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February 2 Energy News

geoharvey's avatargeoharvey

Opinion:

¶ “Surge in electric cars may blindside big oil” • Oil companies are underestimating the global market for electric vehicles and could be caught unaware by weakened demand for petrol within a decade, according to a report, jointly issued by financial think tank Carbon Tracker and the Grantham Institute, both based in London. [Guardian]

Faraday Future’s FF 91 prototype (Photo: AFP / Reuters) Faraday Future’s FF 91 prototype (Photo: AFP / Reuters)

¶ “Moving Backward On Fuel Economy Standards Is A Bad Deal For America” • Automaker CEOs apparently lobbied President Trump to weaken strong fuel economy standards during a White House summit. Moving backward on fuel economy standards, however, would threaten our health, energy security, jobs, and investments. [CleanTechnica]

¶ “New coal plants wouldn’t be clean, and would cost billions in taxpayer subsidies” • Major Australian energy companies have ruled out building coal plants. The Australian Energy Council sees them as “uninvestable.” Banks…

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February 2, 2017 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

As Court Case Against It Looms, Rosatom (Russia), KEPCO (S. Korea), EDF (France), China State Nuclear – All State Owned Entities- Express Interest in S. Africa Nuclear Station Showing That Nuclear Power Is Unsustainable in a Free Market

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Greenpeace South Africa Nuclear Trojan Horse

Although a court case against the project will not be heard until end February, the South African government has announced that Rosatom (Russia), KEPCO (S. Korea), EDF (France), China State Nuclear Power Technology – all majority owned by their respective governments- have expressed interest in a South Africa Nuclear Power project, demonstrating that nuclear power is non-competitive in a free market. Nuclear Power can, and has only, survived due to taxpayer and ratepayer subsidies. Although the South African government alleges that 27 companies have expressed an interest, probably most are either subsidiaries of the above companies, or other government owned nuclear entities. Additionally, this number might include contractors and subcontractors to the above. Japan’s Toshiba, which owns Westinghouse, has announced that it wants to get out of the nuclear power business. Toshiba is not government owned, and nuclear energy has proven a money-losing endeavor.

The S. Africa announcement could be…

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Radiation level at Fukushima reactor highest since 2011 disaster; grating hole found

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TOKYO (Kyodo) — The radiation level inside the containment vessel of the No. 2 reactor at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex stood at 530 sieverts per hour at a maximum, the highest since the 2011 disaster, the plant operator said Thursday.

Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. also announced that based on image analysis, a hole measuring 2 meters in diameter has been found on a metal grating beneath the pressure vessel inside the containment vessel and a portion of the grating was distorted.

 

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According to TEPCO, the extremely high radiation level was found near the entrance area in the space just below the pressure vessel. The previously highest radiation level monitored in the interior of the reactor was 73 sieverts per hour.

The hole could have been caused by nuclear fuel that penetrated the reactor vessel as it overheated and melted due to the loss of reactor cooling functions in the days after a powerful earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 hit northeastern Japan.

According to the image analysis, about 1 square meter of the grating was missing.

The plant operator plans to deploy a robot at the bottom of the reactor containment vessel, which houses the reactor pressure vessel, to check the conditions there.

The analysis follows TEPCO’s discovery Monday of a black mass deposited on the grating directly beneath the pressure vessel, possibly melted fuel after the unit suffered a meltdown along with two other Fukushima Daiichi reactors.

Images captured using a camera attached to a telescopic arm on Monday also showed part of the grating has gone. A further analysis of the images found a 2-meter hole in an area beyond the missing section on the structure.

If the deposits are confirmed as fuel debris, it would be the first time the utility has found any at the three units that suffered meltdowns.

Following one of the world’s worst nuclear disasters since the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe, the No. 1 to 3 reactors suffered fuel meltdowns.

Portions of the fuel in the reactors are believed to have melted through the pressure vessels and accumulated at the bottom of the containment vessels.

The actual condition of the melted fuel has remained unknown due to high radiation levels.

http://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20170202/p2g/00m/0dm/087000c

http://mainichi.jp/articles/20170203/k00/00m/040/079000c

 

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February 2, 2017 Posted by | Fukushima 2017 | , , , | 1 Comment

$ 80 million dollars more on top of budget for Indian nuclear programme

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According to the budget papers presented in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, the government may have to allocate $80 million (Rs 544 crore approximately) for setting up of the fifth and sixth 1,000 MW nuclear power plant with Russian technology at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu.

Already two 1,000 MW units have been set up at Kudankulam and construction work for two more similar units have begun. A total of six 1,000 MW units are planned at Kudankulam and will be owned by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL).

Meanwhile NPCIL has been requested to prepare detailed project report (DPR) for setting up of 10 units of 700 MW Pressurised Heavy Water Reactors over the next 10-15 years.

IANS

– See more at: http://news24online.com/rs-544-cr-may-be-allocated-for-nuclear-units-87/#sthash.43ywJ7WH.dpuf

After getting a firm commitment of Rs 3,000 crore allocation over the next two decades for atomic power projects in the last Union Budget, the nuclear power sector is not expecting anything new in the upcoming 2017-18 budget, said the Atomic Energy Commission chief.

Chennai:

“Unlike other industries, we do not have any new expectations from the Union Budget. Yes, it is true last year Finance Minister Arun Jaitley announced annual additional allocation of Rs 3,000 crore to expand nuclear power capacity,” Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Chairman Sekhar Basu, who is also the Secretary of the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), said.  http://www.dtnext.in/News/Business/2017/01/29225500/1026349/Nuclear-sector-not-expecting-bounty-unlike-2016.vpf

February 2, 2017 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

China decides against taking stake in Areva and runs away!!

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PARIS (Reuters) – China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC) has decided against taking a stake in the capital increase and restructuring of French nuclear group Areva, a source close to the discussions said on Tuesday.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-decides-against-taking-stake-080252294.html

“The talks did not work out with the Chinese,” the source said.

Officials at the French Economy Ministry could not be immediately reached for comment on the move, which was first reported by the broadcaster BFM Business. BFM said negotiators had been reluctant to grant the Chinese a seat on the board.

Earlier this month, France said it would buy out minority shareholders in Areva and delist the troubled nuclear group, as talks with potential investors in a new nuclear fuel company being spun out of Areva neared a conclusion.

The state, which owns 87 percent of Areva, said it would offer 4.5 euros per Areva SA share to minority investors which include Kuwait’s investment fund, French utility EDF and French energy group Total.

Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and JNFL have also been looking into taking a stake in Areva.

EDF and Areva needed to bring in foreign investors in order to secure the approval of the European Commission under its state aid regulations.

(Reporting by Jean-Michel Belot, Matthieu Protard and Sudip Kar-Gupta; editing by Michel Rose)

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