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Quick nuclear-news.net round up for 12 March 2013

Survey: No nuclear plants meet new safety standards

March 13, 2013

February 24, 2013
The Asahi Shimbun

None of Japan’s 16 nuclear power plants has satisfied the government’s proposed new safety standards, making them ineligible to be restarted in the near future, according to an Asahi Shimbun survey.

For nine of the plants, operators even said they cannot tell when they can meet the new requirements being drafted by the Nuclear Regulation Authority…….

Full article

h/t ; http://fukushima.greenaction-japan.org/2013/03/13/survey-no-nuclear-plants-meet-new-safety-standards/

Money Versus Safety in Restarting the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station

Report finds that corners were cut.

Herman K. Trabish: March 12, 2013

Corners were cut at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) according to a report by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) on the retrofitting it did for Southern California Edison (SCE), the plant’s owner and operator. 

The cut corners could transform SCE’s intended cost savings into an enormous financial burden. Yet SCE may not, according to its most recent 10-K financial filing, have learned its lesson.

The Root Cause Analysis Report for tube wear identified in the Unit 2 and Unit 3 Steam Generators of San Onofre Generating Station from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) indicates, according to a letter from Senator Barbara Boxer (D-California) and Congressman Edward Markey (D-Massachusetts) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), “that SCE and MHI were aware of serious problems with the design of San Onofre nuclear power plant’s replacement steam generators before they were installed, rejected enhanced safety modifications and avoided triggering a more rigorous license amendment and safety review process.” 

“The MHI report appears to squarely place the cause of and responsibility for the outages at San Onofre at Edison’s feet,” according to S. David Freeman, former head of the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power…….

http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/Money-Versus-Safety-in-Restarting-the-San-Onofre-Nuclear-Generating-Station

Second nuclear plant accord ready by month’s end – Turkish Minister

Date: 12-03-2013

he deal for Turkey’s second nuclear plant will become clearer by the end of this month if the competition does not heat up, Energy Minister says.

 
Turkey’s energy minister has set a deadline for an agreement on a second nuclear plant to be built in Sinop for the end of the month, Hurriyet Daily News reported.
 
“We think we will shape the international [nuclear] deal that will contribute to Turkey’s development, growth and progress by the end of this month. Of course, if the competition won’t heat up,” Turkey’s Energy Minister Taner Yıldız said while receiving board members of the Energy Efficiency Association at a ministry building in Ankara.
 
In his remarks, the minister also hinted that one of three final contenders also may be eliminated from the race.
 
Japan, South Korea and China are the short-listed contenders for the 5,000-megawatt nuclear power plant, which is slated to be built in the Black Sea province of Sinop, while Canada lags behind, Yıldız announced last week.
 
France also emerged as another bidder, with French company GDF Suez officially placing a joint bid with Japanese companies Itochu and Mitsubishi…..
 
http://ann.az/en/?p=127724
 
  • By Dailyrecord.co.uk

MoD dodge ban to dump depleted uranium shells into Scottish waters

13 Mar 2013 07:27

MILITARY bosses dodged an international ban by saying the 30 tons of radioactive waste was “placed” rather than “dumped” off the beach in Kirkcudbrightshire.

THE MoD have used a legal loophole to fire thousands of depleted uranium shells into ?Scottish waters.

Military bosses dodged an international ban by saying the 30 tons of radioactive waste was “placed” rather than “dumped” off the beach in Kirkcudbrightshire.

Outraged campaigners yesterday called on them to retrieve the toxic waste.

Aneaka Kellay, from the Campaign Against Depleted Uranium, said: “The Scottish public will struggle to understand how the MoD thought they could evade their legal and moral responsibility not to pollute the sea by calling this a ‘placement’.

“However they name their firing programme, the fact remains they have purposefully released nuclear waste into the Solway Firth.”

The toxic rounds end up in the water when tanks at a military range at Dundrennan fire shells at canvas targets on the cliffs.

Minutes of secret MoD meetings released after a Freedom of Information request show an official raised concerns in 2004 that the practice could breach the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic.

He was told the MoD’s interpretation was that “the projectiles were placements not dumping”. The convention states dumping doesn’t include “placement of matter for a purpose other than the mere disposal thereof”………

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/mod-dodge-ban-dump-nuclear-1759193

 

PILGRIM STATION: Nuclear plant offline for refueling, maintenance

By Frank Mand
Posted Mar 12, 2013 @ 08:56 PM
PLYMOUTH —

Though March came in like a lion, there is no power going out on the lines.

Every two years, the Pilgrim Station Nuclear Power Plant goes offline for up to a month for refueling and scheduled maintenance, and now is that time.

Surprised? That’s not surprising. Pilgrim management usually keeps preparations for this biennial event relatively quiet.

Officials say they don’t publicize the event, in part, because when they take the plant’s 670 megawatts off the grid they don’t want to be blamed for any speculation on electricity prices.

But, as Energy spokesperson David Tarantino said last year, “It has to happen every two years so, do the math.”

This year, the math adds up to a refueling period that will last from the first week of March till mid-May……..

http://www.wickedlocal.com/duxbury/news/x766879846/PILGRIM-STATION-Nuclear-plant-offline-for-refueling-maintenance#axzz2NPEQaBIt

 

Iran urges NAM’s active role at UN nuclear disarmament meeting

   Date: 2013/03/13 – 11:40 source: Press TV

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – Iran’s Ambassador to the UN Mohammad Khazaei sent letters to the permanent representatives of NAM member states at the UN on Tuesday, calling on them to participate “at the highest level” in the disarmament conference, which is scheduled to be held in September.

Referring to a resolution that was initiated by NAM and ratified at the UN General Assembly in 2012, Khazaei said, “Based on the resolution, a one-day high ranking meeting is to be held in September at the UN in view of a full nuclear disarmament.”

http://abna.ir/data.asp?lang=3&id=399431

 

Iran will promise UN not to build nuclear weapons

Wed 13 March 2013 07:50 GMT | 7:50 Local Time

 
Iran plans to submit a written promise to the United Nations that it will not seek nuclear weapons.

The Tuesday report by the semi-official Mehr news agency quotes Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi as saying, “Iran plans to declare in the U.N. that it will never go after nuclear bombs. “

Rahimi did not say when the promise would be delivered….

http://www.news.az/articles/iran/77841

German utility Eon returns to full-year profit after expenses for country’s nuclear exit

By: The Associated Press

12 March 2013

FRANKFURT – German utility Eon bounced back to profit in 2012 but warned that it may have to start closing gas-fired power plants if government doesn’t take steps to ensure they can make a profit.

CEO Johannes Teyssen said that the company’s generating plans using natural gas are “barely profitable,” threatening important generating capacity needed for the stability of the power system.

“Politicians need to act swiftly on this issue,” he said in a statement. “Otherwise we’re going to have to shut down power plants.”

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/business/german-utility-eon-returns-to-full-year-profit-after-expenses-for-countrys-nuclear-exit-197724071.html

 
 

 

March 13, 2013 - Posted by | Uncategorized

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