Jan 12, “……Renewable energy offers an exception to India’s history of overpromised goals. The nation overshot its installation target by 100 percent just two years after “Power for All” became policy. Since then, renewable energy in India has been growing quickly. In March 2007, India had 10.2 GW of renewable energy. That more than doubled by the end of 2011, to over 22 GW accounting for 11% of India’s power generation capacity.
Bloomberg New Energy Finance tracks money flowing into projects, venture capital and private equity deals, and public market fundraising. We found that India led nations in the growth of renewable energy investment in 2011, with a 52 percent jump to $10.3 billion, helped by a growing wind sector and accelerating solar market. Read more »
U.S. geologist warns on earthquake risk to planned Jaitapur nuclear plant
Jaitapur nuclear power plant project draws more fire Gulf News, By Pamela Raghunath, 13 Jan 12, US geologist warns of high quake risk in region and urges authorities to embrace a design that can withstand a high degree of shaking Mumbai: A noted American geologist has criticised the construction of a 9,900 Megawatt nuclear power plant in Jaitapur, Maharashtra, warning of a high earthquake risk in the area.
In a paper co-authored with Professor Vinod Gaur of the Indian Institute of Astrophysics, Professor Roger Bilham of the University of Colorado warned that a magnitude 6 earthquake could hit Jaitapur. The paper was published in Current Science, a prestigious Indian journal published by the Current Science Association and the Indian Academy of Sciences.
He joins environmentalists, Indian scientists and local farmers in opposing the energy project……
The Jaitapur area comes under Ratnagiri district which falls in the seismic Zone 4 (high damage) category with Zone 5 being the highest. The region has witnessed 92 earthquakes within the period from 1985 to 2005.
Professor Bilham said nuclear power plants can be engineered to withstand a high degree of shaking intensity although the expense of the design will increase with the severity and duration of the shaking. http://gulfnews.com/news/world/pakistan/jaitapur-nuclear-power-plant-project-draws-more-fire-1.965175
Renewable energy – wave power for India
Indian innovator harnesses sea waves for power, The Economic Times, 10 Jan 12, NEW DELHI: An Indian innovator has come up with a technology that tweaks gravity power to harness sea waves for clean and affordable energy, a source more readily available than wind or solar power and, unlike fossil fuels, inexhaustible. Read more »
India borrowing from France, to buy France’s nuclear reactors
Interesting to watch the developments in India, as the people’s Koodankulam anti nuclear protest continues. The Russian engineers have now left the site, as work cannot proceed, due to the public opposition.
The Indian nuclear corporation cannot afford its planned new nuclear plants at Jaitapur and Koodankulam, which they are buying from France and Russia respectively. But hey! – that’s no problem, because they are going to borrow the money from France and Russia. Seems like the Indian government is working on behalf of foreign companies, not the Indian people. Nuclear Power Corp Looks Overseas for Loans .http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204257504577149981322117366.html
The Indian government is also learning from France’s nuclear company, AREVA, on how to manipulate public opinion. With jolly jingles and other cheery messages, they hope to convince the community that nuclear power is just fine. At left above, a sample of AREVA’s message to children, in its Australian brochure. – Christina Macpherson
NPCIL launches campaign to clear KNPP concerns,Zee News, January 09, 2012, Chennai: Amid the standoff over the controversial Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited has launched an intense media campaign to allay safety fears of the people in and around the project site.
“NPCIL has produced 60-second long advertisements to be telecast on TV channels. These will carry messages on cancer and on some issues raised by fishermen,” an official said here today.
In the advertisements, renowned oncologist Dr V Shanta of Cancer Institute, Chennai, marine life experts Murugesan and Sugumaran will clear doubts that locals and fishermen might have (about nuclear
power), they said. The campaign would be telecast on Tamil TV channels, apparently targeting the local population who have been up in arms against the Indo-Russian collaborative project since September last.
NPCIL officials had already aired 60-second long jingles on private radio channels in Tirunelveli district. The commissioning of the plant, earlier slated in December 2011, has been delayed after protests by locals on grounds of safety.
http://zeenews.india.com/news/tamil-nadu/npcil-launches-campaign-to-clear-knpp-concerns_751574.html
India’s Chief Ministers urged to support the people, not foreign nuclear corporations
Kudankulam: 3 women CMs urged to take steps to rescind all nuke deals DNA, Jan 9, 2012, Chennai PTI An anti-nuclear forum spearheading the stir against Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant today requested women chief ministers of Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal to take steps to rescind all nuclear deals the Centre has signed with US, Russia, France and other nations.
In a letter to them, the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy urged ‘the three popular and bold leaders’ tobring it up at the coming chief ministers’ conference and take steps to rescind all such agreements signed with these three countries and other nations.
Alleging that these are affecting Indian fishermen, farmers, Dalit workers and other deprived sections, it said the country’s nuclear performance has been “quite dismal, insignificant and wasteful.”
“Even after spending so much money, resources, time and national energies for the past 63 years, they produce hardly 2.5% electricity and have done little for the betterment of our people,” the letter said. PMANE also alleged that the nuclear department meddles in national politics and that ‘invigorating this department further would lead only to slavery and not salvation.”
“As women leaders with motherly concern for the people who enjoy people’s trust and huge political mandate, you are the hopes of our country’s youth and children,” the letter signed by PMANE convenor SP Udayakumar said. http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report_knpp-3-women-cms-urged-to-take-steps-to-rescind-all-nuke-deals_1635185
India: determination of People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE)
demanded that the Centre cancel nuclear deals with all countries, including USA, Russia, France and Japan. “People should not be made scapegoats for the sake of multinational companies,”
Will lay permanent siege to Koodankulam plant if it goes critical: PMANE, The Asian Age, Jan 07, 2012 | Madurai An anti-nuclear forum spearheading the ongoing stir against Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant on Saturday said it would intensify the agitation by laying a ‘permanent siege’ to the plant if it goes critical.
“The government should respect the sentiments of the local people. If they don’t, they will not hesitate to lay a permanent siege of the plant,” S P Udhaykumar, convenor of the People’s Movement Against Nuclear Energy (PMANE) told reporters here. He said there is no compromise on PMANE’s stand that the Centre should shelve the project. Read more »
Pakistan, India, exchange nuclear site information and hold peace talks
Pakistan, India swap nuclear lists Courier Mail, AFP January 02, PAKISTAN and India have exchanged lists of their nuclear sites. The two countries did so under an accord which prohibits both sides from attacking these locations, the foreign ministry in Islamabad said
yesterday.
Under the 1988 agreement, the nuclear-armed neighbours are required to submit the lists of all their respective nuclear installations and facilities – civilian and military – on January 1 every year.
“In accordance with the aforesaid agreement, a list of requisite facilities in Pakistan was given to the Indian high commission official at the foreign office today,” a statement from Pakistan’s
foreign ministry said.
The Indian side also handed over its list to the Pakistan high commission official at the ministry of external affairs in New Delhi, it added…… As part of the resumed dialogue process, experts from the two countries recently held peace talks in Islamabad on nuclear
confidence-building measures… http://www.couriermail.com.au/ipad/pakistan-india-swap-nuclear-lists/story-fn6ck55c-1226234513906
India gets nuclear submarines from Russia
India is currently completing the development of its own Arihant-class nuclear-powered ballistic submarines …The 8,140-tonne vessel can fire a range of torpedoes as well as Granat cruise missiles that can be nuclear-tipped…..
Newspaper reports in India said New Delhi may end up paying as much as $900 million under the terms of the deal.
Russia hands over Nerpa nuclear sub to India (AFP) Khaleej Times, 30 December 2011 MOSCOW — Russia has handed over the nuclear-powered attack submarine Nerpa to India following more than two years of delays, a senior naval official was quoted as saying Friday.
“The signing ceremony happened yesterday at the Bolshoi Kamen ship building facility in the (Far East) Primorye region where the Nerpa is now based,” the official in the naval chief of staff told ITAR-TASS. The report said an Indian crew would sail the Akula II class craft to its home base at the end of January after receiving it on a 10-year lease, in a deal that has angered India’s arch-rival Pakistan…..
India is currently completing the development of its own Arihant-class nuclear-powered ballistic submarines … Read more »
1 THIS MONTH
http://kcpw.org/blog/local-news/2012-01-27/victims-of-nuclear-testing-radiation-
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2012/s3413882.htm Is the world facing a groundwater crisis?
of the week http://climaterealityproject.org/thin-ice/
EVENT
February 18 Hindsdale, Chicago American Association of University Women - nuclear disaster preparedness H.OB.aauw.reservations@gmail.com.
March 2012 is “March Against Nuclear Madness” and Beyond Nuclear has created a new March Against Nuclear Madness Facebook page.
Nuclear power and water – theme for February 2012
Too much water. It is a laugh that nuclear power is touted as a solution to global warming More likely, global warming is the death knell for nuclear power.
Very many nuclear reactors are located along coastlines, where they are vulnerable to storms, hurricanes, and tsunamis. With climate change and rising sea levels, these events are becoming more frequent and more extreme.
So far, we have considered water only as it relates to only the normal operations of nuclear reactors. Even then, nuclear reactors have leaks, especially as they age, allowing radioactive substances to disperse into water systems.
Uranium mines are vulnerable to flooding. When this happens, the disaster is an economic one, as well as environmental. Canada’s Cameco company and Energy Resources of Australia have found this out to their cost. Both uranium companies are still in financial plight due to the Cigar Lake (Canada) floods of 2006, and 2008, and the Ranger mine (Australia) floods of 2011.
But Fukushima has shown the world how a natural climate event can disrupt nuclear power. In the event of a nuclear accident the effects of nuclear power on water are hugely damaging, catastrophic.
Some figures and facts on nuclear/uranium and water.
URANIUM MINING Water use in a typical uranium mine is approximately 200 to 300 gallons per minute, In water-short Australia, BHP Billiton’s Olympic Dam uranium mine has been for years taking 35 million litres of water each day from the underground aquifer, at no cost whatever. When BHP digs its new biggest hole in the world, it will pay a small fixed price for removing even greater amounts, exceeding 42 million litres.
NUCLEAR REACTORS A typical 1000-megawatt pressurized-water reactor (with a cooling tower) takes in 20,000 gallons of river, lake or ocean water per minute for cooling, circulates it through a 50-mile maze of pipes, returns 5,000 gallons per minute to the same body of water, and releases the remainder to the atmosphere as vapor. A 1000-megawatt reactor without a cooling tower takes in even more water–as much as one-half million gallons per minute. The discharge water is contaminated with radioactive elements in amounts that are not precisely known or knowable, but are biologically active.
Some radioactive fission gases, stripped from the reactor cooling water, are contained in decay tanks for days before being released into the atmosphere through filtered rooftop vents. Some gases leak into the power plant buildings’ interiors and are released during periodic “purges” and “ventings.” These airborne gases contaminate not only the air, but also soil and water.
200 billion gallons of water withdrawn from America’s water supply each day for every terawatt of electricity produced by nuclear reactors,
At least 20 USA nuclear plants have admitted leakage of radioactive tritium into the groundwater.
Spills and leaks are common at In Situ Leach mines. The South Australian Department of Primary Industry and Resources lists 59 spills at Beverley mine from 1998 to 2007.
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