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Quick nuclear-news.net roundup for 14 March 2013

9 articles here….

Nuclear weapons protest will cause disruption

March 13, 2013

Police are warning of possible travel disruption caused by a planned protest in the Aldermaston and Burghfield area on Saturday.

Protesters are expected to march between the two Atomic Weapon Establishments between 1pm and 4pm.

Superintendent Robin Pickard, local area police commander, said: “Measures are already in place to notify local residents and those who might be affected by protests of this nature.

“Our aim is to ensure that there is minimal disruption caused to local residents.

“We respect the right to protest and will respond if necessary in a proportionate and appropriate way to minimise any negative impact on communities in the area.”

Police have created a twitter account to keep people up to date with the protest at @WBprotestinfo

http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2013/march/uk-still-most-attractive-place-for-inward-eu-nuclear-investment-says-expert

CND Action at AWE Aldermaston – April 1st 2013

This year on April Fools’ Day (April 1st),we will highlight the on-going development of the government’s Trident nuclear weapons programme at AWE Aldermaston. We will gather around the base in our thousands with music, colour, and speeches.

Why protest at Aldermaston? 

The Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) at Aldermaston is the bomb factory that designs and manufactures nuclear warheads. The warheads for the current Trident system were built at Aldermaston. Since 2002, the government has invested in building new facilities at AWE, and recruited new staff to test, design and build the next generation of nuclear weapons…..

http://actionawe.org/cnd-action-at-awe-aldermaston-april-1st-2013/

 

In U.S., nuclear energy loses momentum amid economic head winds, safety issues

, Published: March 12

Two years after the tsunami that crippled Japan’s Fukushima power complex, the U.S. nuclear industry is facing fundamental and far-reaching challenges to its own future.

Only five years ago, industry executives and leading politicians were talking about an American nuclear renaissance, hoping to add 20 or more reactors to the 104-unit U.S. nuclear fleet.

But today those companies are holding back in the face of falling natural gas prices and sluggish and uncertain electricity demand. Only five new plants are under construction, while at least that many are slated for permanent closure or shut down indefinitely over safety issues.

[…]

But Caren Byrd, executive director of Morgan Stanley’s global power group, said at the same conference that, on an economic basis, “it is hard to make the case for nuclear.”

[…]

Dominion, the owner of the Kewaunee nuclear plant in Wisconsin, and Duke Energy, owner of Crystal River Unit 3 in Florida, recently announced plans to permanently close these reactors because of economic factors, even though the plants have licenses extending well into the future. Wind and natural gas are cheaper…..

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/2013/03/11/fb6d61c2-715e-11e2-ac36-3d8d9dcaa2e2_story.html

 

Palisades Nuclear Plant could face shutdown in 2017

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

COVERT, MI (WTVB) – Reuters is reporting that Entergy has been put on notice, that the Palisades Nuclear Plant may be shut down by 2017, if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission can’t be convinced that the nuclear reactor vessel continues to be safe to use.

Opponents of the plant say that the nuclear reactor vessel is one of the oldest in the country and after years of being bombarded by nuclear radiation, the metal containment has become brittle.  They say if there was an emergency, and the reactor suddenly had to be splashed with millions of gallons of cold water, that it would crack open like an egg.  It’s called “pressurized thermal shock.”  If that happens, it would be a disaster on the scale of Chernobyl, and a large section of S.W. Michigan would become uninhabitable.  

The NRC says that it’s safe now, but figures there would be a small risk of it happening by 2017, unless Entergy can prove otherwise, or take steps to shore it up.  They plan a webinar on the debate on Monday.

 http://wincountry.com/news/articles/2013/mar/13/palisades-nuclear-plant-could-face-shutdown-in-2017/

 

UK “still most attractive place” for inward EU nuclear investment, says expert

13 March 2013

The UK is “still the most attractive place for inward investment” in new nuclear in the EU, an expert has said, as the Government hosted the signing of a commitment to new nuclear between 12 European countries.13 Mar 2013

Chris White of Pinsent Masons, the law firm behind Out-Law.com, said that document was a “timely fillip” for the nuclear agency, which “reiterated continued Government policy support for the nuclear sector” and would “ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of new nuclear in the EU”.

[…]

The communiqué (1-page / 14KB PDF) emphasises nuclear safety as a priority for Europe, and makes reference to the EU’s work implementing robust ‘stress-tests’ and reviews of reactor safety procedures. It sets out the signatories’ drive to seek continuous improvements on nuclear safety, both within and beyond EU borders, and indicated their openness to discussing enhancements to the existing Nuclear Safety Directive “if there is a need to do so”.

[…]

The document also noted the need to create an “investment environment” in those countries wishing to construct new nuclear power stations, taking into account the “long term nature of nuclear infrastructure projects in the EU”. The comments echo those of the UK nuclear industry, which has called for more certainty around future subsidies intended to incentivise the construction of low carbon energy infrastructure, including nuclear.

http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2013/march/uk-still-most-attractive-place-for-inward-eu-nuclear-investment-says-expert/

Ukraine Receives EUR 600 Million for Nuclear Safety

KYIV, Ukraine, March 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ —

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development will provide a EUR 300 million loan for the comprehensive program of upgrading operating Ukrainian nuclear power plants. In addition to EBRD’s loan, the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) will contribute another EUR 300 million to the project, reads ebrd.com.

The comprehensive program comprises of a set of measures, which will bring Ukraine’s operating nuclear reactors in compliance with international standards as well as with local regulations. The total upgrade, provisioned by the program, will cost EUR 1.4 billion and is scheduled for completion by late 2017.

“It is of the utmost importance that the nuclear units are working to the highest, internationally recognized standards, as nuclear safety is clearly an issue that transcends borders. All 15 nuclear units in Ukraine are of a similar design (VVER 1000 and VVER 440/213), which are in operation in some EU member states, and the safety level of the units can be upgraded to reach internationally accepted standards,” reads the statement, released by the EBRD.

The EBRD loan comes as a result of the successful cooperation between the Bank, Euratom and Ukraine in raising safety at the Khmelnitsky (2) and Rivne (4) nuclear power plant units built between 2004 and 2009. The extended comprehensive program, partially financed by EBRD and Euratom, is to ensure that the remaining units are upgraded to the desirable level.

“It is a responsibility of an organization like ours to ensure that energy is not only delivered in an affordable way, but that it is delivered in the safest way possible. We all know that nuclear energy is the kind of energy where we cannot afford a mistake,” commented EBRD Managing Director, Energy and Natural Resources Riccardo Puliti on the bank’s involvement in the program in Ukraine.

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine earlier approved Energoatom’s [Ukraine’s National Nuclear Energy Generating Company] involving the loan in the amount of EUR 600 million from EBRD and Euratom in order to implement the comprehensive program on nuclear safety. “We had a due diligence of Energoatom’s capacity to implement the project in the right time. And we are very satisfied… And of course, we will continue monitoring,” stated Riccardo Puliti.

©2012 PR Newswire. All Rights Reserved.

http://www.tucsonnewsnow.com/story/21629733/ukraine-receives-eur-600-million-for-nuclear-safety

Merkel May Create Energy Ministry as Switch Becomes Vital

By Leon Mangasarian & Stefan Nicola – Mar 13, 2013 9:41 AM GMT

 

Chancellor Angela Merkel may set up a national energy ministry as Germany’s shift from nuclear power to renewables becomes the crucial task if she’s elected for a third term in September, a key party ally said.

There will “surely be” an energy ministry or a special office in the chancellery for energy, as there was for German reunification after the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Reiner Haseloff, state premier of Saxony-Anhalt, said in an interview.

Merkel seeks to more than triple the share of renewables to 80 percent of Germany’s power mix by 2050, with Europe’s biggest economy set to shutter its nuclear reactors by 2022. The cost and scope of the 550 billion-euro ($718 billion) project have moved energy to the center of the political agenda as Merkel runs for re-election on Sept. 22.

The German energy switch is “a strategic task and indeed the most strategic task since German reunification in connection with the economy,” Haseloff, who was his state’s economy minister from 2006 to 2011, when he became premier, said in the March 6 interview in Magdeburg. “I was energy and economy minister for a long time, and on energy and economy themes she listens especially closely because she knows that I have specialized knowledge other than, say, a lawyer.”…….

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-03-13/merkel-may-create-energy-ministry-as-switch-becomes-vital.html

Protests are on against Jaitapur nuclear Power Plant

Wednesday, 13 March 2013, 16:17 PM

New Delhi, Mar 13 (IBNS) The Indian government on Wednesday said protests are continuing against the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant in Maharashtra. 

“There have been protests by a section of the local people against setting up of the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Plant,” said Minister of State in the ministry of Personnel, PG & Pensions and in the Prime Minister?s Office V. Narayanasamy in a written question in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday. 

“The preparation for disbursement of the enhanced compensation to the land title holders has been started. However, certain groups ideologically opposed to nuclear power are continuing their opposition to the project,” he said.

The minister said the cost of the Jaitapur Nuclear Power project will be arrived only after conclusion of the on-going techno-commercial discussions between the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited and the French side.

“The effort is to arrive at a viable tariff regime comparable to that of contemporary thermal and hydel power projects in the region,” he said.

Earlier in February, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had told visiting French President Francois Hollande that he is committed to the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project.

“We reviewed progress on the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project and reiterated our commitment to its early implementation as soon as the commercial and technical negotiations, which have made good progress, are completed,” said the PM on Feb 14.

 

Westinghouse to Assist S. Africa with Domestic Nuclear Fuel Fabrication

Posted date: March 13, 2013 In: Headlines

From Nuclear Street

 

Westinghouse announced an agreement Tuesday to help South Africa develop domestic fabrication of nuclear fuel.

South Africa has operated fuel cycle facilities in the past to fuel its Koeberg nuclear plant, but currently the country relies on imports. South African energy policies have called for a yet-to-be-decided amount of new nuclear construction to help meet soaring power demand in the coming decades. To provision the new reactors, a plan last year called for a conversion, enrichment and fabrication complex to be established in 2016 and come online about a decade later, with the new reactor vendor envisioned as a partner in the fabrication plant, according to the World Nuclear Association.

The newly announced memorandum of understanding between Westinghouse and the South African Nuclear Energy Corp. is a tentative step in that direction. In a release, Westinghouse indicated it will “investigate and cooperate in the development of local fabrication capabilities for fuel assembly components.”

Westinghouse has provided fuel to unit 1 at Koeberg since 2000 and has provided services to the Eskom-owned plant since the 1990s. The Pennsylvania-based Toshiba subsidiary bought South Africa’s IST Nuclear (now Westinghouse Electric South Africa) in 2007 to support Koeberg and other projects. Westinghouse also submitted a bid to build three AP1000 reactors under a tender that was cancelled in 2008.

Click here to read more

Officials Worry About Vulnerability of Global Nuclear Stockpile to Cyber Attack

Senators requested a national intelligence assessment of foreign nations’ abilities to protect their nuclear weapons from digital strikes after the Pentagon’s chief cyber officer said he does not know whether China, Russia or other nuclear powers, aside from the United States, have effective safeguards in place. 

What’s more, the resiliency of most U.S. nuclear systems against a nuclear strike is untested, a new Defense Science Board report concluded.

Gen. C. Robert Kehler, chief of U.S. Strategic Command, which oversees Cyber Command, told lawmakers that he agrees a comprehensive assessment is in order. But, he added, “we do evaluate” the potential for a cyber-related attack on U.S. nuclear command and control systems and the weapons systems themselves. He could not tell Congress, however, if other nuclear nations are as prepared for the risk of a digitally-triggered atomic explosion.

“What about the Russians and the Chinese? Do they have the ability to stop some cyberattack from launching one of their nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles?” probed Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., a member of the Armed Forces Committee. 

“Senator, I don’t know,” answered Kehler, who was testifying on Tuesday at a committee hearing.

Questions about cyber doomsday scenarios arose as the top U.S. intelligence official, in another Senate chamber, named cyber first on his list of current transnational threats.

There is a danger that unsophisticated attacks by highly motivated actors would have “significant outcomes due to unexpected system configurations and mistakes” or that a vulnerability in one spot “might spill over and contaminate other parts of a networked system,” James Clapper, national Intelligence director, testified before the Intelligence Committee on Tuesday. 

Nelson and Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., decided their panel will request a broad intelligence community assessment about the ability of foreign powers to safeguard networked nuclear systems. “In this new world of cyber threats, we of course have to be responsible for ours, but we have to worry about those others on the planet that have a nuclear strike capability, of protecting theirs against some outside player coming in and suddenly taking over their command and control,” Nelson said. 

Kehler told lawmakers that, based on recent piecemeal reviews, he is confident U.S. command and control systems and nuclear weapons platforms “do not have a significant vulnerability” that cause him to be concerned. He said that in the years since the Cold War, “we’ve had fairly decent transparency” with Russian government officials on missile capabilities and understand “they are very careful about the way they provide what we would call nuclear assurity as well.  This is also one of the reasons for why we would like to see additional transparency with China.”

http://www.nextgov.com/defense/2013/03/officials-worry-about-vulnerability-global-nuclear-stockpile-cyber-attack/61855/

 

 

March 14, 2013 - Posted by | Uncategorized

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