nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Department of Energy faces huge cost increases – Mid-Columbia News | Tri-City Herald : Mid-Columbia news

Department of Energy faces huge cost increases
TriCity Herald By Annette Cary, Herald staff writer

Oct. 07, 2008

Cost increases and project delays continue to mount at the Department of Energy’s 10 largest projects at nuclear weapons sites, five of them at Hanford, according to a Government Accountability Office report to Congress………………………Estimated costs for DOE’s 10 largest cleanup projects have increased by a combined $25 billion over the past few years, with the largest increase in the cost to clean up and close Hanford’s tank farms, where 53 million gallons of radioactive waste are held in underground tanks………………………………

The estimated completion date has moved from 2032 to sometime between 2042 and 2050.

Schedule delays for the 10 projects GAO studied were as long as 15 years, with the longest delays projected at Hanford.

Department of Energy faces huge cost increases – Mid-Columbia News | Tri-City Herald : Mid-Columbia news

Tags: , , ,

October 8, 2008 Posted by | business and costs | Leave a comment

Nuclear power &squo;not an option&squo; | Herald Sun

Nuclear power ‘not an option’

Herald Sun October 07, 2008

RENEWABLE energy is a better option for power generation than nuclear plants, Climate Change Minister Penny Wong says.

Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) head Ziggy Switkowski today said nuclear power was needed to help reduce Australia’s greenhouse emissions to acceptable levels.

But Ms Wong said Australians made their position on nuclear power clear before the election and the Government’s priorities lay in investing in new renewable energy technology and finding a low-emission solution to coal.

She said any global climate-change solution that did not tackle dependence on coal was no solution.

“There are a range of other energy sources which are more important for Australia to consider (than nuclear),” she said.

“We are abundantly blessed with renewable resources and we believe it is far more appropriate, far better for us, to be investing in developing the technology to utilise and commercialise our renewable energy rather than going down the nuclear path.”


Tags: , , ,

October 8, 2008 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

We don’t need coal or nuclear power stations to save planet|11Oct08|Socialist Worker

We don’t need coal or nuclear power stations to save planet
Socialist Worker online Sadie Robinson October 2008 Supporters of coal and nuclear power say they are the only energy sources that can tackle climate change, but there are better alternatives, writes …………………………over the longer term there is a need to develop new forms of energy production.

A number of nuclear and coal plants are to close down over the next 20 years. This will reduce Britain’s electricity generation by around 30 percent. But there is no reason why nuclear or coal plants should fill the gap.

Greenpeace published a report on Britain’s energy requirements last month. It concluded that “there is no need to build new fossil-fuelled power generation to keep the lights on”.

Efficiency

It argues that if the government meets its targets on improving energy efficiency and developing renewable energy, there will be no need for new electricity generation until after 2020………………….Nuclear is being promoted as clean, cheap and efficient, but it is the opposite of all three.

Carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere in every stage in the production of nuclear power. It has taken massive government subsidies to build nuclear power stations in the past, and new ones will require that again.

Nuclear energy requires the building of large plants far from the places where the energy will be used.

This wastes a massive amount of energy as it is lost in transmission from the plants to towns and cities………………………

Investing in clean energy and making changes to the way society is organised are the real way to meet our energy needs.

Renewable energy could end our dependence on fossil fuels and massively reduce carbon emissions.

We don’t need coal or nuclear power stations to save planet|11Oct08|Socialist Worker

Tags: , , ,

October 8, 2008 Posted by | environment | Leave a comment

Govt stands firm on green energy promise – Breaking News – National – Breaking News

Govt stands firm on green energy promise

Sydney Morning Herald October 7, 2008 The federal government has rejected calls to dump its promise to have 20 per cent of electricity generated from renewable sources by 2020………………………..federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson says the RET is here to stay.

“The government’s got a commitment to introduce a renewable energy target of 20 per cent by 2020 and we will remain committed to it,” he told reporters in the NSW city of Queanbeyan.

“We have work underway to actually put the system in place.”…………………………..

The Australian Industry Group on Monday called for the RET to be scrapped.

Mr Ferguson, who was visiting Queanbeyan’s new Dyesol factory which manufactures parts for solar panels, was less convinced about the need for a premium feed-in tariff for renewable energy than he was about the RET…………………..

Mr Ferguson is seen in some quarters as a staunch defender of the coal industry rather than a convert to renewable energy.

His unequivocal commitment to the RET may have recast that perception a little, but the green tinge was only partial.

Dyesol managing director Gavin Tulloch says Australia’s future lay in renewable energy.

Govt stands firm on green energy promise – Breaking News – National – Breaking News

Tags: , , ,

October 8, 2008 Posted by | ENERGY | Leave a comment

Your Renewable News – New wave of power in renewable energy market

New wave of power in renewable energy market
Your Renewable News  Oct 07, 2008Energy experts say waves could rival wind and solar as power sources. Australia – and particularly the southern coastline – has a potentially inexhaustible source of renewable energy lapping at its shores: waves.Proponents of wave power – which uses off-shore buoys and pumps to run electricity generators – claim the technology could generate at least 35% of the nation’s power needs.If embraced, it could prove as efficient as wind power and more affordable than solar options, according to the three companies that have already started harnessing Australia’s oceanic energy.And governments are warming to the idea – but not as quickly as advocates would like. The Federal Government has pumped $5 million into the Biopower company, which runs prototype wave power units in Bass Strait, and the State Government has allocated $72 million for green energy initiatives, including wave energy.

Your Renewable News – New wave of power in renewable energy market

Tags:

October 8, 2008 Posted by | ENERGY | Leave a comment

Bloomberg.com: Australia & New Zealand

JPMorgan Cuts Uranium Price Forecasts, Citing Financial Crisis
By Angela Macdonald-Smith Oct. 8 (Bloomberg) — JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its forecast for uranium prices through 2010 because of increased spot-market sales of the radioactive metal in September and the potential for the credit freeze to slow nuclear power project development…………………………….Uranium-oxide spot prices, which reached a record $138 a pound in June last year, dropped $4 to $49 in the week ended Oct. 6, The Ux Consulting Co. LLC said on its Web site.,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,High up-front capital costs for nuclear power projects may slow the so-called nuclear renaissance, the securities firm said. Nuclear power stations can cost between $1,400 and $3,500 per kilowatt-hour of installed capacity, it said.

Bloomberg.com: Australia & New Zealand

Tags: , , ,

October 8, 2008 Posted by | business and costs | Leave a comment