nuclear-news

Reassessment of NRC’s Dollar Per Person-Rem Conversion Factor Policy
Docket ID: NRC-2015-0063Agency: Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
http://www.regulations.gov/#!docketDetail;D=NRC-2015-0063

This comment deadline, of November 3rd, 11.59 PM, is but the opening salvo of another life and death battle between the nuclear industry and the public, in the war over the people’s health vs the profits of nuclear utilities-nuclear industry. The deadline near All Hallows’, All Saints and All Souls/traditional days of the dead/death of the year, could not be more appropriate.

The USNRC pretends to be updating its value of statistical life to $9 million to look good, but it’s not really doing it. What they pretend is $9 million is actually $5 million, and perhaps as low as $500,000 (or less). Plus it doesn’t apply for some things, and appears to lack legally binding teeth. Any improvement, of course, is better than no improvement. But, they are still playing their usual…

World:

¶ The preferential tariffs for wind and solar power in China may be cut in 2016 by 5.8% and 5.6%, respectively, under a plan by the National Development and Reform Commission. According to reports, by 2020, wind power rates could be cut by 19% from 2016 levels, while for solar the planned reduction is 15%. [SeeNews Renewables]

Wind farm in China. Author: David Schroeter. License: Creative Commons, Attribution-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic

¶ 114,723 gigawatt hours of electricity in Germany came from renewable sources in the first nine months of 2015, which was almost double the amount produced from nuclear sources. Additionally, some electricity prices have decreased from the previous year. For example, the cost of peak load power is nearly at 2002 levels. [CleanTechnica]

¶ In an auction to procure 1200 GWh of power, wind and solar projects took 100% of the contracts even though there…

Bankrupting Nature’s 12 key messages
1. Scientific evidence is overwhelming that human pressure on the planet has reached a point that poses major risks for future welfare and prosperity. Science indicates that we are transgressing planetary boundaries that have kept civilization safe for the past 10,000 years. Accelerating human activity is now the most significant driver of global change, propelling the planet into a new geological era, termed the Anthropocene. There are now so many of us, using so many resources, that we are disrupting the grand cycles of biology, chemistry and geology. We can no longer exclude the possibility that our collective actions might trigger tipping points, risking drastic and irreversible consequences for human communities and ecological systems.

2. The sustainability crisis is manifested through social, financial, economic and environmental problems now playing out globally. We are faced with a set of serious challenges, driven by wasteful production and…

Yes, I am fed up with the charade of this Royal Commission –  its pro nuclear bias is apparent from the very start – with nuclear enthusiasts strongly represented, starting from Commissioner Kevin Scarce.

Today I looked for the transcript of the hearing  with Dr Helen Caldicott on 27 October. Well, it’s hard to find. When you go to the appropriate page  on the Commission’s website – not a mention of Dr Caldicott, though she was the first speaker that day.

The one that they do mention is  Professor Geraldine Thomas, Imperial College London. Prof Thomas is a very well known pro nuclear speaker. She appeared prominently on the nuclear dragon thing soft sell series on SBS.  Thomas has spruiked about radioactive iodine, but conveniently has ignored other radioactive isotopes. (I’ve not read her latest spruik to the RC, but you can bet your boots that she is lobbying away…