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Gee Whiz billionaires gambling on new untested Integral Fast Reactors

Virgin Nuclear? Branson asks Obama for reactor help. Sir Richard v Bill Gates? Smart Planet, By Mark Halper | July 23, 2012, Flamboyant British entrepreneur Sir Richard Branson has written to President Barack Obama seeking help commercializing an alternative type of nuclear reactor known as an Integral Fast Reactor……

Branson, known for his Virgin brand of media and airline companies, isn’t the only well-known billionaire advocating IFRs, also known as “fast neutron reactors,” “fast reactors,” and sometimes as “breeder reactors.” Microsoft founder Bill Gates is developing a type of fast
reactor known as a traveling wave reactor, through his startup company TerraPower. Continue reading →

July 24, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs | 1 Comment

Call for USA govt to fund new experimental nuclear reactors

Leaders Renew Call For Federal Grant For Small Nuclear Reactors Osarks First.comBy: KOLR10 Newsroom & MO News Horizon July 23, 2012 “……Gov. Jay Nixon joined officials from Westinghouse Electric Company and Ameren Energy Monday for a Missouri Economic Development Summit in Columbia, where leaders renewed their call for the U.S. Department of Energy to provide grant funding to the companies hoping to build small modular nuclear reactors in Missouri.”

July 24, 2012 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

There’s no “nuclear renaissance. It’s a Stillbirth!

We have heard from the nuclear lobby that a “nuclear renaissance” is just around the corner and, as evidence of this, we are told 65 reactors are “under construction” worldwide.

It is instructive to look at the number of years some of these have been “under construction”. For example, Lungmen 1 and 2 in China were begun in 1997 and have so far taken 15 years to build.

Moving from the disappointing to the ludicrous, Watts Bar 2 in the US has been ”under construction” since 1972. It is likely these long-delayed projects will eventually be cancelled, and almost certainly they will never be an economic success. 

countries in the “considering” list is a distortion of the facts by the World Nuclear Association, perhaps born of a desperation to conceal the decline of the industry.

 Nuclear industry ‘rebirth’ is instead stillborn http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=176811 The sad truth is that even according to the optimistic International Atomic Energy Agency data from the PRIS data, the number of reactors on which construction was started fell 75% from 2010 to last year, and again 75% from last year to this year PETER BECKER   2012/07/23 07

THE nuclear power industry is deeply troubled, with little cause for optimism. There is growing worldwide
public resistance to nuclear power stations, US President Barack Obama has terminated government subsidies for nuclear power, and Germany and Switzerland have committed to shutting down all their reactors. While the renewable energy industry has seen dramatic growth and constantly falling costs, the nuclear industry grapples with spiralling costs, the seemingly intractable waste-disposal issue, and the huge economic and human costs of the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan. Continue reading →

July 24, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs, Reference | Leave a comment

Shortage of workers at Fukushima amid revelations of “doctored” radiation records

Fukushima Watch: Doctoring Dosimeters — How Far Did It Go? WSJ, By Mitsuru Obe and Phred Dvorak, 23 July 12 Over the weekend, a subcontractor that worked at the devastated Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant confessed to asking some of its employees to put lead covers on their dosimeters in order to keep their radiation exposure readings artificially low. Now, Japanese officials are trying to figure out whether the subcontractor, a small Fukushima Prefecture-based firm, was the only one to doctor dosimeters or whether other companies may have done the same…. Continue reading →

July 24, 2012 Posted by | employment, Fukushima 2012 | Leave a comment

Summer heat brings state of emergency to Missouri

Missouri declares state of emergency due to heat, drought  Jul 23, 2012 (Reuters) – The governor of Missouri on Monday declared a state of emergency due to the drought and prolonged severe heat of this summer, which has so far been blamed in the deaths of 25 people in the state.

“The high temperatures and dry conditions across the state are taking their toll on Missourians,” Governor Jay Nixon said in a statement. “Our farmers are suffering tremendous losses in crops and livestock, and we’re seeing more heat-related deaths and emergency room visits, particularly among seniors.”…. http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL2E8INJ2G20120723

(but Governor Nixon still thinks that nuclear reactors will be OK in the heat?)

July 24, 2012 Posted by | climate change, USA | Leave a comment

I guess that Missouri’s Governor doesn’t understand that nuclear reactors don’t like heat

Nixon, UM president Wolfe to tout nuclear plan, http://www.kansascity.com/2012/07/23/3718392/nixon-um-president-wolfe-to-tout.html#storylink=cpy
  Kansas City Star, 23 July 12 COLUMBIA –– Gov. Jay Nixon and University of Missouri president Tim Wolfe will join utility executives and business leaders at an event designed to boost support for building small modular nuclear reactors in the state.

The event today on the Columbia campus is billed as an economic development summit, while officials await word on a U.S. Department of Energy grant application.

Westinghouse Electric Co. and Ameren Missouri are competing for a share of the $452 million the energy department has set aside for the new technology.

Ameren wants to build and operate up to five smaller reactors in Missouri. The St. Louis-based company operates the state’s only nuclear power plant in Callaway County. The federal department plans to announce its grant recipients by September.

July 24, 2012 Posted by | technology, USA | Leave a comment

Anti nuclear movement becoming a force in Japan’s elections

Fukushima Watch: Anti-Nuclear Candidate Gains Ground in Yamaguchi Race WSJ. 23 July 12, By Yoree Koh Pro- and anti-nuclear candidates are again locked in battle in a Japanese local election. But while pro-nuclear candidates have had the upper hand in all post-Fukushima elections until now, a clean slate of newcomers has made the gubernatorial contest in Yamaguchi prefecture one of the most high-profile among the anti-nuclear camp as recent
polls indicate the candidate opposing nuclear power appears to have a fighting chance for the seat……
The Yamaguchi race is seen as the latest litmus test of voters’ opinions on the soul-searching issue of nuclear power — a controversial topic that has become even more divisive among members of the public than a contentious sales tax hike. Helping further focus attention on the nuclear issue in the upcoming poll is the pending issue of whether to unfreeze a planned nuclear power plant in the town of Kaminoseki…..

Perhaps the most significant figure to emerge from the two polls is that about 71% of respondents in the Asahi survey said they were against construction plans for the Kaminoseki nuclear plant. http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2012/07/23/fukushima-watch-anti-nuclear-candidate-gains-ground-in-yamaguchi-race/

July 24, 2012 Posted by | Japan, politics | Leave a comment

Suspects arrested in murders of Iran’s nuclear scientists

Iran arrests suspects in 2011 killing of nuclear scientist  http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/23/world/meast/iran-nuclear-scientist/  CNN Wire Staff July 23, 2012  Tehran, Iran   — Iran has arrested suspects in connection with the July 2011 killing of a nuclear scientist, semiofficial media reported, citing Intelligence Minister Heidar Moslehi.

Moslehi made the announcement Sunday at an event marking the first anniversary of the death of 35-year-old physicist Daryoush Rezaie. Continue reading →

July 24, 2012 Posted by | Iran, secrets,lies and civil liberties | Leave a comment

Soaring costs for new nuclear power leave UK govt with a dilemma

The government will publish draft strike prices next year, but has promised to give developers such as EDF and Centrica temporary assurances to bridge the gap and allow them to move ahead with Hinkley Point.

The price they come up with is bound to come under intense scrutiny. Critics will see a high level as a massive subsidy for nuclear, but if it is too low EDF and Centrica could walk away.

Strike price key to new nuclear plants FT.com By Guy Chazan and Rebecca Bream, 23 July 12, When the Blair government first backed the idea of a new generation of nuclear plants in 2007, energy companies insisted they could build them without any public subsidy. Five years later, that claim seems painfully naive.
In the intervening years, the cost of new reactors has risen so fast that constructing them without any government support has become unthinkable.

The evidence for this change is not hard to find. Continue reading →

July 24, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, politics, UK | Leave a comment

USA declassifying some nuclear weapons-related information

Some Nuclear Weapons-Related Info to be Declassified Secrecy News July 23rd, 2012 by Steven Aftergood Certain types of classified information pertaining to nuclear weapons are going to be downgraded or declassified, the Department of State indicated in a newly disclosed report.   http://www.fas.org/blog/secrecy/2012/07/dos_nuke.html

July 24, 2012 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Scotland alarmed at British governments snide subsidies for nuclear power

Coalition ‘must not sign a blank cheque’ for wind farms and nuclear Telegraph UK 23 July 12, British households cannot afford a “blank cheque” for wind farms and nuclear under the Coalition’s energy reforms, Consumer Focus has warned  ”

….Last night, Scottish ministers added their criticism with serious concerns that the reforms will “subsidise nuclear at the expense of renewable energy”.
Fergus Ewing, the Scottish energy minister, argued that wind farm companies could go abroad, rather than investing in Britain.
“As Tim Yeo has said, it is too important for the UK Government to mess up,” he said…

.. Dr Cable said the cost of building offshore wind farms would only need to fall by a quarter to make them competitive with traditional forms of power generation……..
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/journalists/rowena-mason/9421745/Coalition-must-not-sign-a-blank-cheque-for-wind-farms-and-nuclear.html

July 24, 2012 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

UK’s “Contracts For Difference” a sneaky way for taxpayer to fund new nuclear reactors

overt Government support for nuclear power could fall foul of EU state aid rules…..

it [ the European Union] may take a dim view of subsidies for nuclear. 

“widespread perception that [Electricity Market Reform], and specifically CfDs, are a fig leaf over support for new nuclear”..

Energy reforms would herald a power vacuum Complex energy reform “is a fig leaf over support for new nuclear”, the Energy Select Committee finds – but ministers may still end up with no nuclear to show for it. The Telegraph, By Emily Gosden  23 Jul 2012  The Energy Select Committee pulls few punches in its assessment of the draft Energy Bill on Monday…..

The report dissects the fiendishly complicated legislation, highlighting a litany of design faults.
But it also offers a diagnosis as to why ministers have produced such complex and flawed policy: because they have designed it to accommodate the awkward demands of new nuclear.

The cornerstone of the reforms is the proposal to establish a “Feed-in Tariff with a Contract for Difference (CfD)” – a mouthful of a name that belies a simple concept. Continue reading →

July 24, 2012 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

4 exposed to radiation at Rajasthan n-plant  Express news service : Jaipur,  Jul 24 2012 In the second such incident in a month, four workers at Rawatbhata Atomic Power Station in Rajasthan were exposed to harmful doses of leaked tritium radiationon July 19. Two persons were exposed to similar radiation on June 29.http://www.indianexpress.com/news/4-exposed-to-radiation-at-rajasthan-nplant/978569/

July 24, 2012 Posted by | incidents, India | Leave a comment

International Energy Agency recognises increasing role of renewable energy

This is the first time the IEA has devoted a medium-term report to renewable power sources and the agency says this is “a recognition of the dynamic and increasing role of renewable energy

Wind energy will grow by 100 terawatt-hours per year  reve,  By , 23 July 12,   – IEA  Wind power will be the second biggest contributor to global renewable electricity generation by 2017, according to a ground-breaking report by the International Energy Agency (IEA).

Despite economic uncertainties in many countries, global power generation from renewable sources including wind turbines will increase by more than 40% to almost 6,400 terawatt hours (TWh) – roughly the equivalent of one-and-a-half times current electricity production in the US, predicts the Medium-Term Renewable Energy Market Report 2012. Continue reading →

July 24, 2012 Posted by | 2 WORLD, renewable | Leave a comment

UK govt ‘sabotaging clean energy future’

And it is big – £110bn – all of which will ultimately be paid by you and me through our electricity and gas bills. The good news, trumpeted most recently not by greens but by the UK’s biggest business lobby, the CBI, is that the green economy is growing fast, in stark contrast the rest of the UK economy. It already employs a million people…..

Why is the Treasury intent on sabotaging our clean energy future?, Guardian UK, Damian Carrington, 23 July 12 George Osborne appears utterly unwilling to give up burying landmines along the road to a low-carbon energy system. The reason why is a disturbing one. Defending the indefensible is not uncommon in politics, but its rarely a winning strategy. Yet George Osborne and the Treasury appear utterly unwilling to give up burying its landmines along the road to a clean energy system that is fit for the 21st century. The urgent question is why: the answer is a disturbing one. Continue reading →

July 24, 2012 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

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