Europe’ s Nuclear Illustrative Programme (PINC) report on investments in nuclear safety
Commission presents report on investments in nuclear safety https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/news/commission-presents-nuclear-illustrative-programme 05 April 2016
This is the first report since Fukushima in 2011, focusing on the investments related to post-Fukushima safety upgrades and to the safe operation of existing facilities. In addition, this Nuclear Illustrative Programme (PINC) highlights the estimated financing needs related to nuclear power plants’ decommissioning and to the management of radioactive waste and spent fuel. The Nuclear Illustrative Programme provides a basis for discussion and aims to include all stakeholders, especially civil society, in the discussion on the role of nuclear energy trends and related investments for the period up to 2050.
While EU countries are free to decide their energy mix, the Energy Union Strategy and the European Energy Security Strategy stressed that EU countries who decide to use nuclear energy in their own energy mix have to apply the highest standards of safety, security, waste management and non-proliferation as well as diversify their nuclear fuel supplies.
Vice-President responsible for Energy Union, Maroš Šefčovič said: “Based on Member States input, the Nuclear Illustrative Programme of the Commission provides a useful photograph of the whole lifecycle of nuclear power in Europe: from the front-end of fuel fabrication, to safety upgrades and long-term operations, to the back-end of the cycle, including waste management and decommissioning. The PINC contributes to the implementation of the Energy Union strategy, by looking into relevant Member States’ investments from the perspective of safety, security of supply, diversification, technological and industrial leadership”
Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete said: “Five years after the accident at Fukushima Daiichi, Europe has learnt the lessons. The Nuclear Illustrative Program brings together for the first time an overview of all investment aspects of nuclear energy in a single document. It thus contributes to the public discussion on nuclear matters. Together we should be able to identify ways to cooperate across Europe to ensure that knowledge about the safest use of nuclear power plants is shared, rather than done separately by each regulator, and that the management of radioactive waste is secured financially by Member States until its final disposal.“
Today, the Commission also presented a recommendation to EU countries concerning the application of Article 103 of the Euratom Treaty. The recommendation requires EU countries to have the Commission’s opinion on agreements with non-EU countries on nuclear matters (Intergovernmental Agreements) before concluding them. This recommendation aims to make that process more efficient by clarifying the key aspects and requirements that EU countries have to take into account when negotiating such agreements, in particular regarding the new directives on nuclear safety and the safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. The application of this recommendation should reduce the need for the Commission to object to the conclusion of agreements, and thereby reduce the risk of delay in their conclusion.
Indigenous people push for decontamination of Los Alamos National Laboratory atomic research area
Tribe on front lines of fight over nuclear lab contamination Seattle Times, April 4, 2016 By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN The Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — The tribal community of San Ildefonso Pueblo sits in the shadow of Los Alamos National Laboratory, one of the nation’s premier laboratories and the birthplace of the atomic bomb.
The tribe is on the front lines of a battle to rein in contamination left behind by decades of bomb-making and nuclear research.
Pueblo Gov. James Mountain says he’s encouraged that New Mexico regulators, under a revamped cleanup proposal, have identified as a priority a plume of chromium contamination at the tribe’s border with the lab.
San Ildefonso Pueblo, in northern New Mexico’s high desert, has a tribal enrollment of about 750. Its members are known for their artistry, creating jewelry, paintings, traditional black-on-black pottery and other works.
Groundwater sampling shows increasing chromium concentrations at the edges of the plume, indicating it’s migrating through an area considered sacred by the tribe and closer to the Rio Grande, which provides drinking water to communities throughout the region. The plume has stretched about 1 mile into the upper part of the regional aquifer, and is about a half-mile wide and 100 feet thick.
It’s about a half-mile from the closest drinking water well.
“Without a doubt, it definitely raises concerns,” Mountain said.
The contamination was first detected more than a decade ago, and officials traced it to potassium dichromate used to prevent corrosion inside cooling towers at Los Alamos lab’s power plant. As part of regular maintenance from 1956 to 1972, the chemicals were discharged into canyons below…….
The U.S. Energy Department’s Office of Environmental Management is asking for $189 million for work at the lab next fiscal year. That would pay for handling radioactive waste stored at the lab, as well as completing the chromium investigation.
“The essence is groundwater is precious in New Mexico so we take threats to groundwater very seriously,” he said. “We certainly think there’s an elevated risk associated with any contamination to groundwater.”
The area also is home to flaked stone tools, ceramic shards and even a wagon road that dates back to the homestead period of the 1800s.
“It’s a very important area to the pueblo,” Mountain said. “And it’s not just on the parameters of physical inhabitation. There’s an effect on the pueblo’s health and welfare, on our mental well-being, our spiritual well-being.” http://www.seattletimes.com/nation-world/tribe-on-front-lines-of-fight-over-nuclear-lab-contamination/
Cambridge votes to Divest $1Billion From Nuclear Weapons
Hawking Says ‘Don’t Bank on the Bomb’ and Cambridge Votes to Divest $1Billion From Nuclear Weapons, Future of Life Institute April 4, 2016/ by Max Tegmark
1,000 nuclear weapons are plenty enough to deter any nation from nuking the US, but we’re hoarding over 7,000, and a long string of near-misses have highlighted the continuing risk of an accidental nuclear war which could trigger a nuclear winter, potentially killing most people on Earth. Yet rather than trimming our excess nukes, we’re planning to spend $4 million per hour for the next 30 years making them more lethal.
Although I’m used to politicians wasting my tax dollars, I was shocked to realize that I was voluntarily using my money for this nuclear boondoggle by investing in the very companies that are lobbying for and building new nukes: some of the money in my bank account gets loaned to them and my S&P500 mutual fund invests in them. “If you want to slow the nuclear arms race, then put your money where your mouth is and don’t bank on the bomb!”, my physics colleague Stephen Hawking told me. To make it easier for others to follow his sage advice, I made an app for that together with my friends at the Future of Life Institute, and launched this“Brief History of Nukes” that’s 3.14 long in honor of Hawking’s fascination with pi.
Our campaign got off to an amazing start this weekend at an MIT conferencewhere our Mayor Denise Simmons announced that the Cambridge City Council has unanimously decided to divest their billion dollar city pension fund from nuclear weapons production.“Not in our name!”, she said, and drew a standing ovation. “It’s my hope that this will inspire other municipalities, companies and individuals to look at their investments and make similar moves”.
“In Europe, over 50 large institutions have already limited their nuclear weapon investments, but this is our first big success in America”, said Susi Snyder, who leads the global nuclear divestment campaign dontbankonthebomb.com. Boston College philosophy major Lucas Perry, who led the effort to persuade Cambridge to divest, hoped that this online analysis tool will create a domino effect: “I want to empower other students opposing the nuclear arms race to persuade their own towns and universities to follow suit.”
Many financial institutions now offer mutual funds that cater to the growing interest in socially responsible investing, including Ariel, Calvert, Domini, Neuberger, Parnassuss, Pax World and TIAA-CREF. “We appreciate and share Cambridge’s desire to exclude nuclear weapons production from its pension fund. Pension funds are meant to serve the long-term needs of retirees, a service that nuclear weapons do not offer”, said Julie Fox Gorte, Senior Vice President for Sustainable Investing at Pax World.
“Divestment is a powerful way to stigmatize the nuclear arms race through grassroots campaigning, without having to wait for politicians who aren’t listening”, said conference co-organizer Cole Harrison, Executive Director of Massachusetts Peace Action, the nation’s largest grassroots peace organization. “If you’re against spending more money making us less safe, then make sure it’s not your money.”
You’ll find our divestment app here. If you’d like to persuade your own municipality to follow Cambridge’s lead, using their policy order as a model, here it is::……….http://futureoflife.org/2016/04/04/hawking-says-dont-bank-on-the-bomb-and-cambridge-votes-to-divest-1billion-from-nuclear-weapons/
India upset, but Obama maintains concern over nuclear arsenal in South Asia
Despite India’s criticism, White House says Obama stands by concern over nuclear arsenal in South Asia, DNA, 5 Apr 2016 White House says US favours reduction of tension between India and Pak.
A day after India criticised Barack Obama for asking it to reduce its nuclear arsenal, the White House said the President stands by his concerns over nuclear and missile developments in South Asia.
“The President’s comments were motivated by the concern that we have about nuclear and missile developments in South Asia. In particular, we’re concerned by the increased security challenges that accompany growing stockpiles, particularly tactical nuclear weapons that are designed for use on the battlefield,” White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest told reporters. “These systems are a source of concern because they’re susceptible to theft due to their size and load of employment.
Essentially, by having these smaller weapons, the threshold for their use is lowered and the risk that a conventional conflict between India and Pakistan, could escalate to include the use of nuclear weapons,” he said…….
On Friday, Obama had identified South Asia in particular India and Pakistan as one area where there is a need to be progress in the area of nuclear security and reduction of nuclear arsenal. India reacted strongly to Obama’s comments. http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-despite-india-s-criticism-white-house-says-obama-stands-by-concern-over-nuclear-arsenal-in-south-asia-2198484
Very serious consequences if Iran nuclear deal scrapped
U.S. warns of dire consequences if 
By Nicole Gaouette April 5, 2016 Washington (CNN)The Obama administration warned of dire consequences Tuesday should the next occupant of the Oval Office scrap the Iran nuclear deal.
Britain’s Wylfa Newydd nuclear plant not likely to go ahead
‘Slim chance’ Wylfa Newydd nuclear plant will go ahead By Steffan Messenger BBC Wales Environment Correspondent 5 April 2016
Plans to build a new nuclear power plant on Anglesey have a “slim to zero” chance of going ahead, an industry expert has claimed.
Independent consultant Mycle Schneider is a lead author of the annual World Nuclear Status report. He said the Hinkley Point C project’s difficulties would affect Wylfa Newydd’s ability to attract investors. But Horizon Nuclear Power said it was very confident the new power station would be delivered successfully.
Speaking to BBC Radio Cymru’s Post Cyntaf programme, Mr Schneider, who has advised both the French and German governments on nuclear policy, said: “The Hinkley Point project is in great difficulties and you could argue that the uncertainties are even larger in the case of Wylfa Newydd.”
The Anglesey plant, he said, would need “very clear and very large subsidies to get off the ground”.
Horizon is in talks with the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) on issues such as the strike price, which will be key to attracting additional finance. Richard Foxhall of Horizon Nuclear Power told BBC Wales other investors would need to be brought on board to deliver Wylfa Newydd and that talks were ongoing.
“What is important is that the right conditions for investment are made and part of that is discussions with the government,” he said.
“But we’re very, very confident that we can reach a successful conclusion to those negotiations and make sure the conditions are there to attract investment.”
The chairman of Horizon’s parent company Hitachi has warned it may walk away from the project if a viable deal cannot be reached………http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-35959840
Lawmakers want Entergy to pay its fair share of tax
Westchester OKs Indian Point tax deal http://www.lohud.com/story/news/local/westchester/2016/04/05/westchester-oks-indian-point-tax-deal/82635322/ Mark Lungariello, mlungariel@lohud.com
Entergy agrees to pay almost $4 million for 2015, but some lawmakers wanted a more equitable deal running through 2024.
The owners of Indian Point Energy Center will pay Westchester County more per year in a new tax deal approved Monday, although some lawmakers questioned if the company is really paying its fair share under the agreement.
The county Board of Legislators approved in a 12-4 vote a new payment in lieu of taxes, or PILOT, for the two active nuclear reactors and an adjacent building at Indian Point in Buchanan. The land is property-tax exempt and the plant’s owner, Entergy, instead pays a set fee negotiated with the municipality.
The new deal runs through 2024, with Entergy’s payment increasing annually by the lesser amount of the New York state tax cap or 2 percent. Under the deal, the company agreed to pay almost $4 million to Westchester backdated for 2015 after paying $3.1 million in the final year of its last PILOT.
Legislator Catherine Parker, a Rye Democrat, voted against the PILOT after a public hearing during which no members of the public spoke.
“We want to make sure that we have an equitable situation for the taxpayer and for the entity,” she said.
Legislature Chairman Michael Kaplowitz, a Somers Democrat who also voted against the measure, had sought to renegotiate the terms so that the PILOT was tied more directly to the county’s annual tax increase or decrease.
The expired PILOT, he said, was agreed to during an uncertain time for nuclear facilities. Under that agreement, Indian Point’s owner paid $3.4 million in 2003 but that payment decreased to a low of $2.6 million in 2007 before bouncing back up.
Entergy bought Unit 2 from Con Edison and Unit 3 from NYPA. Unit 1 is no longer in use. The company has separate PILOTs already approved by the town of Cortlandt, the village of Buchanan and the Hendrick Hudson school district.
Amusement Park built from failed $5.3 billion nuclear reprocessing plant
This failed $5.3 billion nuclear power plant in Germany is now an amusement park that gets hundreds of thousands of visitors each year (great photos) http://www.businessinsider.com/nuclear-power-plant-into-amusement-park-2016-4/?r=AU&IR=TCourtney Verrill
The SNR-300 was supposed to be Germany’s first fast breeder nuclear reactor when construction began in 1972. The reactor was made to use plutonium as fuel, and it would output 327 megawatts of energy.
Built in Kalkar, the government had some concerns about the safety of the nuclear reactor, which delayed construction. The power plant was finished in 1985 — $5.3 billion later.
But after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the SNR-300 never got a chance to fully operate, and by 1991 the project was officially canceled.
This left the power plant completely unused, and it was eventually sold to a Dutch investor who decided to turn it into an amusement park: Wunderland Kalkar.
Judge refuses to block release of Navy nuclear data
A federal court judge has declined to permanently block the release of Kitsap County documents about response plans to a nuclear emergency at the Navy Kitsap-Bangor base or other Navy facilities.
U.S. District Court Judge Ronald Leighton on Dec. 15 had issued a temporary injunction restricting the release of what was termed “sensitive and protected national security information” contained in these federal government documents.
Since then, public-records requests to access the documents have been withdrawn, and the judge has found that most of the issues involved in the case have now been rendered moot.
“Because no request is pending … a live case or controversy regarding the County’s potential disclosure does not exist,” Leighton wrote in a ruling he signed Thursday.
The unusual case was filed in U.S. District Court in Tacoma, and resulted from a dispute between the Navy and Kitsap County over what information could be released under state public-records laws.
“From our perspective, we have the state laws — the public-records act — to comply with, so we were a little bit caught in the middle in this,” said Shelly Kneip, senior deputy prosecuting attorney for Kitsap County.
The case centers on a public-records request made bypeace activist Glen Milner in January 2015. He asked Kitsap County to release documents about the consequences of a nuclear incident at Kitsap County Navy facilities, and also information about emergency response.
By the summer, that public-records request had yielded nearly 6,000 pages of documents from Kitsap County.
But Kitsap County and federal officials were at odds about what information in additional documents could be released, including details about a county exercise that simulated the response to a nuclear incident.
At one point, the county was warned the release of protected information would expose their employees to the risk of criminal prosecution, according to a footnote in a brief filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle, which represents the Navy in the case………http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/puget-sound/judge-wont-block-release-of-navy-nuclear-data-in-kitsap-county-after-records-requests-withdrawn/
Growing global threat of nuclear terrorism
Terrorism is in the news a lot these days. Beautiful European capitals like Paris and Brussels have been attacked. Historic cities in the Middle East like Baghdad and Aleppo have suffered carnage. A splinter group from the Taliban struck Lahore in Pakistan, once home of the Mughals, at the end of March. Even idyllic places in Africa have not been spared.
Paul Ashley, a retired professional from the British Armed Forces, has mused that 2016 could be the year of terrorism. Many worry about a “dirty bomb” that might combine conventional explosives with radioactive material. Two of the bombers involved in the Brussels attacks appear to have monitored a senior researcher who worked at a Belgian nuclear center.
This week, US President Barack Obama hosted the Nuclear Security Summit and fretted about mad men getting “their hands on a nuclear bomb or nuclear material.” A 2014 report by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) estimated that “nearly 2,000 metric tons of weapons-usable nuclear materials remain spread across hundreds of sites around the globe.” The NTI report points out that some of these sites are poorly secured and that terrorists might have acquired the ability to build a bomb………
Pakistan’s nuclear material is at great risk of theft or misappropriation. –
…….As a state, India functions much better than Pakistan. Yet its nuclear material is not as safe as it seems. India’s military is in disarray, its intelligence is in shambles and the corruption of its bureaucracy is legendary. Its short-sighted elites care little for strategic matters and India’s nuclear material is not as safe as it seems.
North Korea makes India look good. Russia makes India look angelic. President Vladimir Putin did not even show up in Washington, DC. With the Pakistanis and the Russians not present, Obama’s summit did not quite have the oomph he desired.
The US itself is going through strange times. Donald Trump, the leading Republican candidate, has suggested that South Korea and Japan could do well to have nuclear deterrents of their own instead of rely on the US. This flies in the face of nonproliferation efforts by the US for decades and did not leave Obama too pleased. To add to his woes, the summit might be living on borrowed time because no US presidential candidate seems interested in keeping it going.
In his early career in the US Senate, Obama worked with Dick Lugar, a Republican senator, to get rid of weapons of mass destruction. States like Ukraine and Azerbaijan participated. Things have changed since. As stated earlier, many states are declining and their writs are weakening. At some point, some crazy group will acquire the knowledge, ability and material to make a dirty bomb. Of course, states have a duty to prevent the making and using of such a bomb, but at some point they will fail. When this happens, the best response for all decent good people around the world has to be to keep calm and carry on.
Sadly, a nuclear terrorist strike is not merely possible or probable. It is inevitable. It is time to start preparing for it.
This article was first published on Fair Observer.
– See more at: http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/yes-nuclear-terrorism-real-threat-world-over-41204#sthash.n6BKMDGZ.dpuf
April 5 Energy News
World:
¶ Dutch shipping company Wagenborg has set sail with the topside for the Horns Rev 3 offshore wind substation ahead of installation off Denmark. A pair of vessels left Schiedam with the HSM-built structure, which will export power from Vattenfall’s 400-MW offshore wind farm. [reNews]
Image: Wagenborg
¶ The US, China, and India, largest projected emitters into the next several decades, have each agreed to sign the Paris Agreement on climate change on April 22, the first day they can do so. More than 190 countries agreed in principle in Paris last December. [CleanTechnica]
¶ Panasonic recently hit the 50,000 mark in its quest to distribute more than 100,000 solar lanterns throughout the world’s poor, in rural communities that don’t have reliable access to electric light. The “100 Thousand Solar Lanterns Project” is now half-way to completion. [CleanTechnica]
¶ Solar deployment in Japan…
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Nuclear waste dump decision will affect future generations of South Australians
Saving the Environment or Centralized Control of a Monopoly in Power (Electricity)? Pan Chemistry, Gareth Lewis 03/03/15 “………Political terms versus environmental time-lines This section raises an important point with environmental issues or challenges: the short duration of political terms (often three to six years) limits the amount that can be done in the field of environmental protection. This means that global problems, such as air pollution and global warming that have no geographic boundaries and are likely to be long-term challenges may not be attempted. Even ‘smaller’ challenges like preserving the Great Barrier Reef and ensuring the viability of water supply and usage along the River Murray cannot be addressed in any one political term (nor have they been): there’s just insufficient time and funds to do so. Additionally, the political fallout from such ventures may not ensure the duration of the political term (a political paradox). A case could easily…
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April 4 Energy News
Opinion:
¶ Ontario’s challenge is to have enough power for all the new electric cars • When Ontario’s power planners look down the road, they see electric vehicles coming at them. They just might be coming a little faster now than even the forecasters imagined.
[London Free Press]
Plug’n Drive, Ontario. CC BY-SA 2.o. Wikimedia Commons
¶ The $2.6 billion buying binge that pushed SunEdison to the
brink • Just nine months ago, SunEdison was Wall Street’s favorite clean-energy company. It put every dollar it could find into a buying binge of wind and solar farms, and now, it is at the brink of bankruptcy protection. [Chicago Tribune]
World:
¶ Danish energy company Dong Energy awarded a $250 million contract to ABB for a 220-kV high-voltage cable system for the 1.2-GW Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm in the North Sea. The cable connecting the wind…
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1 This Month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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