nuclear-news

Opinion:

¶ “Climate Devastation In Sequoia National Park” • Surveying the desiccated forest with tourists from all over the world, I felt as though we were among the last people able to enjoy the sequoia as a forest. The desertification of this area seems to be progressing rapidly. The trees might be able to adapt, but many have died already. [CleanTechnica]

Devastation among the sequoia

¶ “Epic – Wind Turbines On Steroids, + Idiotic Clean Energy Forecasts (Charts)” • Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s Future of Energy Summit just wrapped up in London. In his keynote presentation, Michael Liebreich stimulated many thoughts about renewable energy, and about far it has exceeded many industry forecasts. [CleanTechnica]

World:

¶ Following in the wake of initiatives such as RE100 and EP100, ten big-name businesses launched EV100 to fast-track the uptake of electric vehicles and accompanying infrastructure. Members of EV100 commit to…

Tropical Storm Jose Offshore Massachusetts
Last December, Jones River Watershed Association and JRWA’s Cape Cod Bay Watch Program once again raised concerns about flooding and storm impacts on Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station on Cape Cod Bay in Massachusetts, writing to the US NRC: “We continue to believe that the PNPS site, including its nuclear waste storage area, are at risk from flooding and storms…“. They point to discrepancies between the site elevation data used by Entergy and actual elevation when estimating flood risk at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. (The US NRC appears to consistently use the 1929 elevation standard, rather than the 1988 update which takes into consideration subsidence and other changes which have occurred since 1929. Thus, their concerns may apply to most US Nuclear Power Stations.) Furthermore, they point to the use of outdated sea level assumptions, which fail to take into consideration sea level…

The population within 50 miles (80 km) of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station was 4,737,792 in 2010. Boston is at risk from any accident at this site.

The major risk to the Massachusetts Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station from Tropical Storm Jose seems to be possible loss of offsite power due to winds (LOOP). One of the strangest things about nuclear power stations is their need for offsite power: “The availability of ac power to commercial nuclear power plants is essential for safe operations and accident recovery. A loss of offsite power (LOOP) event, therefore, is an important contributor to total risk at nuclear power plants.” http://nrcoe.inel.gov/resultsdb/LOSP/

It is apparently this need for offsite power which has given rise to the conspiracy theory that nuclear power stations don’t really produce energy. It is also this fact which creates a major risk of a major accident, if backup power generators fail, as…

Faced with ramping damages and increased infrastructure costs from rising seas, both San Francisco and Oakland are suing major fossil fuel companies for their considerable contributions to the problem.

According to a report from SF Gate today, the claim is asking coal, oil and gas companies like Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil, Shell and BP to pay billions of dollars in damages for not only producing the heat-trapping gases that drove sea-level rise but for knowingly doing so.

Fossil Fuel Companies Sued For Role in Rising Seas, Attempts at Cover-up

The suits join those already filed by San Mateo and Marin counties as well as the community of Imperial Beach. San Francisco and Oakland, however, are the first large cities to engage in the suit –with these two cities combined representing a total population of 1.3 million people.

(Melt in the vulnerable regions of West Antarctica produces proportionately high rates of sea…

Hurricane Maria has maximum sustained winds of 175 MPH; 280 KM/H with a minimum pressure estimated at 909 mb, “which is the tenth lowest minimum pressure recorded in an Atlantic basin hurricane.” http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/text/refresh/MIATCUAT5+shtml/200358.shtml “the intensity of a tropical cyclone is determined by either the storm’s maximum sustained winds or lowest barometric pressure.”https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Atlantic_hurricane_records#By_pressure. The hurricanes with pressure lower than Maria are Wilma 2005 – 882 MB; Gilbert 1988- 888 MB; “Labor Day” 1935- 892 MB; Rita 2005 – 895 MB; Allen 1980 899 MB; Camille 1969, 900 MB; Katrina 2005 902 MB; Mitch 1998 and Dean 2007 at 905 MB Hurricane. There have been only 7 hurricanes with windspeeds higher than 175 MPH. Irma is one of them. Allen had sustained winds of 190 MPH (310 KM/H). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Atlantic_hurricane_records#By_highest_sustained_winds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Atlantic_hurricane_records#By_pressure

Maria (Atlantic Ocean)

“Storm (1941) by George R. Stewart… depicts a Junior Meteorologist who has a personal…

Opinion:

¶ “Clean Energy Is America’s Next Frontier & Path to a Safer Climate” • A new report from the NRDC shows how the United States can meet our short- and long-term climate goals relying primarily on today’s proven clean energy solutions – and with tremendous climate and health benefits that far surpass the cost. [Common Dreams]

Proven clean energy solutions (Photo: istock)

Science and Technology:

¶ Eradication of the world’s wildlife is not slowing. The most recent IUCN Endangered Species List includes numerous examples that were recently common but now are “disappearing faster than they can be counted.” Among noteworthy species are North American ash trees, as they fall to invasive beetles driven by a warming climate. [CleanTechnica]

¶ A team of scientists from the Energy Department’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory has figured out a way to convert CO2 directly into ethanol and ethylene, using…