All eyes on nuclear plan amid claim of secret Russian talks, Business Live,
Opposition and anti-corruption groups vow to remain vigilant as news report alleges energy minister deal 22 OCTOBER 2017 – 19:50 ASHA SPECKMAN Anticorruption bodies and the opposition are closely monitoring developments with SA’s multibillion-rand nuclear build, which may be pushed through despite a lack of capacity in the fiscus.
The urgency for passing the deal has become apparent after a delegation comprising Russian military, police and intelligence allegedly entered the country via Mozambique to coerce President Jacob Zuma into appointing David Mahlobo as energy minister last week, the Sunday Times reported at the weekend.
Mahlobo’s appointment was made even as Zuma’s associates, the Guptas, had allegedly suggested Public Service and Administration Minister Faith Muthambi for the position.
According to the newspaper Mahlobo is believed to be the “Russians’ eyes and ears in the South African government”.
“It’s something we take very seriously,” David Lewis, executive director of Corruption Watch, told Business Day. “It’s real global espionage of a huge scale. Given that the Russians have been involved in subverting democracies all over the world, it’s not an implausible story. The record of the Russians across a vast range of matters speaks for itself.”……. https://www.businesslive.co.za/bd/national/2017-10-22-all-eyes-on-nuclear-plan-amid-claim-of-secret-russian-talks/
October 23, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
secrets,lies and civil liberties, South Africa |
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South Korea’s president says will continue phasing out nuclear power, Christine Kim, SEOUL (Reuters) 22 Oct 17, – South Korea’s President Moon Jae-in said on Sunday the government will continue to phase out nuclear-generated electricity, following a public opinion survey that dealt a blow to his plans to do so.
“We will completely stop all plans for the construction of new nuclear reactors like the government previously stated,” Moon said in a statement distributed to reporters by his office.
“The government will also step up usage of natural gas and renewables in order to maintain its stance of phasing out nuclear-generated power.”
Moon’s statement came after a public opinion survey on Friday found a majority of almost 60 percent in favor of resuming the stalled construction of two reactors.
The president asked his supporters on Sunday to respect the outcome of the survey, which he called a “wise and intelligent” response….
With the two reactors set to be completed in October 2021 and October 2022, according to state-run nuclear operator Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power, Moon said safety standards for nuclear plants would be ramped up.
Moon also reiterated his plan to shut down the Wolsong No. 1 nuclear reactor, the nation’s second-oldest, once the government confirms stability in energy supplies……https://www.reuters.com/article/us-southkorea-nuclear-moon/south-koreas-president-says-will-continue-phasing-out-nuclear-power-idUSKBN1CR04U
October 23, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
general |
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Harvard: Rick Perry’s grid plan is legally dead on arrival http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/harvard-rick-perrys-grid-plan-is-legally-dead-on-arrival/article/2638057 by John Siciliano | Oct 19, 2017, Harvard University is laying out what it considers a rock-solid legal argument against Energy Secretary Rick Perry’s plan to boost coal and nuclear power plants.
It hopes its case will make the Perry proposal dead on arrival once the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission moves through the comment period and rules on the plan. But even the public comment period is not legally necessary, according to the law school’s Harvard Environmental Policy Initiative.
“The commission has no legal obligation to accommodate” Perry’s notice of proposed rule-making, the law school’s environmental policy arm said in a five-page legal analysis filed with FERC Thursday. “Its simplest path forward is to reject the [proposal] because it is fundamentally inadequate to provide the basis for a final rule.”
Harvard’s analysis was sent ahead of the Oct. 23 deadline for submitting public comments on the proposed rule that would implement the Perry grid plan. The plan has attracted a growing number of detractors from nearly all segments of the energy industry, conservative and liberal think tanks, former FERC chairmen and members of Congress.
Perry’s proposal seeks to provide market-based incentives for coal and nuclear power plants that are able to store 90 days of fuel onsite in the event of a severe supply disruption from a hurricane or other severe weather.
The core of Harvard’s legal case stems from Perry’s lack of basis for taking the action under the Federal Power Act, the law from which the commission derives its authority over the power grid.
“Critically, the [rule-making] does not propose that wholesale rates are currently unjust and unreasonable or unduly discriminatory,” Harvard’s comments read. “This glaring omission dooms DOE’s proposal under section 206 of the Federal Power Act and allows the commission to issue a swift rejection without weighing in on the merits.”
FERC must justify any regulation that provides cost recovery or incentives for fuel resources on the Federal Power Act’s primary charge that the commission must protect energy prices from becoming burdensome on the consumer. Harvard argues that the Energy Department does not address this central tenant of FERC’s authority in proposing the regulation and therefore the commission can reject it at any time.
The legal analysis refutes the Energy Department’s argument that “wholesale markets do not price ‘resiliency'” and therefore FERC must take action. Perry’s resilience argument “does not substitute for an explicit proposed finding that current rates are unjust and unreasonable,” according to the analysis.
On top of the legal flaws, the Energy Department “does not define ‘resiliency,’ nor has the commission ever used that word in connection with wholesale rates,” the Harvard analysis said. So, there is no common definition to debate or discuss. Harvard goes even further by saying the proposal should not be considered adequate for public comment.
“DOE’s bare assertion that rates do not account for undefined attributes does not provide adequate notice necessary for meaningful public comments,” according to the analysis.
The analysis could provide a legal argument for challenging the Perry plan in court, although groups haven’t reached that stage. Typically, lawsuits come after a regulation is finalized. Perry wants FERC to finalize the rule within 60 days of the proposal appearing in the Federal Register, which points to December.
A group of eight former FERC chairmen and commissioners also filed commentsThursday, calling the proposal “a significant step backward from the commission’s long and bipartisan evolution to transparent, open, competitive wholesale markets.”
“Pursuing the worthy goal of a resilient power system, the commission’s adoption of the published proposal would instead disrupt decades of substantial investment made in the modern electric power system, raise costs for customers, and do so in a manner directly counter to the commission’s long experience,” the former FERC officials stated.
October 23, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Legal, USA |
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US nuke waste repository in New Mexico will get more space, abc news, By SUSAN MONTOYA BRYAN, ASSOCIATED PRESS, ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Oct 17, 2017, Workers are expected to begin mining operations at the U.S. nuclear waste dump in New Mexico for the first time in three years following a radiation release that contaminated part of the underground repository, the Energy Department said Tuesday.
October 23, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
USA, wastes |
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Designs for ‘mini’ nuclear power plants proposed by Rolls-Royce led group set to be given go-ahead, Telegraph Alan Tovey 22 OCTOBER 2017
An important report assessing the viability of new “mini” nuclear power plants for the UK to be published this week is expected to give the green light to develop designs proposed by a British consortium led by Rolls-Royce.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is set to issue a study which formally ends a competition between different types of low-carbon power generation to assess which should be supported.
Industry sources say a concurrent Techno-Economic Assessment for the government by EY concludes that designs for small nuclear reactors (SMRs) from the Rolls consortium are the more likely to succeed.
October 23, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
politics, technology, UK |
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Trump Plan for Coal, Nuclear Power Draws Fire From Environmental, Oil Groups
Critics from factions often at odds are calling Trump administration’s proposal a bailout for struggling power plants, By Timothy Puko Oct. 22, 2017 WASHINGTON—A Trump administration proposal aimed at shoring up coal-fired and nuclear power plants across the nation has generated opposition from an array of energy and consumer interests, including some who are often at odds on energy policy.
October 23, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
politics, USA |
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the life of Linus Pauling
QUOTE:
Pauling was one of the founders of molecular biology in the true sense of the term. For these achievements he was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
But Pauling was famous not only in the world of science. In the second half of his life he devoted his time and energy mainly to questions of health and the necessity to eliminate the possibility of war in the nuclear age. His active opposition to nuclear testing brought him political persecution in his own country, but he was finally influential in bringing about the 1963 international treaty banning atmospheric tests. With the award of the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize, Pauling became the first person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes (Marie Curie won one and shared another with her husband).
QUOTE:
In March 1954, following the Bikini Atoll explosion of a “dirty” thermonuclear superbomb, Pauling was in the news again when he began to call attention to the worldwide danger of radioactive fallout in the atmosphere. In the summer his renewed application for a passport was again turned down, but in November, when his Nobel Prize was announced, the State Department found itself in a public relations dilemma.
The fuss created by Pauling’s absence in London in 1952 would be nothing compared with the international outcry that could be imagined if Pauling were refused permission to travel to attend the Nobel Prize ceremony. So Pauling went to Stockholm, where he was a tremendous success, and followed this by visits to Israel, India, Thailand, and Japan. Everywhere—outside his own country—he was welcomed with enthusiasm, not only for his scientific accomplishments but even more for his political stance.
In the United States, too, the public was becoming increasingly concerned about radioactive fallout, not only from American tests but also from ever more powerful Soviet nuclear explosions. Increasing levels of strontium 90 and carbon 14 made newspaper headlines. Pauling claimed that the increased level of radioactive isotopes in the atmosphere was a danger not only to the living but also to future generations.
The spokesmen on the Atomic Energy Commission countered that, although radiation might be harmful, it was not harmful in the doses produced by the tests and that Pauling vastly exaggerated the dangers. In fact, all the estimates were tentative at best, but since the Atomic Energy Commission was responsible both for developing nuclear weapons and for monitoring the associated health hazards, its estimates were probably no more objective that those who demanded a stop to the tests. Andrei Sakharov (1990) estimated that every one-megaton test cost about 10,000 human lives…..
In 1960 the Senate Internal Security Subcommittee (SISS) headed by Senator Thomas Dodd issued a subpoena to Pauling to answer questions about Communist infiltration of the campaign against nuclear testing. At Pauling’s request the hearings were open and they soon turned into a public relations fiasco for Dodd and the SISS. This was partly because the members of the SISS had not done their homework and partly because it gave Pauling the excuse to lecture them about elementary civic rights and duties: “The circulation of petitions is an important part of our democratic process. If it is abolished or inhibited, it would be a step towards a police state.”
By this time public opinion was mostly on Pauling’s side, but the whole affair must have been experienced by him as an emotional strain—and a tremendous waste of his time and energy…..The treaty went into effect on October 10 and the following day Pauling was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 1962….. ”
http://www.nasonline.org/…/bi…/memoir-pdfs/pauling-linus.pdf1962
October 23, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
2 WORLD, history, weapons and war |
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http://www.energylivenews.com/2017/10/20/uk-should-fund-green-heat-over-nuclear/
Oct 20, 2017 Jonny Bairstow The government is spending “far too much on nuclear” and should instead be ploughing this money into decarbonising the heat sector.
That’s according to former Energy Secretary Sir Ed Davey MP, who told ELN although nuclear power should be “kept on the table because it’s low carbon and may be needed in the future”, the energy source is still expensive and inflexible.
He added spending money on renewable heat would be much better for people’s bills.
Sir Davey said: “If we can get cheap green heat, as we’ve managed to achieve cheap green power, that’s going to make everyone happy because they’ll be paying a lot less for their energy”.
He also suggested Brexit could result in UK energy prices rising as fewer interconnectors to trade gas and electricity will reduce supply.
October 23, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
general |
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Largs and Millport News 20th Oct 2017, A seaweed solution is being sought by EDF Energy to prevent cooling water being clogged up with seaweed. Hunterston B has made an application to
Marine Scotland to remove seaweed from the seabed next to the cooling water
intake jetty to help to reduce the amount of seaweed entering the cooling
water system. The consultation period on the application has ended,
responses have been received and the station is awaiting a license decision
from Marine Scotland.
Two years ago, a reactor at the nuclear power station
had to be taken offline due to high levels of seaweed in the waters around
the plant. The plant relies on water taken from the sea for cooling. Back
in 2015, in a letter to stakeholders, station director Colin Weir said:
“Hunterston B power station’s reactor 3 was manually shut down at 18.40
on Monday 1 June due to severe seaweed ingress, accompanied by strong winds
and storm surges. “This was done as a precautionary measure when it was
clear that the seaweed levels weren’t reducing. “Reactor 4 was also
reduced in power and remains operating at a reduced power.”
Mr Weir said staff at the station were monitoring the weather and seaweed levels would
begin the return to normal service when it was determined conditions were
“in a stable state”. At the time, cooling to the reactor was maintained
at all times and there were no health, safety or environmental impacts.
http://www.largsandmillportnews.com/news/15607469.Seaweed_solution_sought_for_Hunterston_B/
October 23, 2017
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
safety, UK |
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nuclear-news 