Britain fawns over Xi Jinping – preparatory to China taking over UK’s nuclear industry
Why is Xi Jinping getting a royal reception in Britain? eji insight, Mark O’Neill, 15 Oct 15 “………..Britain wants to become the preferred European country for Chinese investment, state and private, and London the city where Chinese firms build their European headquarters and do business in renminbi.
Top of the agenda is Hinckley Point C, Britain’s first new nuclear power station for several decades, with a total cost of 24.5 billion pounds (US$37.9 billion). It will be the first of three such new plants.
For months, there have been intensive talks between Electricite de France (EDF) Energy, China National Nuclear Corp. and China General Nuclear Corp. Early this month, Vincent de Rivaz, head of EDF Energy, said he hoped the two Chinese firms would take a 40 per cent stake in the project, with an agreement to be signed during Xi’s visit. The project is backed by the governments of Britain, France and China.
But EDF and the two Chinese firms have been arguing over their respective shares and the financial burden they will take on.The next nuclear project is Bradwell in Essex with 1,000 megawatts; China is expected to take the lead role and take a majority stake.
The two plants are very capital-intensive, requiring enormous investment before the investors receive a return.
In western countries, nuclear plants are controversial and are vulnerable to a second Fukushima disaster.
These would be the first nuclear stations built by China in a western country and make it a front-line competitor with Areva, the world’s largest builder of nuclear power stations. Areva posted a loss of 4.8 billion euros (US$5.5 billion) last year.
China may take an equity stake in the ailing French firm. Osborne has promised a taxpayer guarantee of 2 billion pounds if Xi puts Chinese money into the Hinckley project………http://www.ejinsight.com/20151015-why-xi-jinping-getting-royal-reception-britain/
Narrow window of opportunity to prevent rapid drastic fall in Antarctic ice sheets
the results leave a narrow opening through which humanity can slip. If temperatures remain within 2C (3.6F), the collapse of the shelves will stabilise and the sheets will remain mostly intact. Sea-level rise from Antarctica would remain within 23cm (9 inches) by 2300.
To achieve this, the authors said the world will have to follow the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) lowest emissions scenario.This requires global emissions to peak around 2020 and decline to below zero by 2100.
The new study “ultimately confirm[s] the suspicions of earlier glaciologists that the fate of ice shelves largely determines whether Antarctica contributes less than 1 metre or up to 9 metres to long-term sea-level rise”
Antarctic ice sheets face catastrophic collapse without deep emissionscuts, http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/oct/14/antarctic-ice-sheets-face-catastrophic-collapse-without-deep-emissions-cuts Guardian, Karl Mathiesen, 15 Oct 15
Study finds that a global temperature increase of 3C would cause ice shelves to disappear, triggering sea-level rise that would continue for thousands of years. A team of researchers has found that steep cuts to emissions during the next decade are the only way to avoid a catastrophic collapse of Antarctic ice sheets and associated sea-level rise that will continue for thousands of years.
The study, published in the journal Nature on Wednesday, found that should the global temperature increase to around 3C (5.4F) above the pre-industrial era then the ice shelves that hold back the giant continental ice sheets would be lost over the next few centuries. Continue reading
USA’s “Small Modular Nuclear Reactor” lobby pinning its hopes on Australia?
16 October 2015, Elsewhere in the world, proponents of small nuclear reactors are pitted against the large reactors, but here in Australia, as Noel Wauchope reports, proponents of small reactors see them as enabling conventional nuclear and uranium mining to flourish. QUIETLY, AND pretty much under the media radar, a dispute is going on in the global nuclear industry between the advocates of “Generation III” — big nuclear reactors, and “Generation IV” — small nuclear reactors…….the nuclear lobby’s spiel to Australia is something different, and very original. No dispute — because the argument is that small reactors would further the large reactor industry.
First articulated by Oscar Archer on ABC RN, March 2015, the idea is that Australia, in setting up small nuclear reactors, would enable the conventional nuclear industry and uranium mining to flourish:….. As Archer says, Australia would indeed be the pioneer for the new technology.
And that’s what the USA “new nuclear” lobby desperately needs. They need this, because they’re finding it impossible to go ahead in America. Why? Well it’s those pesky safety regulations imposed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
What the “Small Nuclear” lobby needs is a “nuclear friendly” country – one with less stringent safety
regulations – to set up their nuclear reactors on a test site. Hence the enthusiasm of those lobbyists for the South Australia Nuclear Fuel Chain Royal Commission, as shown, for example, in a recent Royal Commission hearing speech by Thomas Marcille of Holtec International nuclear company.
……… the Nuclear Regulatory Commission(NRC) has proved to be real nuisance since it tightened regulations for the licensing process after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. The new nuclear marketers have had to go overseas, first to China, then perhaps to Australia?…. https://independentaustralia.net/environment/environment-display/why-australia-is-important-to-the-small-nuclear-lobby,8263
No evacuation plan, yet PM Abe restarts another Sendai nuclear reactor
Last year, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would not allow a reactor startup unless its safety is completely confirmed. But the process of approving reactor restarts at the Sendai nuclear power plant has not been in line with his pledge at all
Safety put on the back burner as another nuclear reactor is restarted, Asahi Shimbun, 14 Oct 15 Kyushu Electric Power Co. is set to restart the No. 2 reactor at its Sendai nuclear power plant in Satsuma-Sendai, Kagoshima Prefecture, on Oct. 15. In August, the plant’s No. 1 reactor became the first to resume operations under new safety regulations that went into force in July 2013.
Some areas near the plant may not even have a dependable evacuation route in the event of a disaster. Furthermore, no evacuation drills for residents have been undertaken.
The electric utility’s plan to restart the idled reactor was given the green light by the Nuclear Regulation Authority. The nuclear watchdog body has no authority, however, to examine evacuation plans.
A reactor should not be restarted under such circumstances. Continue reading
Second nuclear reactor started at Sendai, despite public opposition
Japan restarts second nuclear reactor despite public opposition, Guardian, 15 Oct 15
Number-two reactor at Sendai has gone on line more than four years after a quake-sparked tsunami swamped a plant at Fukushima. Japan on Thursday restarted a second nuclear reactor after a shutdown triggered by the 2011 Fukushima crisis, as the government pushes to return to a cheaper energy source despite widespread public opposition.
Utility Kyushu Electric Power said it restarted the number-two reactor at Sendai, about 1,000 kilometres (620 miles) southwest of Tokyo at 10.30am (0130 GMT).
The same power plant’s number-one reactor was restarted in August, ending a two-year nuclear power hiatus. Engineers will now spend several days bringing the newly restarted reactor up to operational level before running it commercially from November…….
But the public is largely opposed to atomic energy after the Fukushima crisis sent radiation over a wide area and forced tens of thousands from their homes – many of whom will likely never return – in the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986…….http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/15/japan-restarts-second-nuclear-reactor-despite-public-opposition
Overwhelming costs of Britain’s Trident nuclear submarines – cannot be measured
The Conservative government has not given an up-to-date estimate of the program costs. Previously, it has said the submarines would cost between £11 billion and £14 billion at 2006 prices and estimated an overall cost of up to £20 billion when infrastructure and other costs are wrapped in……….
The Labour Party, the main opposition party, has previously been committed to a credible nuclear deterrent, but the recent election of the left-winger Jeremy Corbyn as the party leader has thrown that policy into confusion…….
Nuclear Sub Project Poses UK’s Biggest Financial Challenge, Defense News By Andrew Chuter October 15, 2015 LONDON — Britain’s nuclear submarine effort is a monster-sized undertaking that keeps the Ministry of Defence’s top civil servant awake at night, the official admitted to the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee Wednesday.
Jon Thompson, the permanent undersecretary at the MoD and the man responsible for keeping defense spending in check, told lawmakers that renewing Britain’s nuclear deterrent was the biggest project the ministry was ever going to tackle.
“The project I worry about the most in relation to future financial risk is the nuclear enterprise. It’s a significant element of the overall equipment plan … it most keeps me awake at night,” he told the committee during a session examining the MoD’s progress in improving financial management.
The defense nuclear enterprise covers the equipment, infrastructure and people required to deliver the UK deterrent and nuclear powered submarines, including the new Astute-class hunter killer boats and Trident missile boats. Continue reading
USA’s nuclear industry staggers to its tomb, as Pilgrim Station shuts down
Entergy’s decision to shut Pilgrim is welcomed by safe energy activists everywhere as part of the rapid collapse of the atomic power mis-adventure.
But across the U.S. some two dozen Fukushima clones still operate. The entire industry is a decayed, money-losing tombstone for the failed lies about “too cheap to meter.”
So it’s great another shut-down has been announced. But four more years of yet another decayed, increasingly dangerous and hugely unprofitable reactor being kept open is not acceptable.
The no nukes movement will not take it lying down. Stay tuned.
Another U.S Nuke Bites the Dust http://ecowatch.com/2015/10/14/nuclear-power-bites-dust/ Harvey Wasserman | October 14, 2015 The chain reactor operator Entergy has announced it will close the Pilgrim nuke south of Boston. The shut-down will bring U.S. reactor fleet to 98, though numerous other reactors are likely to face abandonment in the coming months.
But Entergy says it may not take Pilgrim down until June 1, 2019—nearly four years away.
Entergy is also poised to shut the FitzPatrick reactor in New York. It promises an announcement by the end of this month. Entergy also owns Indian Point 2 and Indian Point 3 some 40 miles north of Manhattan. Unit 2’s operating license has long since lapsed. Unit 3’s will expire in December.
Meanwhile California’s two reactors at Diablo Canyon are surrounded with earthquake faults. They are in violation of state and federal water quality laws and are being propped up by a corrupt Public Utilities Commission under fierce grassroots attack. With a huge renewable boom sweeping the state, Diablo’s days are numbered—and hopefully will shut before the next quake shakes them to rubble.
Meanwhile, like nearly all old American nukes, both Pilgrim and FitzPatrick are losing tons of money. Entergy admits to loss projections of $40 million/year or more at Pilgrim, with parallel numbers expected at FitzPatrick. The company blames falling gas and oil prices for the shortfalls.
Owners of King CONG (Coal, Oil, Nukes and Gas) facilities hate renewables. But in fact the boom in wind, solar, increased efficiency and other Solartopian advances are at the real core of nuke power’s escalating economic melt-down. Continue reading
South African environmental groups sue Energy Minister over nuclear agreements
Environmental groups take energy minister to court over nuclear agreements https://www.enca.com/south-africa/environmental-groups-take-energy-minister-court-over-nuclear-agreements SOUTH AFRICA Thursday 15 October 2015 JOHANNESBURG – While South Africa has signed a number of intergovernmental framework agreements with Russia, China, South Korea and the USA on the country’s planned nuclear development, environmental groups say they are frustrated with the lack of transparency.
On Monday, they filed court papers challenging the constitutionality of the agreements.
Earthlife Africa Johannesburg and the South African Faith Communities Environment Institution want the intergovernmental framework agreements for nuclear procurement set aside.
They say their attempts to get information on the nuclear procurement deal have been blocked.
“We are concerned citizens standing up against the unlawful and unconstitutional exercise of power by government, and in the public interest are going to court in an effort to protect our constitutional rights,” said Makoma Lekalakala, senior programme officer at Earthlife.
Safcei’s Liz McDaid says that faith communities in their network are increasingly concerned about the government’s continued support for nuclear energy despite a lack of evidence that SA can afford it.
“Ethical governance has to be the cornerstone of true democracy,” she said.
- The organisations are represented by Adrian Pole Attorneys, assisted by the legal resource centre.
The application will challenge the legality and constitutionality of:
• the intergovernmental agreement (IGA) on strategic partnership and nuclear cooperation signed with Russia in 2014
• the tabling of the Russian IGA in Parliament under a provision that makes the agreement binding on the international plane without the need for parliamentary ratification
• the tabling of outdated IGAs on nuclear cooperation entered into with the USA and Republic of Korea
Environmental lawyer Adrian Pole says that the signing of the binding agreements is unconstitutional and unlawful because proper process wasn’t followed.
“In terms of section 34 of the electricity regulation act the minister in consultation with the energy regulator is required to make a determination on whether new electricity generation is needed and how much new nuclear generation capacity is required,” he said.
This should have been done with Nersa during a public participation process said Pole. Applicants will be using section 217 of constiution to argue that framework agreements be set aside @eNCA #nuclear
- The minister of energy is expected to respond to the application within 10 days.
To view the full unsigned court application see below:
Financial facts were the killer for Pilgrim Nuclear Station
Costs lead officials to pull the plug on Pilgrim , Boston Globe , By David Abel GLOBE STAFF OCTOBER 13, 2015 “…….In an interview with the Globe, Mohl said Entergy faced the “harsh reality” that Pilgrim probably will lose about $40 million a year until it closes.
Opponents of Pilgrim, who have long protested the plant’s safety record and have raised environmental concerns, celebrated the announcement.
“They should shut down now, saving them money and us peace of mind,” said Mary Lampert, director of Pilgrim Watch, a Duxbury group that has been calling for the plant’s closure for years.
Senator Edward J. Markey, another longtime critic, called Entergy’s decision prudent. “While nuclear energy was once advertised as being too cheap to meter, it is increasingly clear that it is actually too expensive to matter,’’ he said in a statement. “The remaining period of operation of Pilgrim needs to be with the utmost attention to safety and security.’’
Officials at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said they will maintain close oversight of the plant through its decommissioning, which by law could take up to 60 years after the plant shuts down, said Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the commission. Until the plant closes, Pilgrim will be subject to expensive federal inspections that will review whether equipment failure, procedural trouble, or human error led to the shutdowns in 2013 and 2015…..
What comes afterward, at the moment, remains unclear, Mohl said. As with other nuclear plants that have been shuttered in the region, the operators will need to leave radioactive waste on the site of Pilgrim until the federal government finds a suitable location to store the spent fuel. Where to store the waste permanently has divided politicians for decades.
Some neighbors in Plymouth worry about the prospect of nuclear waste remaining at the plant for years to come.
“What has happened is that a bad dream is turning into a nightmare,” said Jeff Berger, chairman emeritus of a nonpartisan advisory group to the town called the Nuclear Matters Committee. “The plant is going to have a lot fewer people guarding a lot of nuclear waste, and that’s a real concern.” https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/10/13/entergy-close-pilgrim-nuclear-power-station-nuclear-power-plant-that-opened/fNeR4RT1BowMrFApb7DqQO/story.html
IAEA has completed its investigation of Iran’s nuclear past
IAEA completes investigation into Iran’s nuclear past, Guardian, Julian Borger, 16 Oct 15
The UN watchdog agency will now take two months to write up its report on alleged past work on a warhead, which will be crucial if the comprehensive nuclear deal agreed in July is to take effect The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has put out a statementconfirming completion of its inquiries into evidence that Iran may have experimented on nuclear weapons design in the past. Now under a road mapagreed with Iran, the agency has until December 15 to analyse and write up its findings.
Completion of the IAEA enquiry is a precondition for the comprehensive nuclear deal – between Iran, the US and five other major powers in Vienna in July – to go ahead, limiting Iran’s nuclear programme in return for sanctions relief. But according to a report today in the Wall Street Journal, the Iranians had been dragging their heels until just before today’s deadline………
President Hassan Rouhani wants to get all this done before Iranian parliamentary elections on February 26, so he can persuade voters that better times are on the way as they go to the polls. It is a tall order, but not impossible – perhaps not as hard as the IAEA’s task over the next two months to craft a report that preserves the hard-won JCPOA deal while not sacrificing its own integrity and legitimacy.http://www.theguardian.com/world/julian-borger-global-security-blog/2015/oct/15/iaea-completes-investigation-into-irans-nuclear-past
After Pilgrim Power Station closed, the area is left with a nuclear graveyard
After Pilgrim closes, a nuclear graveyard, Boston Globe 14 Oct 15 “…….Unlike the closing of other kinds of businesses — like a retail store or factory — there is no sense of finality in Entergy’s decision to pull the plug on Pilgrim. If anything, it raises more questions, offers few answers, and will demand vigilance by federal regulators, state leaders, and local officials. For starters, Pilgrim remains online now and could keep generating power for nearly four more years. That’s a concern, especially since the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last month lowered the plant’s safety ranking following unplanned shutdowns and chronic problems with pressure valves, demoting it to one of the three worst-performing nuclear power facilities in the United States…….
Dramatic fall in price of solar electricity
Solar Energy Sees Eye-Popping Price Drops Solar electricity’s price tag has plummeted 70 percent, says a new report, as SolarCity rolls out a low-cost, super-efficient panel. By Christina Nunez, National Geographic OCT 02 2015 “…….The figure, cited in a report this week from Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, coincides with SolarCity’s debut Friday of what it calls the world’s most efficient rooftop solar panel. The largest residential solar installer in the U.S. says its module can produce 38 percent more power than a standard one, yet costs less to produce.
Not bad for an industry that had no large-scale U.S. presence just a decade ago. Photovoltaic panels currently contribute only about 1 percent of all electricity, but lower costs are helping fuel the expansion of large, utility-size projects.
As historic UN climate talks near, solar’s latest strides are key in the worldwide race to slash carbon emissions by paring back dependence on fossil fuels. (See surprising countries where wind and solar are booming.)……….
The falling price of power from large-scale solar projects reflects the lower cost of building them. The report notes that cost fell by more than 50 percent between 2009 and 2014. At the same time, solar farms have seen a “notable improvement” in how much power they put out, thanks to smarter siting and better technology.
SolarCity is aiming to apply its own gains in efficiency and cost to the residential market when it begins production at its 1-gigawatt facility in Buffalo, New York, in early 2017. Its new rooftop panel, which earned a rating of 22.04 percent efficiency in a third-party certification test, surpasses an earlier record set by SunPower, which has a high-efficiency model rated at 21.5 percent.
Another trend Bolinger called “encouraging”: Solar’s reach is expanding. Most development has been centered in the Southwest, but Bolinger says big solar power contracts are cropping up in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, and Georgia—states that “haven’t seen much solar development in the past to speak of.” http://news.nationalgeographic.com/energy/2015/10/151002-solar-energy-sees-eye-popping-price-drops/
Concern over China’s involvement in UK’s nuclear project
In China’s Hands, TIME 16 Oct 15 Canada, Australia and the United States, the ownership of critical infrastructure by foreign companies is a controversial matter. In America, it is overseen by the Department of Defense. In Britain, China is about to build our next nuclear power station.
As this newspaper reports today, this is a matter of concern to British security services. A deal whereby Chinese state-owned companies spearhead the construction of the new nuclear project at Hinkley Point C has already been agreed. A second arrangement, …… (subscribers only) http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/leaders/article4587199.ece
USA in Talks on Deal to Limit Pakistan’s Nuclear Arsenal
U.S. Exploring Deal to Limit Pakistan’s Nuclear Arsenal, NYT By DAVID E. SANGER OCT. 15, 2015 WASHINGTON — The Obama administration is exploring a deal with Pakistan that would limit the scope of Pakistan’s nuclear arsenal, the fastest-growing on earth. The discussions are the first in the decade since one of the founders of its nuclear program, Abdul Qadeer Khan, was caught selling the country’s nuclear technology around the world.
The talks are being held in advance of the arrival of Pakistan’s prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, in Washington next week. They focus on American concern that Pakistan might be on the verge of deploying a small tactical nuclear weapon — explicitly modeled on weapons the United States put in Europe during the Cold War to deter a Soviet invasion — that would be far harder to secure than the country’s arsenal of larger weapons.
But outside experts familiar with the discussions, which have echoes of the Obama administration’s first approaches to Iran on its nuclear program three years ago, expressed deep skepticism that Pakistan is ready to put any limitations on a program that is the pride of the nation, and that it regards as its only real defense against India………http://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/16/world/asia/us-exploring-deal-to-limit-pakistans-nuclear-arsenal.html?_r=0
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