2017 July 29 « nuclear-news

UK govt funds Kansas University for nuclear engineering

K-State receives two federal nuclear energy grants, Mercury, Kansas, 28 July 17, Two new grants awarded to K-State may help the university attract the best students and faculty in nuclear engineering.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a federal nuclear energy commission, awarded K-State’s mechanical and nuclear engineering department two grants totaling about $843,000. The commission awarded a $450,000 grant to help develop young faculty members’ careers and a $393,820 grant to continue the department’s nuclear research fellowship program for graduate students…….

The fellowship grant will cover tuition and fees for students pursuing graduate studies in nuclear engineering…..

A previous fellowship grant from the NRC helped the university recruit three doctoral students in nuclear engineering who plan to graduate in 2018, according to the university. The continuation of the program will assist the university in increasing the number of doctoral graduates in nuclear engineering, which is a direct measure of the success of the department, Bindra said.

“These grants will really help take our department to the next level,” Bindra said. “I am excited to see K-State’s nuclear engineering graduate program become one of the best in the nation.” http://themercury.com/news/k-state-receives-two-federal-nuclear-energy-grants/article_92f0ae82-d76a-5b22-9aca-c6357c72eb34.html

July 29, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Education, USA | Leave a comment

Northern Germany hit by floods

Floods hit northern Germany, force some evacuations, https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/heavy-rain-leads-to-flooding-in-parts-of-germany/2017/07/26/1be4b41c-71e8-11e7-8c17-533c52b2f014_story.html, By Associated Press July 26

BERLIN — Heavy rains led to flooding Wednesday in some parts of northern Germany, forcing some evacuations and prompting residents to pile sandbags in front of their homes to protect themselves from a swollen river.

The center of the town of Goslar, in the mountainous Harz region of northern Germany, west of Berlin, was closed off and a hotel and a home for the elderly were evacuated as its central market square was flooded.

Elsewhere, streets were flooded and basements had to be pumped dry of water in the Harz region, and two stretches of railway lines were closed.

In nearby Hildesheim, people stacked sand bags along the banks of the swelling Innerste River. The fire department in Hildesheim was ready to evacuate more than 1,000 people from a neighborhood threatened by the flooding, the German news agency dpa reported.By Associated Press

July 29, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, Germany | Leave a comment

First Energy presses lawmakers for new customer-paid subsidies for nuclear reactors

FirstEnergy nuclear charges crucial to operating or selling Davis-Besse, Perry, says CEO, Cleveland.com 28 July 17 , By John Funk, The Plain Dealer, AKRON — FirstEnergy’s top executive says the company will continue to press Ohio lawmakers for new customer-paid subsidies for its nuclear power plants even though it may not own them in the future……

Chuck Jones, president and CEO, also revealed that FirstEnergy is preparing to talk to creditors of its subsidiary, FirstEnergy Solutions, the company that owns the corporation’s old, uncompetitive power plants, which have been losing money.

FirstEnergy Solutions’ debt and the declining value of its power plants has made it a potential liability as it negotiates with its creditors amidst rumors of an eventual bankruptcy, and FirstEnergy has tried to distance itself from the subsidiary……

As for the special, customer-paid charges to help Davis-Besse, Perry and Beaver Valley, Pa., nuclear power plants, Jones said he doubted anybody could operate them without special subsidies. The problem is that they cannot compete with gas turbine plants and, at times, with wind power.

“I’m not sure [they] will run unless there is something done either federally or by the state of Ohio to ensure they get a different financial return model,” Jones said.

The company previously said the nuclear charges would increase customer bills by about 5 percent. Subject to periodic review by state regulators, the charges would run for 17 years.

Selling the nuclear plants is part of the company’s overall plan “to exit the commodity-exposed generation business,” Jones said. In other words, if the company cannot have its power prices set by a state utility commission, it does not want to be in the generating business. ……

Jones also made it clear during the conference that FirstEnergy’s campaign to persuade Ohio lawmakers to approve a nuclear plant subsidy would continue no matter what the U.S. Department of Energy recommends.

The Trump administration in April asked the DOE to figure out whether wind, solar and natural gas power plants are forcing the premature retirement of very large old coal and nuclear power plants, and whether those closings might de-stabilize the nation’s high-voltage power grid……. http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2017/07/firstenergy_nuclear_charges_cr.html

July 29, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, politics, USA | Leave a comment

Climate change exacerbates the formation of toxic algal blooms in waterways

Climate change is wreaking havoc on our water, Grist, By Andrea Thompson on Jul 28, 2017 Cross-posted from Climate Central, For two days in early August 2014, the 400,000 residents in and around Toledo, Ohio, were told not to drink, wash dishes with, or bathe in the city’s water supply. A noxious, pea-green algae bloom had formed over the city’s intake pipe in Lake Erie and levels of a toxin that could cause diarrhea and vomiting had reached unsafe levels.

The bloom, like the others that form in the lake each summer, was fed by the excessive amounts of fertilizer nutrients washed into local waterways from surrounding farmland by spring and summer rains. Efforts are underway around the Great Lakes — as well as other places plagued by blooms, like the Gulf of Mexico and Chesapeake Bay — to reduce nutrient amounts to control the blooms, which can wreak havoc on the local ecology and economy.

But new research shows that climate change is going to make those efforts more and more difficult. As warming temperatures lead to increases in precipitation, more nitrogen, one of those nutrients feeding the blooms, will be washed into the nation’s waterways, the work, detailed in the July 28 issue of the journal Science, finds.

The biggest increases in such nitrogen loading will likely come in the Midwest and Northeast, areas already seeing the biggest uptick in heavy downpours……..

Costly blooms

Algae blooms are vast mats of microscopic organisms that, like plants, need sunlight, water, and nutrients to flourish. When an overabundance of nutrients like phosphorous and nitrogen from fertilizers are washed into lakes and coastal areas by rains, they can cause an explosive burst that forms a bloom.

Such blooms form each year in the Great Lakes, particularly in shallow Lake Erie, the Gulf of Mexico, and Chesapeake Bay, as well other areas. They can pose serious risks to public health from the toxins they release and can be poisonous to marine and lake life. When a bloom finally dies, it can also suck up all the oxygen in the water, creating what is called a hypoxic, or dead zone, that can also kill fish……..

More rain = more nitrogen

Using 21 climate models from the most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report, they looked at how changes in both overall and extreme precipitation would influence the amount of nitrogen entering waterways, keeping things like fertilizer use constant.

They found that by the end of the century, if greenhouse gas emissions continue on their current trajectory, increased rainfall will cause a 20 percent rise in the amount of nitrogen loading in waterways of the continental U.S.

The largest increases were in the Northeast (with a 28 percent increase in nitrogen), the upper Mississippi-Atchafalaya basin (24 percent), and the Great Lakes (21 percent). That result wasn’t surprising given that the Midwest and Northeast have already seen heavy downpours increase by 37 and 71 percent, respectively, since 1958, the largest increases in the nation, according to the 2014 National Climate Assessment……..

The study also looked to broaden the view beyond the U.S. by looking for watersheds around the world that were similar to some in the U.S. and seeing how nitrogen loading might change with precipitation. They identified India, China, and Southeast Asia — home to the majority of the world’s population — as areas that could see major rises in nitrogen loading in the future.

The study makes it clear that local managers and policymakers will need to rethink some of the ways they combat nutrient pollution and society will also have to develop technological solutions to reduce nutrient pollution, from implementing more efficient agricultural practices to potentially recycling various forms of nitrogen in sewage into animal feed, according to a commentary piece also published in Science.

If you want to manage nutrient loading “you need to account for the fact that the climate is changing at the same time,” Michalak said. http://grist.org/article/climate-change-is-wreaking-havoc-on-our-water/

July 29, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, NORTH AMERICA | Leave a comment

No signs of the drought ending in Italy

No drought relief in sight as Rome faces water rationing, Vatican shuts off fountains, By Kristina Pydynowski, AccuWeather senior meteorologist July 27, 2017, There are no signs of the drought ending in Italy in the foreseeable future.

Significant rain is needed to quell the wildfire risk, ease fears of water rationing and allow the Vatican to turn back on its water fountains.

The Vatican turned off its famous fountains for the first time in living memory in efforts to conserve water, CNN reported.

Around 100 decorative and drinking fountains surround the Vatican. Two of these fountains date back 500 years…….

There are no signs of the drought ending in Italy in the foreseeable future. https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/no-drought-relief-in-sight-as-rome-faces-water-rationing-vatican-shuts-off-fountains/70002303

July 29, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, Italy | Leave a comment

USA drought continues

Drought Still Growing Across the U.S. https://www.hoosieragtoday.com/drought-still-growing-across-the-u-s/By Hoosier Ag Today -Jul 27, 2017 The latest Drought Monitor shows soils continuing to dry out and crops suffering as drought and abnormal drynessexpand and intensify across the Plains, Midwest, northern Rockies, and Virginia. Montana saw the most severe level of drought, called exceptional drought, grow by 10 points in a week. Twelve percent of the state is in exceptional drought and 24 percent is under extreme conditions. In neighboring North Dakota, 8 percent of the state is in exceptional drought. Another 30 percent of the state is in extreme drought. In the Corn Belt, drought conditions have shown up in Iowa. The state’s moderate drought grew to 34 percent. All states east of the Mississippi River are drought-free for now, but patches of abnormal dryness mean it could change as early as next week.

USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey says drought conditions are intensifying across the central United States. The Corn Belt has seen double-digit percentage increases. Drought coverage is growing around the nation, with the current drought monitor showing over 32 percent of the country in some form of drought.

July 29, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, USA | Leave a comment

Wildfire season made worse by climate change

How Climate Change Is Making Wildfire Season Worse, Here and Now, July 27, 2017 This summer there have been dozens of fires burning in the West, which has been experiencing record-high temperatures.

Here & Now‘s Jeremy Hobson talks with Gary Ferguson (@GaryAFerguson), author of the book “Land on Fire,” about why wildfires have been getting hotter and burning longer in recent years.

Interview Highlights

On how much worse wildfires are because of climate change

“The most comprehensive study to come out last year, kind of a collaborative effort between Columbia University and the University of Idaho, suggested that when you pull out all the natural climate change factors — things like ocean circulation patterns and whatnot — human-caused climate change is probably responsible for doubling the number of acres burned since 1985. So it’s a very, very fast change, and it looks like from all the evidence out there that this is just simply going to be worse before it gets better.”…….more http://www.wbur.org/hereandnow/2017/07/27/land-on-fire-gary-ferguson

July 29, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, USA | Leave a comment

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