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Serious consequences for Britain, especially its nuclear industry, if Britain leaves Euratom

Guardian 2nd Aug 2017, Until recently, few of us were familiar with the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom), the international organisation that governs many aspects of nuclear energy activity in member states. Brexit, and the rapidly retracted “leak” that Britain may seek “associate membership” of Euratomhas suddenly brought Euratom to the fore.

The precise legal situation regarding the UK’s continued membership of Euratom is contested, but there is much to learn from the history of this relationship: over the past six decades the UK has attempted to become an associate member or full member of Euratom five times.

Since joining in 1973, any nuclear treaties with other nations (including any signed before that date) were placed under the aegis of Euratom. This means that if Britain leaves Euratom, all its complex nuclear treaties with the United
States, the rest of Europe and many other nations across the world will need to be re-ratified in national legislatures before Britain is no longer a member.

This is a large international legislative task, and requires quick action before the Article 50 process ends in just over a year. If the treaties are not re-ratified by national parliaments, then, depending on the treaty, the UK could be in breach of the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and a worst-case scenario could have a variety of very serious consequences
including: stopping work on Hinkley C, halting the movement of nuclear fuel, and even ending the import of medical isotopes for cancer treatments.   https://www.theguardian.com/science/political-science/2017/aug/02/our-60-year-relationship-with-euratom-offers-hard-lessons-for-brexit-negotiators

August 4, 2017 Posted by | politics, politics international, UK | Leave a comment

UK’s Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) fails to produce a plan for dealing with high activity radioactive waste.

Get Reading 1st Aug 2017, Something has gone seriously wrong’ at AWE Aldermaston, says nuclear expert. Government inspectors raised serious concerns when the warhead factory failed to produce a plan for dealing with high activity radioactive waste.

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) says the factory will continue to be “subject to an enhanced level of regulatory attention”. AWE Aldermaston, which has been run by AWE Management Limited since 2000, was first placed under special measures by the Government regulator in 2013. http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/reading-berkshire-news/something-gone-seriously-wrong-awe-13390531

August 4, 2017 Posted by | UK, wastes | Leave a comment

Hanford workers inhaled radioactive plutonium – new tests show

Tests show Hanford workers inhaled radioactive plutonium, Susannah Frame, KING 5   August 03, 2017 On June 8 approximately 350 Hanford workers were ordered to “take cover” after alarms designed to detect elevated levels of airborne radioactive contamination went off.  It was quickly determined that radioactive  particles had been swept out of a containment zone at the plutonium finishing plant (PFP) demolition site. The work is considered the most hazardous demolition project on the entire nuclear reservation.

At the time Hanford officials called the safety measure “precautionary.” Officials from the U.S. Dept. of Energy, which owns Hanford, and the contractor in charge of the demolition, CH2M Hill, downplayed the seriousness of the event with statements including, it appeared “workers were not at risk”, “(the alarm went off) in an area where contamination is expected” and there was “no evidence radioactive particles had been inhaled” by anyone.

The KING 5 Investigators have discovered those statements are incorrect. An internal CH2M Hill email sent to their employees on July 21 was obtained by KING. It states that 301 (test kits) have been issued to employees and of the first 65 workers tested, a “small number of employees” showed positive results for “internal exposures” (by radioactive plutonium).

Sources tell KING the “small number of employees” is twelve. Twelve people out of 65 is 20 percent. Still outstanding are 236 tests. A communication specialist with CH2M Hill sent a statement that more positive results are expected. “We expect additional positive results because analytical tests like a bioassay can detect radiological contamination at levels far lower than what field monitoring can detect,” said Destry Henderson of CH2M Hill Plateau Remediation Company.

Several veteran Hanford workers were surprised by the number of people with internal contamination from a single event.

“I’ve worked there for 27 years and I’ve never seen this many people contaminated internally,” said one employee with radiation expertise who did not want to be identified………

Hanford workers said they are not concerned about the small dose of radiation detected, but about the contamination inside the body from plutonium. All radiation is not created equal.Radiation from an x-ray, air flight or a microwave are different and far less dangerous types than the kind emitted by plutonium inside the body. Unlike x-rays, air travel or microwaves, plutonium emits alpha radiation, which is the most destructive type to inhale or ingest.

“Alpha particles damage or destroy DNA and can cause cancer,” said Kaltofen.

“If I get a chest x-ray or CT scan, that’s a different type of radiation,” said Dr. Erica Liebelt, Medical and Executive Director of the Washington Poison Center. “These people’s risk could be quite low because that number was very very small. (But) you have concerns about (alpha) radiation disrupting the cells and causing genetic disruption in the cells and cellular damage. And that’s what causes the increased risk for cancers in three organs: lungs, liver, and bone,” said Liebelt, who is also a board certified toxicologist……http://www.king5.com/news/local/hanford/tests-show-hanford-workers-inhaled-radioactive-plutonium/461574180

August 4, 2017 Posted by | employment, health, USA | Leave a comment

Trump’s new sanctions on Iran are designed to derail nuclear deal

Iran: US sanctions designed to derail nuclear deal, By Euan McKirdy and Nick Paton Walsh, CNN August 3, 2017 Tehran, Iran  The United States is undermining the Iran nuclear deal by imposing sanctions on the country, a ranking Iranian official said Thursday on state TV.

“The main purpose of the United States in implementing the sanctions against Iran is to destroy the JCPOA,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sayed Abbas Araqchi said, referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the deal engineered between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, alongside Germany and the European Union.
He added that Tehran “will show a very clever reaction” to the imposition of sanctions.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi also warned that the “hostile” US measures would impact the implementation of the 2015 nuclear deal and said Tehran reserved the right to respond, according to state news agency IRNA.
“Iran with due patience and wisdom will take measure toward [its] national security and people’s interests,” he is quoted as saying.
President Donald Trump signed into law Wednesday morning legislation that levies new sanctions against Iran, alongside Russia and North Korea……http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/03/middleeast/iran-sanctions-nuclear-deal/index.html

August 4, 2017 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) buying into failed French nuclear company AREVA

Reuters 31st July 2017, Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) will buy a 19.5 percent stake in nuclear reactor builder Areva New NP as part of the sale of the Areva unit to utility EDF, MHI said in a statement.

MHI confirmed it is also scheduled to acquire a 5 percent stake in nuclear fuel group New Areva Holding, formerly referred to as “NewCo”, by the end of this year.  http://af.reuters.com/article/commoditiesNews/idAFL5N1KM4MU

August 4, 2017 Posted by | business and costs, Japan | Leave a comment

In remote Asia, solar power is transforming the lives of women

Climate News Network 1st Aug 2017, A solar revolution is transforming the lives of women in the remotest parts of Asia. They no longer have to wait decades to be connected to a power grid but are able today to exploit the huge potential of the abundant sunshine.

In societies where women normally play a subservient role and spend much of their time on menial chores, solar businesses are creating a new breed of female entrepreneur who are bringing electricity to their villages.

In the last two years two schemes designed to encourage women to bring the solar revolution to parts of rural India and Nepal have won international Ashden Awards, which bring the organisations involved
£20,000 (US$26,360) each in prize money and a lot of guidance to improve
and extend their businesses. http://climatenewsnetwork.net/women-take-control-solar-revolution/

August 4, 2017 Posted by | decentralised, social effects, women | Leave a comment

South Korea ‘considering developing nuclear programme’ to counter threat from North

Donald Trump’s isolationist rhetoric has caused concern among allies that the US will not come to their defence, Independent Ben Kentish @BenKentish 2 Aug 17, South Korean politicians have said their country should develop its own nuclear weapons because the US under Donald Trump’s leadership cannot be trusted to come to the support of its allies.
As North Korea continues to test long-range missiles designed to carry nuclear bombs, the South remains heavily reliant on the US and its allies for defence……http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/south-korea-nuclear-programme-north-korea-kim-jong-un-intercontinental-ballistic-missile-a7871951.html 

August 4, 2017 Posted by | South Korea, weapons and war | Leave a comment

State of California aims for 100% renewable energy by 2045

California Aims to Make Electricity Production in the State 100 Percent Renewable by 2045 http://tribunist.com/news/california-aims-to-make-electricity-production-in-the-state-100-percent-renewable-by-2045/, By Tribunist Staff on August 1, 2017, Even though the White House decided to step out of the Paris Accords, many states are still working to increase their use of clean energy in an effort to fight climate change. While California has already invested in alternative energy sources like wind, solar, and hydro, a new set of bills looks to take it to the next level.

According to IFL Science, the current governor of California, Democrat Jerry Brown, has extended the cap-and-trade program for an additional 10 years. This puts an upper limit on carbon dioxide emissions by individual companies and provides a trade network for buying and selling the allowances. If a business lowers their emissions below their allotment, they can sell the excess to organizations that are struggling to meet the requirements.
Another bill working its way through the California legislature would require the state to produce 100 percent of its electricity needs from renewable sources by the year 2045.
Based on the current use of clean energy and upcoming projects, California is on track for producing about 50 percent of their electricity from alternative sources by 2026, a few years earlier than the original 2030 deadline.
If the bill is passed into law, California will be the second state dedicated to reaching the 100 percent mark for the generation of renewable electricity. The first state that made that commitment was Hawaii.

Both of the bills aim to reduce man-made climate change. Speaking about the issue, Brown said, “If we don’t do something about it, it is the end of the world as we know it.”

Brown and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, who authored the original cap-and-trade legislation over 10 years ago, are recognized for the actions related to climate advocacy. Speaking about climate change, Schwarzenegger said, “We do not have to wait for Washington to take action.”

Since President Donald Trump stated the US was withdrawing from the Paris Accords, Brown has signed multiple climate change agreements with the international community, pledging California’s support of such initiatives. Brown has also set up a coalition of states known as the Climate Alliance that has chosen to dedicate themselves to fighting global warming.

August 4, 2017 Posted by | renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Toshiba’s nuclear problems result in demotion by Tokyo Stock Exchange, possible delistment

In Cumbria 2nd Aug 2017, Toshiba, the owner of the company with plans for a £10bn Cumbrian nuclear new build, has been demoted to the second tier of the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

The Japanese giant- which has taken full control of NuGen, which is behind proposals for a power station at Moorside, near Sellafield – has also seen its share price drop following the move. It will no longer feature in the Nikkei 225 index of Japan’s top public companies also faces the prospect of being delisted from the stock exchange altogether.

This switch has happened because Toshiba’s liabilities exceeded its assets by several billion yen
following a write-off for its American nuclear division Westinghouse Electric, due to provide three AP1000 reactors for Moorside.  http://www.in-cumbria.com/Cumbria-nuclear-backer-Toshiba-sees-stock-exchange-demotion-82f05225-a586-4022-adf6-90d8e015c62b-ds

August 4, 2017 Posted by | business and costs, Japan, UK | Leave a comment

The role of climate change in decline of one of Asia’s most critical water resources

Science daily, August 3, 2017, Kansas State University

Summary:
Climate variability — rather than the presence of a major dam — is most likely the primary cause for a water supply decline in East Asia’s largest floodplain lake system, according to an expert

Climate variability — rather than the presence of a major dam — is most likely the primary cause for a water supply decline in East Asia’s largest floodplain lake system, according to a Kansas State University researcher.

The fluvial lake system across China’s Yangtze River Plain, which serves nearly half a billion people and is a World Wildlife Fund ecoregion, lost about 10 percent of its water area from 2000-2011, according to Jida Wang, assistant professor of geography. Wang and colleagues published their findings for the lake system’s decline in the American Geophysical Union’s journal Water Resources Research.

“Many people’s first intuition is that the culprit must be the Three Gorges Dam because it impounds so much water in the Yangtze River, but our fingerprinting study undeniably shows that the dam is not the decline’s primary cause,” Wang said. “Climate variability is the predominant driver of this decadal dynamic.”

Wang collaborated with Yongwei Sheng, of the University of California, Los Angeles, and Yoshihide Wada, of Austria’s International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. They found that roughly 80 percent of the observed lake decline is the result of simultaneous climate variability closely related to the El Niño-Southern Oscillation, which has caused droughts and flooding in the region…….

Wang and his colleagues also quantified the negative impacts of human water consumption from agricultural, industrial and domestic sectors across the downstream Yangtze River Basin. These impacts are surprisingly comparable to the Three Gorges Dam’s impact, Wang said. The dam and human water consumption together comprise 10-20 percent — or less — of the decline’s factors, while up to another 10 percent of the decline may be caused by a variety of other factors, possibly including other dams, sand mining, soil conservation and urbanization, he said.

“It also is important to recognize that anthropogenic impacts have strengthened in the past couple of decades,” Wang said. “Although the Three Gorges Dam already reached its maximal storage capacity in 2010, its induced Yangtze River erosion will continue. This also may come along with increasing human water consumption and trans-basin diversions. We hope our study not only provides an overdue explanation of the past decadal lake decline but also offers scientific guidance for future conservation of this critical fresh water resource.”

For their study, Wang and his colleagues used thousands of satellite images from NASA, an advanced hydrological model from the Netherlands, statistical data from the United Nations, and measurements and censuses from several Chinese organizations.

This research was funded by the U.S. Geological Survey’s Landsat Science Team and a Kansas State University faculty start-up fund.  https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/08/170803103146.htm

August 4, 2017 Posted by | ASIA, climate change | Leave a comment

Congressman Mark Sanford effectively gave go-ahead to South Carolina nuclear boondoggle project

According to state law, governors have five business days upon receiving a ratified bill from the S.C. General Assembly to either sign or veto the measure in question.  If they do nothing, the bill becomes law at the end of the fifth business day.

when a governor chooses this option, they are effectively signing the bill. Which is exactly what Sanford did back in 2007.

 SC #NukeGate: Mark Sanford Has A Problem https://www.fitsnews.com/2017/08/02/sc-nukegate-mark-sanford-has-a-problem/  By  FITS , 3 Aug 17, You would think the failure of a multi-billion nuclear power project in the Midlands region of South Carolina (a.k.a. #NukeGate) wouldn’t be a problem for a politician hailing from the Palmetto State’s coastal regions.

But in this case you’d be wrong …

For those of you just waking up from a 72-hour nap, South Carolina was rocked by the news that a proposed nuclear power facility in Jenkinsville, S.C. would no longer be built.  The decision to kill the V.C. Summer nuclear project – which wiped out 5,000 jobs and threw the state’s energy future into turmoil – was made by the Palmetto State’s government-run utility, Santee Cooper.

That decision has created a nightmare for SCANA – a private sector utility that was partnering with Santee Cooper on the project.

SCANA had raised rates on consumers to help subsidize the construction of these reactors – while Santee Cooper was in the process of raising rates to support its obligations related to the project.  Just a week before deciding to walk away from the V.C. Summer project, in fact, Santee Cooper specifically cited “costs associated with nuclear construction and other system improvements” as one of the stated rationales for its proposed rate increases.

Talk about sandbagging …

Anyway, as we’ve noted previously people are pissed.  They want answers.  They want to see their bills lowered.  And they want their money back.

They also want to know how on earth their government allowed this to happen …

All of which brings us to congressman Mark Sanford and a little piece of state law known as Act 16 of 2007, a.k.a. the so-called “Base Load Review Act.”

Passed during Sanford’s second term as governor of South Carolina, this legislation permitted utilities in the Palmetto State to raise rates on consumers for the purpose of financing the construction of – among other things – nuclear facilities.

Basically, this law was the gateway through which hundreds of millions of dollars of ratepayer money flowed toward the V.C. Summer project.

So did Sanford sign this law?  No, he did not. Did he veto it?  No, he did not.

Hold up … are we messing around with our readers here?  

Because this hardly seems the time for that …

What’s the joke?  Where’s the punch line?

There is no joke – nor is there a punch line.  In the Palmetto State, there is a third option.  According to state law, governors have five business days upon receiving a ratified bill from the S.C. General Assembly to either sign or veto the measure in question.  If they do nothing, the bill becomes law at the end of the fifth business day.

For those of you who’ve forgotten, this was the “out” taken by former S.C. governor Nikki Haley back in 2011 when she got crossed up on an “economic development” deal involving online distributor Amazon.

As we noted then – and will remind our readers now – when a governor chooses this option, they are effectively signing the bill. Which is exactly what Sanford did back in 2007.  This particular piece of legislation hit his desk in the S.C. State House on April 26 of that year – a Thursday.  Sanford did nothing with the bill, and so on the following Thursday – May 3, 2007 – it became law without his signature.

Could a decision made a decade ago cost him his congressional seat?

State representative Katie Arrington – who is considering running against Sanford for South Carolina’s first congressional district (map) next spring  – took note of the former governor’s decision on her Twitter page.

In responding to the outrage against Santee Cooper and SCANA, Arrington tweeted “you should also be just as upset with Mark Sanford for allowing a law that put ratepayers on the hook.”

Is she correct?  Yes …

As the fallout from this failed nuclear project continues cascading across the Palmetto political landscape, expect to see Sanford face his fair share of criticism related to this deal (and justifiably so).

August 4, 2017 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

New energy storage technology – cheaper than lithium-ion batteries

Times 2nd Aug 2017, Google’s parent company Alphabet is turning to salt and antifreeze to
provide energy storage that could be cheaper than lithium-ion batteries.

The technology giant’s secretive X division is working on a way to store
energy from renewable sources that would otherwise be wasted because of the
time mismatch between supply and demand.

The system was designed by Robert Laughlin, a Nobel prize-winning physicist of Stanford University. It takes
in energy in the form of electricity and converts it into hot and cold air,
using a heat pump. These streams heat molten salt and cool the antifreeze
respectively. The process can be reversed to release the energy as the warm
and cold air meet, creating gusts that drive a turbine and feed power back
into the grid.

Scientists had already shown that the technology could store
energy. Alphabet’s engineers have designed a version that works at lower
temperatures, however, which reduces costs and makes it commercially
viable.    https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/cheaper-batteries-powered-by-antifreeze-designed-by-google-s-parent-company-alphabet-vpclt3jpn

August 4, 2017 Posted by | energy storage, USA | Leave a comment

Bill for compensation for Mohave County residents made ill by exposure to radiation

Bill hopes to compensate Mohave County residents impacted by nuclear tests http://www.12news.com/news/local/arizona/bill-hopes-to-compensate-mohave-county-residents-impacted-by-nuclear-tests/461398687, 12 News , August 02, 2017 A bill introduced Friday aims to help people in Mohave County, Arizona, who have health problems because of the government’s nuclear testing in Nevada.

Congressman Paul Gosar (R-AZ) introduced the Downwinders Compensation Act to give partial restitution to people who have developed cancer because of exposure to radiation in the atmosphere.

The government used a test site 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas, Nevada, to test atmospheric nuclear weapons from 1951 to 1962.

The Radiation Exposure Compensation Act already covers some counties “downwind” of the test site in Utah, Arizona and Nevada. The act also covers uranium miners, millers and ore transporters in many Western states.

In Arizona, the RECA covers Apache, Coconino, Gila, Navajo, and Yavapai counties and the area north of the Grand Canyon.

The DCA is aimed to benefit residents of Mohave County, Arizona, and Clark County, Nevada. Under the RECA, downwinders can be awarded a lump sum of $50,000. An applicant must show they lived in the downwinder area for two years between January 21, 1951, and October 31, 1958, or for full time between June 30, 1962, and ending on July 31, 1962. Learn more about the RECA here.

Representatives Mark Amodei (NV), Trent Franks (AZ), Ruben Gallego (AZ), Raúl Grijalva (AZ), Kyrsten Sinema (AZ) cosponsored the bill.

August 4, 2017 Posted by | health, Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear “education” for schoolkids, at Wylfa nuclear project

 

Anglesey students experience work life at Horizon, North Wales Chronicle 1 Aug 17, A group of pupils from schools across Anglesey were given a taste of working life at Wylfa Newydd last week.

The year 11 and Sixth form students were given the opportunity as part of Horizon’s Work Insight Week……

Alongside an explanation of how to build and operate the proposed nuclear power station, the students got to visit the site and learn more about the scale of the Project and the opportunities Wylfa Newydd will bring.

August 4, 2017 Posted by | Education | Leave a comment

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