2017 September 29 « nuclear-news

SanOnofre’s unique and dangerous state – of Stranded Nuclear Wastes

Can $46 billion buy a permanent home for nuclear waste stored at San Onofre, other sites? http://www.ocregister.com/2017/09/27/can-46-billion-buy-a-home-for-nations-nuclear-waste-not-yet/ By TERI SFORZA | tsforza@scng.com | Orange County Register, 27 Sept 17, Congress members shifted on the dais during a meeting this week in Washington, D.C. on the long-term possibility of creating a national spot to store nuclear waste.

“To put it bluntly,” said Anthony O’Donnell, chair of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners, “the state and local governments have the federal government’s waste, and the federal government has our money.”

O’Donnell joined David Victor, chair of San Onofre’s Community Engagement Panel, and other experts in chiding a U.S. House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee for the federal government’s failure to find a permanent home for nuclear waste, despite collecting $46 billion from electricity customers to do just that.

San Onofre’s unique and dangerous status – as a shuttered reactor with 3.6 million pounds of “stranded” waste, stored between the ocean and a highway, in a densely populated area, atop earthquake faults – was repeatedly raised as an impetus for action.

“People see the site being dismantled, but the waste remaining,” Victor said. “They think, ‘We paid the government to remove it, and it’s not being removed.’ That’s a palpable anger.”

Victor urged Congress to move swiftly toward licensing temporary storage sites and developing transportation plans and infrastructure for moving the waste, even as it gears up to revive Nevada’s Yucca Mountain as a permanent site.

“It’s really important not to put all our eggs in one basket,” Victor said, conjuring Nevada’s staunch opposition to becoming America’s nuclear waste dump. The state has no nuclear power plants.

Americans have spent billions with nothing to show for it, O’Donnell and others said.

Electricity ratepayers have poured that $46 billion into the Nuclear Waste Fund, and gotten nothing.

Taxpayers have paid out another $6 billion to utilities that have sued the federal government — and won — over the fed’s failure to haul away the waste as promised.

The Department of Energy says the legal bills for breach-of-contract could total $25 billion, but the nuclear industry estimates it could cost as much as $50 billion.

“The cost of inaction is high,” warned Chuck Smith, Aiken County councilmember and chair of the Energy Communities Alliance from South Carolina

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, stressed the need for swift action, as did Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-St. Louis. San Onofre is not alone in its peril, Clay said: In his district, radioactive waste is buried close to an active underground fire.

“This is a moral imperative,” Clay said. “The U.S. government created a nuclear waste problem 75 years ago. It has a clear and unavoidable responsibility to finally clean it up.”

After the hearing, Victor said that the stars were aligning to advance a nuclear waste disposal bill in the House over the coming weeks. Next, he said, will come the Senate.

Read Victor’s testimony, and that of the other witnesses, here.

September 29, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Wind power is now cheaper than nuclear

– the energy revolution is happening, Guardian, John Sauven, 27 Sept 17 Far-sighted government policy means the cost of offshore wind energy has halved. The benefits in terms of climate change and UK jobs will be enormous “…….. the price of offshore wind energy has dropped by half in less than two years. By the 2020s, it will be as cheap or cheaper than any other form of power generation. It’s just become much cheaper than nuclear, even taking into account the additional costs associated with the wind’s intermittency. And in any case, this is less of an issue at sea where the winds are more constant……on the cusp of a quiet revolution. From being the most expensive form of renewable energy, offshore wind was fast becoming the cheapest form of large-scale, low-carbon generation bar none. ……..

This month’s contracts for the next round of offshore wind farms to be built in the North Sea should have the champagne corks popping in No 10. They mean billions more in foreign investment coming into the UK. They will be playing a major role in regenerating regions in the north-east of the country. And they will create a thriving export market in contracts for offshore wind developments. But we at Greenpeace are not sure the government has noticed the full potential that their policies have created.

To bring it to their attention, some of the world’s biggest players, including Vattenfall and General Electric, have come together alongside environmental organisations including WWF and the Marine Conservation Society. A campaign is being launched today at Westminster with the help of creative agency Mother, which is working pro bono. They explained to us that when you’re selling the future of energy generation at 50% off, all you really need to do is get this fact in front of your customers. MPs using Westminster tube station will find it hard to miss.

The UK needs affordable and secure energy. We have to replace our obsolete power stations and meet growing demand from the electric vehicle revolution. Offshore wind, alongside a smart energy system including storage and interconnectors, should be the backbone of how the UK generates its power in future. Short term, as part of the transition, gas back up might be required (but only when needed, unless it’s green like biogas). Such a system could help us meet our climate change commitments and speed up the move to a low-carbon economy. It could provide jobs and regional regeneration as well as provide export markets. It could be the cheapest form of large-scale power available. It’s shown to be wildly popular in all opinion surveys. We urge the government to come clean on this issue and publicly admit that they got this right! https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/sep/26/offshore-wind-power-energy-price-climate-change

September 29, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, UK | Leave a comment

Pope francis tweets for a nuclear weapons -free world

Vatican at UN calls for nuclear-free world, Independent Catholic News, September 26th, 2017

In his Twitter message today, Pope Francis said: ‘Let us commit ourselves to a world without nuclear weapons by implementing the Non-Proliferation Treaty to abolish these weapons of death.’ Meanwhile in New York, Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Vatican Secretary for Relations with States addressed the United Nations General Assembly, urging governments to do more to prevent wars, protect human dignity and work for a nuclear-free world. ……..

Regarding the urgent need to prevent violence and conflict, Archbishop Gallagher said: “All countries should take a decisive and urgent step back from the present escalation of military preparations. The largest countries and those who have a stronger tradition of respecting human rights,” he added, “should be the first to perform generous actions of pacification”.

Speaking of the Vatican’s concern for conflicts across Africa and the Middle East, as well as the violence in Venezuela, the foreign minister said civilians must be protected during warfare and the rights of migrants and refugees fleeing conflict must be respected…….

Archbishop Gallagher condemned the proliferation of weapons, calling for much stricter arms control and reiterating in particular Pope Francis’ urgent appeal for “the prohibition and abolition of nuclear weapons.”’

The full speech by Archbishop Paul Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States, to the 72nd Session of the United Nations General Assembly follows:

‘Focusing on People: Striving for Peace and a Decent Life on a Sustainable Planet’….. http://www.indcatholicnews.com/news/33481

September 29, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

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