While resident electricity rates soared, SCANA nuclear power executives received $3.5 million in bonuses
SCANA executives received $3.5 million in bonuses since 2008, May 20, 2017
India’s nuclear power plans – obsolete, dangerous and ultra-costly
Don’t go for pricey foreign N-power plants when solar’s going dirt-cheap, Times of India, May 21, 2017, SA Aiyar in Swaminomics | India, World | TOI Forget the Bush-Manmohan Singh vision of a nuclear power renaissance. Recent developments — cheap solar power plus the bankruptcy of Westinghouse — call for a total overhaul of nuclear plans that now look obsolete, dangerous and ultra-costly.
I say this as one who solidly supported the Bush-Manmohan deal in 2005. That deal lifted sanctions against India, and provided access to imported uranium and nuclear technology. In return, the US, France, Japan and Russia were to build six nuclear plants each in India, reviving their flagging equipment industries.
In 2005, the nuclear industry expected a boom following global concerns on greenhouse gases. Nuclear power then was costlier than coal-based power but much cheaper than solar. With many nations going big on nuclear, scale economies plus third-generation technology promised to make nuclear power as cheap as thermal power, minus the carbon.
Then came the Fukushima disaster in Japan. This highlighted the nuclear power risks. It led to the closure of old nuclear plants and cancellation of new ones across the world. The disappearance of mass orders killed scale economies for equipment, while new safety concerns led to expensive re-design…….
the price of solar power keeps falling, and could halve again. New N-plants could take 8-10 years to build, by which time solar power may cost just Rs 1.50/unit, and storage costs may fall below Rs 1/unit. It is crazy to build nuclear plants producing power several times costlier. The solar revolution means that, a decade hence, other forms of power will be needed mainly for peak evening demand. Nuclear power is totally unsuitable for peaking.
Now, the nuclear deal implicitly obliged India to buy nuclear plants from the four foreign powers. But at the time, these were supposed to be competitive with thermal power. That’s now a pipedream.
To avoid gargantuan financial losses, India needs to exit these foreign deals if at all possible. Diplomacy mandates that India cannot renege simply because solar power has become cheap. But India can demand that suppliers stick to the original idea of thermal price parity. If they cannot — as is the case — India should politely excuse itself, saying it can live up to its side of the implicit deal only if foreign suppliers live up to theirs.
General Electric of the US has anyway opted out of Indian nuclear plants, saying Indian liability limits for accidents are insufficient. If Westinghouse finds no buyer, or a non-Japanese buyer, India can scrap that deal. For Areva and future Russian plants, India should insist on thermal price equivalence, even if it sinks those deals………. http://blogs.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Swaminomics/dont-go-for-pricey-foreign-n-power-plants-when-solars-going-dirt-cheap/
Environmental pollution from North Korea’s underground nuclear tests a concern for China
China fears NK nuke leaks, Korea Times, By Oh Young-jin, 2017-05-21 China fears environmental contamination and earthquakes that may be triggered by North Korea’s underground nuclear tests, possibly bringing Beijing to the breaking point of its patience with its blood-sealed but increasingly defiant ally, a Chinese scholar said during an interview Friday.
Game of Nuclear Thrones Aims to Keep Public Opposition at Arms Length and the Unions baying for public subsidy?
After months of Toshiba Westinghouse’s rather faux bankruptcy and the “on hold” status of Moorside, now (once again) China is in the news as being an “interested party.” Meanwhile the nuclear obsessed unions are baying for ever more public subsidy for new nuclear build despite the growing evidence that nuclear provides negative equity in both health and prosperity. Yes nuclear is a “white elephant” which is already a drain on the public purse into eternity …but it is so much more than a “white elephant.” The Chinese know this and have been out on the streets protesting in their thousands, despite their repressive regime. Here in our green and pleasant democratic land, a lot of effort by government bodies including the National Public Intelligence Order Unit has gone into ensuring the UK public are apathetic about nuclear. The Chinese would be up in arms about Moorside being “on hold” -they…
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May 21 Energy News
World:
¶ The Upper Afan Valley near Swansea is already home to the biggest windfarm in England and Wales, but in July work will begin there on one of the UK’s largest battery storage schemes. Co-locating the plant with the windfarm reduced needs for power lines, so it was about £5 million cheaper than building it on a standalone site. [The Guardian]
Pen y Cymoedd wind project near Swansea (Photo: Vattenfall)
¶ A report says that the federal government of Canada is now planning the imposition of pollution caps on Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the two provinces that haven’t yet agreed to support a national carbon price. The federal government is now also proposing a levy on fossil fuels that would be increased at an annual rate. [CleanTechnica]
¶ Howrah railway station in Kolkata is set to go green with the installation of 3 MW of rooftop…
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The View from the US: Hanna Poddig’s brave stand against nuclear transports
“Without informing the local population, similar trains full of radioactive material are secretly passing through densely inhabited areas every four weeks.” (DiaNuke.org) http://www.dianuke.org/german-anti-nuclear-activist-jailed-blocking-train-carrying-radioactive-waste/ Solidarity postcard sent by Radiation Free Lakeland to Hanna Poddig. Painting by Marianne Birkby: https://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2017/05/15/petition-and-postcards-to-support-hanna-poddig-who-blockaded-a-train-of-uranium-hexaflouride-and-is-now-in-prison Note that it could fall upon activists like Hanna to stop the export of German nuclear waste […]
German Anti-Nuclear Activist Jailed for Blocking Train Carrying Radioactive Waste Through Densely Populated Areas
“Without informing the local population, similar trains full of radioactive material are secretly passing through densely inhabited areas every four weeks.” (DiaNuke.org) http://www.dianuke.org/german-anti-nuclear-activist-jailed-blocking-train-carrying-radioactive-waste/
Solidarity postcard sent by Radiation Free Lakeland to Hanna Poddig. Painting by Marianne Birkby:
Note that it could fall upon activists like Hanna to stop the export of German nuclear waste to the USA, a project planned by Obama-era NNSA Tom D’Agostino. D’Agostino went to work for Fluor – which would benefit – shortly after signing the US up as a German nuclear waste processing-dump, along with German Federal Minister of Education and Research, Annette Schavan. Schavan’s reward for this dirty deed was apparently becoming Germany’s Ambassador to the Vatican, despite having been stripped of her doctorate for plagiarizing her dissertation on ethics. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_Schavan. If the nuclear…
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May 20 Energy News
Opinion:
¶ “The Cost of Everything and the Value of Nothing: Falling Costs Are a Game-Changer” • When industry insiders were surveyed what the most compelling reason to invest in clean energy was, 15% said declining prices, and 11% said earnings growth. But the largest group, 20%, cited consumers’ preference for clean energy. [National Geographic]
Wind turbines on a ridge in West Virginia (Photo © Kent Mason)
¶ “Plant Vogtle: Georgia’s nuclear ‘renaissance’ now a financial quagmire” • Southern Company’s CEO has repeatedly said the project to build two more nuclear reactors would be history-making. He may be right, but not in the way he meant. Years behind schedule, billions over budget, it is fast becoming Exhibit A for why not to build a nuclear reactor. [MyAJC]
¶ “Offshore wind won a German power auction without needing any subsidies” • The price of offshore wind power…
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1 This Month
29 Jan. Thursday 7-8 p.m. Webinar – World’s Largest Nuclear Station in Port Hope, ON?
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