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Iran is living up to nuclear deal – says IAEA’s Yukiya Amano

IAEA’s Yukiya Amano: Iran is living up to nuclear deal, AlJazeera, by Zein Basravi, 29 Oct 17, Tehran, Iran – What would have been a routine visit by the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) became a public relations opportunity for the Iranian government.

Yukiya Amano was in Tehran on Sunday, his first visit since US President Donald Trump told Congress that Iran is not complying with the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), more commonly known as the 2015 nuclear deal.

The IAEA chief put a positive face on proceedings, but the stakes are high. This time, his verification of compliance was a moment of vindication for Iran and another international rebuke of the White House.

“Ladies and gentleman, I am very happy to come to your country again,” Amano said during a press conference at Iran’s nuclear agency.

“Since January 2016, the IAEA has been monitoring and verifying the nuclear related commitments made by Iran under the JCPOA. The IAEA believes that the JCPOA is a significant gain for verification. The IAEA can state that the nuclear-related commitments made by Iran under the JCPOA are being implemented,” he added.

‘Message to Trump’

There was no ambiguity in his comments to journalists. There was even a message that sounded tailor-made for Trump.

“The most important thing is to be factual,” Amano said. …… http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/10/iaea-yukiya-amano-iran-living-nuclear-deal-171029121448119.html

October 29, 2017 Posted by | Iran, politics international | Leave a comment

Huge new nuclear waste storage facility in Fukushima Prefecture

Sprawling radioactive waste storage facility opens for business in Fukushima https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/10/28/national/sprawling-radioactive-waste-storage-facility-opens-business-fukushima/#.WfZG54-CzGi, KYODO

 The government’s new radioactive waste storage facility in Fukushima Prefecture kicked into full gear on Saturday after completing a roughly four-month trial run.

While the facility near the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear complex is designed to store soil and other tainted waste collected during decontamination work for up to 30 years, it remains only half complete six years after the triple core meltdown struck in March 2011.

 An estimated 22 million cu. meters of contaminated waste exists in Fukushima, but the facility does not yet have enough capacity to store it all, and residents fear it will sit there permanently in the absence of a final disposal site.

The government has been able to buy only 40 percent of the land so far but eventually plans to secure 1,600 hectares for the facility, which is expected to generate ¥1.6 trillion ($14.1 billion) in construction and related costs.

The storage facility is urgently needed to consolidate the 13 million cu. meters of radioactive waste scattered around the prefecture. The prolonged disposal work, among other concerns, is said to be keeping residents away from their hometowns even when the evacuation orders are lifted.

Also on Saturday, the government began full operation of a facility where waste intended for incineration, such as trees and plants, is separated from the rest.

Contaminated soil is sorted into different categories depending on cesium level before storage.

October 29, 2017 Posted by | Fukushima continuing | Leave a comment

No to nuclear power – South Africa’s Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba

Gigaba says no to nuclear, Fin 24, 2017-10-29  – Sipho Masondo and Setumo Stone, Johannesburg – Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba says drastic steps are needed to help South Africa’s ailing economy – including freezing senior civil servants’ salaries and selling chunks of state-owned enterprises.

In an exclusive interview with City Press on Friday, Gigaba unveiled the surprise moves, which include slamming brakes on the country’s estimated R1 trillion nuclear build programme, saying it is neither affordable nor currently necessary.

“There was a time when it was felt that nuclear is necessary and it must be implemented and programmes were started. But it became clear, as the economy took a serious dip, that we were not going to afford nuclear, that the country couldn’t afford it and the budget couldn’t afford it,” he said.

“It is quite clear that, at present, we can meet our electricity needs and we can even meet them into the future, given the excess electricity that we have.”

Nuclear power, Gigaba said, will remain part of the country’s energy mix. However, this will only happen when the economy is growing fast, when there is “high uptake of electricity from intensive users, when we can see that we are reaching the stage where existing capacity is being fully utilised and the demand and supply margin is very narrow”.

Gigaba said it was not a “malicious view” to shelve the nuclear programme for now, considering the R50bn budget shortfall, a rising budget deficit, National Health Insurance, demands for free higher education, and a national debt to GDP ratio which is set to breach the 60% threshold by 2022.

“If you look at Eskom’s balance sheet, they will not be able to afford nuclear, they will need a guarantee from government. Government guarantees are ultimately state debt, because when a state-owned company cannot afford to pay the guarantees, the national fiscus needs to step in and pay. That is what happened at SAA,” he said…….http://www.fin24.com/Budget/gigaba-says-no-to-nuclear-20171029-3

October 29, 2017 Posted by | business and costs, politics, South Africa | Leave a comment

‘no greater force for world peace than the U.S. nuclear arsenal’ !

Trump team drawing up fresh plans to bolster US nuclear arsenal Congress and US allies briefed on progress of Nuclear Posture Review Pence: ‘There’s no greater force for world peace than the US nuclear arsenal’, Guardian, Julian Borger 29 Oct 17,  

The Trump administration is working on a nuclear weapons policy that is intended to mark a decisive end to the era of post-cold war disarmament, by bolstering the US arsenal and loosening the conditions under which it would be used.

A draft of the new Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) was presented in September at a White House meeting between Donald Trump and his top national security advisers. Congress and US allies have been briefed on the progress of the new draft.

The document is still being debated with a target for completion by the end of this year or the beginning of next. Among the new elements under consideration are a low yield ballistic missile intended primarily to deter Russia’s use of a small nuclear weapon in a war over the Baltic states; a sea-launched cruise missile; a change in language governing conditions in which the US would use nuclear weapons; and investments aimed at reducing the time it would take the US to prepare a nuclear test.

Trump has frequently voiced his intention to build up the US arsenal. According to one report, he was outraged at a meeting with military leaders in July when he was shown a downward sloping graph of the US weapons stockpile since the cold war, and had to be talked out of ordering a tenfold increase.

The White House denied the report but it has repeatedly made clear it aims to adopt a more aggressive nuclear stance………

Like much else about Trump’s presidency, the new policy is aimed at erasing the legacy of his predecessor. Barack Obama began his administration with a major speech in Prague in April 2009, committing the US to disarmament and the eventual elimination of nuclear weapons globally………

On Thursday, Christopher Ford, special assistant to the president on weapons of mass destruction and counterproliferation, told a meeting on nuclear threats organised by the Ploughshares Fund: “The traditional post-cold war approach of seeking to demonstrate disarmament bona fides by showing steady numerical movement towards elimination, while trying to avoid steps that could actually undermine US national security, has largely run its course and is no longer tenable, especially given evolving security conditions.

“So it’s time to explore alternative approaches – and we are.”

Ford did not provide further details, as he said the NPR was still being worked on. Several sources briefed on its progress said elements under consideration include:

  • A low-yield ballistic missile, possibly using the Trident D5 missile but using only the first, fission, part of its two-stage warhead.
  • Bringing back nuclear Tomahawk sea-launched cruise missiles, which were dropped from the arsenal in 2013.
  • Reducing the lead time the US would need to resume nuclear testing from its current level of three years.
  • A relaxation of constraints laid down in Obama’s 2010 NPR, which pledged the US would only used its nuclear weapons in “extreme circumstances to defend the vital interests of the United States or its allies and partners” and never against non-weapons states in compliance with their non-proliferation obligations.
  • Any change in the US arsenal would have to be approved by Congress, which controls the funding for the nuclear weapons programme and which is already concerned that its ballooning cost is eating away at conventional capabilities.

    The Congressional Budget Office is expected to issue a new report on Tuesday that would revise cost estimates for the nuclear weapon modernisation programme approved by Obama from $1tn to $1.25tn over the next three decades…… https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/oct/29/trump-us-nuclear-weapons-arsenal

October 29, 2017 Posted by | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

UK Labour government would sign global anti-nuclear weapons treaty

Jeremy Corbyn’s shadow minister for peace has said a Labour government would sign a global anti-nuclear weapons treaty that would effectively confine the Royal Navy’s Trident submarines to port. Fabian Hamilton MP, in comments that risk reigniting the party’s internal divisions over the future of the UK’s nuclear deterrent, told i that while the issue of
Trident was “dead in the water” as it had been approved by Parliament,
a future Corbyn government would sign a UN treaty that bans nuclear weapons
and prohibits their use.

Labour included a promise to renew Trident in its
election manifesto, but Hamilton said that Corbyn’s leadership of the
Labour party presented a “golden opportunity” for opponents of nuclear
weapons, admitting the issue was still a “thorn in the side” of the
party.
https://inews.co.uk/essentials/news/trident-labour-sign-un-treaty-banning-nuclear-weapons/

October 29, 2017 Posted by | politics, UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Areva-Siemens and the Finnish electricity company TVO blame each other for delays in nuclear build

L’Usine Nouvelle 27th Oct 2017[Machine translation] Areva in the quagmire of the Finnish EPR. A further
delay in commissioning the Olkiluoto EPR in Finland is further complicating
the task of Areva SA, the new entity dedicated mainly to the end of the
project.

At this rate, the EPR Flamanville (Channel) will be put into
service before that of Olkiluoto in Finland. On October 9th, the
Areva-Siemens consortium informed the Finnish electrician Teollisuuden
Voima Oyj (TVO) that he was still cutting back the connection to the
reactor network in May 2019. It was initially planned for 2009!

And the penultimate postponement fixed the end of the test period at the end of
2018. After ten years of overtaking and 5 billion euros of additional cost,
the consortium Areva-Siemens and the Finnish electricity company TVO accuse
each other of the delay. The first claims 3.5 billion euros in compensation
to TVO, which continues for 2.6 billion.
https://www.usinenouvelle.com/article/areva-dans-le-bourbier-de-l-epr-finlandais.N604108

October 29, 2017 Posted by | business and costs, Finland | Leave a comment

Drug use by British navy sailors on nuclear Trident submarine

British navy sailors on nuclear Trident submarine fired after failing drug tests, ABC News, 29 Oct 17,  Britain’s navy has fired nine sailors serving on a nuclear-armed submarine after they tested positive for cocaine, the country’s defence ministry says.

The crew were from HMS Vigilant, one of four Royal Navy submarines which operate the Trident nuclear missile system.

“We do not tolerate drugs misuse by service personnel. Those found to have fallen short of our high standards face being discharged from service,” a Royal Navy spokesman said.

The Daily Mail newspaper reported that the sailors had failed drugs tests while the submarine was docked in the United States to pick up nuclear warheads and undergo work, and the sailors had been accommodated in hotels on shore……http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-28/british-navy-sacks-nuclear-submariners-over-cocaine-use/9096396

October 29, 2017 Posted by | incidents, UK, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Extreme caution needed, as controlled explosions of chemicals are continued at Sellafield nuclear facility

Bomb disposal experts are continuing controlled explosions of chemicals at
the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant. It follows a routine audit of
chemicals stored in a laboratory. The Army’s explosive ordnance disposal
team have been on-site since last weekend dealing with a canisters of
solvents present since 1992.

Sellafield Ltd said there were concerns they
could become hazardous if exposed to oxygen. A spokeswoman said the
solvents are “widely used in industry” but “extreme caution” is being
exercised. The disposal will continue over the weekend with the site
operating as normal with the exception of the laboratory.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-cumbria-41783748

October 29, 2017 Posted by | safety, UK | Leave a comment

WEST Somerset Council concerned about EDF’s £19.6 billion for huge stranded waste nuclear storage

WEST Somerset Council’s cabinet is being asked to challenge Hinkley Point
C power station’s plans to change the way it will deal with waste nuclear
fuel until the council gets more information.

At its meeting next Wednesday, the cabinet committee will be recommended to object to EDF
Energy’s application to the Government’s planning inspectorate for
“non-material changes” to the £19.6 billion project. This would allow
an interim spent nuclear fuel store with a life of 120 years to be
increased in size – up in length from 150 to 229 metres, eight metres wider
and five metres higher, making it one of the biggest buildings on the site.
EDF claims a larger building is needed because it has been decided to keep
the nuclear waste dry in concrete and steel cannisters rather than, as
originally planned, in wet storage in a pool.
http://www.wsfp.co.uk/article.cfm?id=108485&headline=Concern%20over%20bigger%20Hinkley%20waste%20fuel%20building§ionIs=news&searchyear=2017

October 29, 2017 Posted by | UK, wastes | Leave a comment

Britain’s military will have to greatly squeeze all other costs, to raise extra £300 million for Trident nuclear submarines

Military chiefs must find an extra £300 million in savings this year to
cover a rise in the cost of Britain’s replacement fleet of Trident
submarines, The Times can reveal. The army is set to take a hit, with
commanders ordered to make at least £100 million of efficiency savings on
top of hundreds of millions of pounds that have already been squeezed out
of threadbare budgets for training, maintenance, accommodation and travel.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/forces-must-find-300m-for-rising-trident-costs-bmxnl9

October 29, 2017 Posted by | business and costs, weapons and war | 1 Comment

France will detail at the end of 2018 how many nuclear reactors will close

France to decide by end 2018 how many nuclear plants to shut: minister PARIS (Reuters) 29 Oct 17, – France will detail at the end of 2018 how many nuclear reactors will close to meet a target on reducing atomic energy, Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot told French daily Le Monde on Saturday.

France aims to cut the share of atomic energy in power generation to 50 percent by 2025 from 75 percent now.

Nuclear plant closures represent a touchy topic, as the sector employs thousands of people and renewable energy alternatives struggle to grow fast enough to ensure energy needs are fulfilled.

According to France’s National Council of Industry, the nuclear sector supports about 220,000 jobs, directly and indirectly.

Hulot will lay out his so-called “green deal” on energy transition in the first half of 2018, he told Le Monde in an interview.

“In order to reduce to 50 percent the share of nuclear power, we will have to close a number of reactors,” he said, adding that he would detail the exact figure under a multi-year plan to be presented at end of 2018……https://www.reuters.com/article/us-france-nuclearpower/france-to-decide-by-end-2018-how-many-nuclear-plants-to-shut-minister-idUSKBN1CX0KP

October 29, 2017 Posted by | France, politics | Leave a comment

Record output from Germany’s wind power posing problems about pricing

Independent 27th Oct 2017,German power producers are poised to pay customers to use electricity this
weekend. Wind generation is forecast to climb to a record on Sunday,
creating more output than needed and driving electricity prices below zero,
broker data compiled by Bloomberg show.

It would be the first time this year that the average price for a whole day is negative, not just for
specific hours. Germany’s grid operators can struggle to keep the balance
between how much energy people are using and how much is being produced
when there are high amounts of wind generation. Negative prices mean that
producers must either shut down power stations to reduce supply or pay
consumers to take the electricity off the grid.
http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/germany-grids-paying-electricity-customers-renewable-energy-power-surplus-wind-solar-generation-a8022576.html

October 29, 2017 Posted by | Germany, renewable | Leave a comment

Prof Dieter Helm recommends a carbon price to reduce UK’s energy costs

Environmental Research Web 28th Oct 2017, In his wide ranging review of energy costs for the UK government, Prof.Dieter Helm says ‘the cost of energy is too high, and higher than
necessary to meet the Climate Change Act (CCA) target and the carbon
budgets. Households and businesses have not fully benefited from the
falling costs of gas and coal, the rapidly falling costs of renewables, or
from the efficiency gains to network and supply costs which come from smart
technologies. Prices should be falling, and they should go on falling into
the medium and longer terms’. And he sets out his ideas for enabling that
to happen.

To simplify things, he wants to combine support systems and
taxes into a universal carbon price and a unified equivalent firm power
auction process. http://blog.environmentalresearchweb.org/2017/10/28/the-helm-energy-cost-review/

October 29, 2017 Posted by | renewable, UK | Leave a comment

Australian-managed private equity fund helped Chinese involvement in coal mine plan for Cumbria

Scisco Media 27th Oct 2017, Back in 2015 the Champagne glasses were clinking in The Four Seasons, a Chinese restaurant in Whitehaven, Cumbria. West Cumbria Mining was
“happily toasting the recent visit to the UK of Chinese premier Xi
Jinping.” As well they might. Over £14m of funding for the development
has come from EMR Capital Resources Fund, an Australian-managed private
equity fund. Managed by Owen Hegarty and Jason Chang, pride of place in the
head office is a photo of “an Australian politician at the signing of an
agreement between EMR and a bank in China”.
https://sciscomedia.co.uk/cumbrian-coal-mine-china-connection/

October 29, 2017 Posted by | general | Leave a comment

October 29 Energy News

geoharvey's avatargeoharvey

Opinion:

¶ “Rise of renewables a growing challenge to natural gas” • Even though natural gas demand is forecast to continue its ascendancy over the next 20 to 30 years, supported by low cost and the drive for cleaner fuels, new evidence shows that it faces challenges from fast growth of renewables and stubbornly remaining coal, particularly in Asia. [Cyprus Mail]

Growing renewable generation

¶ “How Fossil Fuel Allies Are Tearing Apart Ohio’s Embrace of Clean Energy” • As fossil fuel interests mobilized at the national level to fight proposals to mitigate climate change that threaten their profits, they made Ohio a priority for fighting clean energy policy at the state level. Now, they are getting laws passed that benefit only themselves. [InsideClimate News]

¶ “Communities in Illinois can take lead against climate change” Chicago, Elgin, Evanston, Highland Park, and other Illinois municipalities have pledged to…

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October 29, 2017 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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