Setsuden – Japan finds an nuclear power replacement that might change the world
setsuden – the Japanese word for power conservation…..As setsuni continues to pare back the power requirements of the Japanese economy, maybe the country won’t need the power from the 54 reactors that it might mothball by next year.
If so, setsuden isn’t just an energy solution for Japan..
Setsuden poised to replace nuclear power in Japan, JEFF RUBIN. Globe and Mail, August 3, 2011 Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan was recently quoted as seeing the country as a nuclear-free nation. But unlike similar pronouncements from Germany, which pledges to be nuclear-free by 2022, Japan may become nuclear free literally within a year. Continue reading
Nuclear reprocessing plant closes down
Globally, the shutdown leaves just one other commercial MOX facility operating globally: the French MELOX plant located in Gard.
UK closes key nuclear reprocessing plant – Nature News Blog August 03, 2011 Today the UK’s Nuclear Decommissioning Authority announced the closure of the Mixed Oxide fuel fabrication facility at Sellafield. “The reason for this is directly related to the tragic events in Japan and its ongoing impact on the power markets,” Tony Fountain, the decommissioning authority’s CEO, said in a prepared statement. Continue reading
Uranium company abandons acid leach plan mining in Australian National Park
Bad news for uranium sector, good news for Kakadu National Park, Scott Ludlam, August 4th, 2011. The Australian Greens today welcomed the news Energy Resources Australia have abandoned plans to introduce acid heap leaching at the Ranger Uranium Mine within Kakadu National Park.
Senator Scott Ludlam said the decision by ERA – majority owned by Rio Tinto – to ditch the plan at their board meeting yesterday was welcome news, and casts a long shadow over the viability of the controversial mine.
“The plan to build a heap leach plant on the Ranger lease was opposed by\Traditional Owners, shareholders, business analysts, environmental advocates and mining experts. This is a win for good sense. “Ranger Uranium Mine has been an ongoing debacle with water seepage ana history of accidents. The Mirarr people – Traditional Owners of the site – and the broader Australian community want Kakadu protected. Ultimately the best way to do that will be the orderly shut-down of the uranium industry,” said Senator Ludlam.
Last year the Office of the Supervising Scientist told a Senate estimates hearing that contaminated water seeping from the Ranger uranium mine in Kakadu National Park had a uranium concentration about 5,400 times the normal level. The environmental regulator told the hearing that about 100,000 litres of water was seeping from the tailings dam every day.
Fears of radioactive rice in Japan
Japanese rice crops threatened by radiation. Smart Planet, By David Worthington | August 1, 2011, Local authorities in Japan are working to determine whether the country’s traditional staple crop is contaminated with unsafe levels of radioactive cesium. Continue reading
Ontario political party promising energy efficiency, ending funds for nuclear power
NDP Look Past Nuclear In Energy Plan. Radio 1010 Newstalk By: Katie Franzios · 8/3/2011 The Ontario NDP plan on laying down $980 million over four years for retrofit programs, if elected.
She says they won’t be spending any extra money to provide these programs but will use the money set aside for Darlington nuclear projects. Horwath says they would be put on hold if elected, so the NDP could review them…
Japanese govt passes law to prop up TEPCO company
Japan Passes Law Supporting Stricken Nuclear Plant’s Operator, NYT 3 Aug 11, By HIROKO TABUCHI, TOKYO — Japan’s Parliament passed a law on Wednesday that will allow the use of public funds to shore up the company operating thecrippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, and help it pay what is expected to amount to billions of dollars in compensation claims.
The law creates a state-backed fund that will pay damages to victims of the disaster at the plant, where three reactors melted down and spewed radiation after cooling systems were lost in the March tsunami and quake. The government will initially pay nearly $26 billion into the fund, Banri Kaieda, the trade minister, told lawmakers on Tuesday….http://www.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/world/asia/04japan.html
Nuclear waste company fined for violation, but can leave the waste there anyway
EnergySolutions identifies violation and pays fine, Examiner.com. Shad Engkilterra , August 3, 2011 -“……EnergySolutions has paid an $80,000 fine, which meets the statutory limit that can be imposed according to Rusty Lundberg, DRC director.
EnergySolutions will not be required to remove the non-Class A waste…. http://www.examiner.com/community-activism-in-salt-lake-city/energysolutions-identifies-violation-and-pays-fine
How to hide highly radioactive waste – “down blending”
“Blenced nuclear wastes” – a way to get around restrictions on toxic wastes
But HEAL said the prospect of more blended waste should be the subject of a more focused study of the Tooele County site to address the long-term safety and health questions raised by federal regulators and the state Radiation Control Board. In addition, said Thomas, blending will allow the company and its customers, in effect, to bury waste more hazardous than the Class A waste currently allowed in the state.
“It circumvents the state’s ban on Class B and C waste, which has been in place for years,” said Thomas.
He added that one analysis estimated the radioactivity at the EnergySolutions site would increase eight-fold if blended waste is permitted… http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/52305223-90/waste-blended-radiation-state.html.csp
TEPCO report highest possible radiation reading at Fukushima nuclear plant
AUDIO http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-08-02/radiation-levels-spike-at-fukushima-nuclear-power/2820930?section=world Radiation levels spike at Fukushima nuclear power plant ABC News Radio National, Mark Willacy August 02, 2011 Record levels of radiation have been recorded at the damaged Fukushima Dai-ichi reactor months after the nuclear accident resulting from the earthquake and tsunami in March. TEPCO reported that Geiger counters registered their highest possible reading at the site yesterday.
Fukushima nuclear plant – highest radiation levels found
Fatal Radiation Level Found at Fukushima Daiichi Plant, NYT, By MARTIN FACKLER, August 1, 2011 TOKYO — The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant said Monday that it measured the highest radiation levels within the plant since it was crippled by a devastating earthquake.
Why Britain’s new nuclear plant might never get built
the most extraordinary thing in this whole saga is that the companies are going ahead without knowing how much this 1,600MW power station will cost.
Hinkley C – Somerset’s nuclear money pit?, byJohn Vidal 1 August 2011 guardian.co.uk Uncosted, unapproved, and unwanted: why Britain’s new nuclear plant may never get built French state-owned power company EDF has been given permission to start the pre-construction of “Hinkley C”, the third nuclear power station on the Somerset coast of the Bristol channel. Continue reading
EPA study into uranium contamination of Navajo land
The Mariano Lake Mine is one of a handful of sites that the EPA and its Navajo Nation counterpart have targeted for investigation or cleanup so far. They’ve been assessing hundreds of abandoned uranium mines to address what has become a legacy of death and disease across the reservation.
EPA announces deal for uranium contamination probe, Canadian Business, August 01, 2011 FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing an effort to determine the extent of contamination at a former uranium mining site on the Navajo Nation that marked a high priority for assessment. Continue reading
Florida’s new nuclear plants – costs escalating
Rising cost of Florida’s new nuclear power getting scrutiny Customer groups ask state regulators to require FPL and Progress Energy to answer how much new nuclear plants will cost and when they’ll be built, Miami Herald, Mary Ellen Klas, 1 August 11, TALLAHASSEE –– For the past two years, customers of Florida’s largest electric companies have been paying to build new nuclear power plants that have an escalating price tag and no guarantee of completion.Attorneys for consumers and the state’s largest electricity users told the Public Service Commission on Monday to demand answers from the utilities…..
The Office of Public Counsel also wants the PSC to impose stronger standards on how FPL calculates its costs. It said that the cost of expanding its nuclear capacity at its Turkey Point plant has escalated from $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion in the last year, but the company makes the project appear more cost effective by not including what it has already spent on the project……http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/01/2340842/rising-cost-of-floridas-new-nuclear.html
Renewable energy development – the rational German example
Oh, the beauty of a system that is easy to understand and predictable……
Germany Shows How Renewable Energy Should Be Done, Daily Finance, ByTravis Hoium, The Motley Fool 08/01/11 Germany is doubling its efforts to be a renewable-energy power over the next 50 years, and it’s expanding beyond just solar power. After the country put thekibosh on exploding solar installationsby cutting feed-in tariffs (FIT), it has increased the FIT for biomass, geothermal, and offshore wind while simplifying solar rates. The wet blanketcurrently covering the German nuclear industrymeant the country needed to find a way to push renewable-energy installations to meet national renewable-energy goals before plants began closing. Continue reading
1 This Month
18 March Webinar @ 1 PM EST: An Assessment of SMR Projects: The Case of Canada
register for the zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_o8BIIOUvQ2ONJR1nta65DQ#/registration
of the week – STOP SMALL MODULAR REACTORS IN CANADA
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