2017 December 09 « nuclear-news

A new Climate Summit in Paris next week

The Climate-Change Fight Returns to Paris Project Syndicate, Dec 8, 2017 LAURENCE TUBIANA

In 2015, the so-called “high ambition coalition” of developed and developing countries pushed the Paris climate agreement past the finish line. But when global leaders reconvene in Paris for new talks on climate change at the upcoming One Planet Summit, financial commitments must be the order of the day.

PARIS – Nearly two years have passed since France’s then-foreign minister, Laurent Fabius, struck his gavel and declared: “The Paris agreement for the climate is accepted.” Next week, President Emmanuel Macron and the French government will host world leaders and non-state actors for the One Planet Summit. The purpose of this gathering is to celebrate climate gains made since 2015, and to boost political and economic support for meeting the goals and targets of the Paris agreement………

the need for ambitious coalitions has returned. Strong global leadership on climate change scored a diplomatic victory two years ago, and today, new economic and political alliances are needed to turn those commitments into action.

The diplomatic success of the Paris accord is worthy of praise in its own right; it was a remarkable leap forward in the fight against climate change. But we must not rest on our laurels. With the United States, the world’s largest historical emitter of greenhouse gases, dismissive of the accord, the rest of the global community must reaffirm its commitment to reducing carbon dioxide emissions. Dramatic, meaningful, and immediate steps must be taken.

The best available science estimates that the world has only three years to begin a permanent reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions if there is to be any hope of achieving the Paris accord’s goal of keeping warming to “well below 2°C” relative to pre-industrial levels. And, whatever urgency science cannot convey is being communicated by the planet itself – through a ferocious display of hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and deadly droughts.

Given the immediacy of the challenge, what can and should be done to avert crisis?

Solutions start with money, and a main objective of the One Planet Summit is to mobilize public and private financing to fund projects that can reduce climate-changing pollution today. During the summit’s “Climate Finance Day,” companies, banks, investors, and countries will announce new initiatives to help fund the costly transition to a carbon-free future…….https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/paris-climate-agreement-one-planet-summit-by-laurence-tubiana-2017-12

December 9, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, climate change | Leave a comment

New Jersey Governor plans multi $billion subsidy for nuclear power stations

Christie’s Last-Minute Nuclear Bailout Plans for New Jersey NRDC December 08, 2017 Dale Bryk In the latest move to ram through a multibillion-dollar subsidy package for the state’s (currently thriving) nuclear plants, outgoing Governor Chris Christie is signaling that he won’t consider legislation that includes provisions to protect taxpayers and preserve New Jersey’s ability to continue to grow its clean energy businesses. If the New Jersey Legislature passes a bill to subsidize those plants before Gov.-elect Phil Murphy takes office on January 16, it will not protect consumers, employees, communities or the environment.

That’s not good for New Jersey.

There is broad support for keeping two plants open—Salem and Hope Creek, both in Salem County. The only question is whether we need to do this now—without a deliberate, thoughtful and transparent plan that narrowly tailors any financial support; truly protects workers and communities; and avoids hamstringing Governor-elect Murphy’s ambitious clean energy agenda.

If you’re wondering why we’re even talking about this, see my previous blog Transitioning From Uneconomical Nuclear Power in New Jersey.

Opposition to the process

Citizens across the state are up in arms. The NRDC Action Fund has engaged over 10,000 constituents; Environment New Jersey, Environmental Defense Fund and AARP members are also out in force. People are horrified at the secretive process. It is December 8, and we haven’t seen a bill. Yet Christie—who currently enjoys the lowest approval rating of any sitting U.S. governor—and PSEG seem to be moving forward in full force to secure this bailout in hopes that everyone is distracted with holiday festivities. A frequent snicker at Monday’s hearing, without a bill to even discuss: “We could all go to Washington if we wanted to be treated so shabbily.”

Reported substance is even worse

The substance is even worse than the process. To recap, the proposal—as it is well understood by insiders, since only those writing the legislative language have seen it—is a standalone subsidy for existing nuclear plants. PSEG set out a few particulars at the hearing:

The subsidy will cost consumers about $400 million per year;
The state regulator—the Board of Public Utilities—will review the company’s claim that the plants require a subsidy to continue operation;
The board will adjust the subsidy to reflect increased revenue to the plants should New Jersey join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, as Governor-elect Murphy has pledged; and
The subsidy will be reviewed every three years.

What should be included

There was no hint of any provision to minimize costs, or to protect workers, host communities, and the environment when these plants eventually do close because nuclear power is not economical in today’s energy landscape……..https://www.nrdc.org/experts/dale-bryk/christies-last-minute-nuclear-bailout-plans-new-jersey

December 9, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | Leave a comment

USA’s Nuclear Waste Isolation Pilot Project struggling to deal with wastes and contaminated areas

Official: WIPP deficiencies stem from lack of funds, By Rebecca Moss | The New Mexican, 7 Dec 17

More than three years after a radiation leak forced the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant to shut down, managers are still dealing with the issues of storing waste and undertaking construction in a partly contaminated mine.

A nearly $300 million new ventilation system isn’t expected to be complete by 2022, the salt-rock ceiling of one room is expected to collapse soon, and the facility is facing problems with fire-suppression systems and other infrastructure.

But at a forum Wednesday evening in Carlsbad, officials expressed enthusiasm about the work underway at WIPP.

At least 118 shipments of transuranic waste — equipment, tools, soil and gloves contaminated by plutonium and other highly radioactive materials — have been taken into the facility, at a rate of three to five shipments per week, since WIPP reopened in January, they said. This is a far slower pace than before the shutdown. The facility has averaged 800 shipments a year, or more than 15 per week, in the 15 years that it has accepted nuclear waste for long-term storage…..

Officials have prioritized a long list of infrastructure needs, Shrader said, and are asking Nuclear Waste Partnership to find ways to save money to better fund crucial projects. They also are working with New Mexico’s congressional delegation to secure more federal funding for WIPP, he said.

In July, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, an independent adviser to the U.S. energy secretary, wrote in a monthly report on WIPP that inspectors had found deficiencies in tornado doors, fire-suppression systems that went without water for months and a number of unstable areas in the mine that workers could not access.

December 9, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

South Korea hopes to make a profitable industry out of nuclear decommissioning

S. Korea strives to build up nuclear decommissioning industry, By Kim Eun-jung SEOUL, Dec. 8 (Yonhap) — South Korea will ramp up efforts to develop technologies related to nuclear decommissioning as the country’s oldest reactor is undergoing the lengthy, costly process of being dismantled, the energy ministry said Friday.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy launched a consultative body composed of state-run utilities, construction companies and research institutes to put concerted efforts toward developing the nation’s nuclear decommissioning industry,

The ministry said it aims to develop technologies needed to dismantle nuclear reactors by 2021 that will make such sites free of radioactive hazards and establish a research institute to pave the way for entering the global market by 2030…….

A total of 11 reactors will be retired one by one by 2030 as their operational life cycles expire as the government said it won’t extend their operation.

As part of the nuclear phase-out plan, the government is also pushing for an early closure of Wolsong-1, now the nation’s oldest operating reactor, as soon as possible.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), 34 nations have built 611 reactors and 449 were in operation as of April 2017. Among 160 reactors permanently shut down, the decommissioning process has been completed for 19. ejkim@yna.co.kr http://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/news/2017/12/08/95/0200000000AEN20171208001551320F.html

December 9, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | decommission reactor, South Korea | Leave a comment

USA group to Norway to attend Nobel peace prize conference

Northampton activists travel to Norway to attend Nobel peace prize conference, lobby for nuclear disarmament agreement, Mass LiveDec 8, By Lucas Ropek

NORTHAMPTON – Northampton area activists traveled to Norway Thursday to attend the Nobel Peace Prize conference in Oslo, hoping to use the trip as an opportunity to promote a nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

Jeff Napolitano, the Executive Director of The Resistance Center for Peace and Justice, and Sabine Merz, who sits on the Center’s Board of Directors, will stay in Oslo for a week.

The Resistance Center was born out of the Northampton chapter of the American Friends Service Committee that closed earlier this year, and focuses on promoting a progressive agenda locally and globally.

Napolitano and Merz hope to use the conference as an opportunity to participate in a conversation about the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, an international agreement supported by 122 United Nations (UN) member states that, if adopted, would be a legally binding means of banning nuclear weapons throughout the world.

The treaty is the result of years of activism on the part of a coalition of countries pushing for disarmament, according to the activists. Much of the work was accomplished by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), which is being awarded the Nobel peace prize for its work in establishing the treaty. …….

The U.S. has so far declined to sign the ICAN treaty and the U.S. ambassador has also declined to attend the Oslo conference, said Napolitano. http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2017/12/northampton_activists_travel_t.html

December 9, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Will wildfires finally change Rupert Murdoch’s climate stance?

The media-mogul’s Santa Monica vineyard was saved from wildfire destruction, but the world may yet burn thanks to his climate views, says Richard Schiffman New Scientist, By Richard Schiffman, 9 Dec 17

A wildfire has ripped through one of the wealthiest neighbourhoods in the US, damaging Rupert Murdoch’s $28.8 million vineyard estate in the Santa Monica mountains at the edge of Los Angeles.

The media-mogul’s palatial house was saved, thanks to firefighters who spent the afternoon and night battling the conflagration. Others weren’t so lucky. Hundreds of homes and scores of lives have been lost in both northern and southern California in a spate of recent wildfires that were fiercer and moved faster than any in recent memory.

Such fires are made more likely as the world warms. California has just had its hottest summer on record, and the recent wildfires came much later in the year than normal. We also know that seven of California’s 10 largest recorded wildfires have occurred in the last 14 years.

California isn’t alone. Wildfires are occurring with greater… subscribers only https://www.newscientist.com/article/will-wildfires-finally-change-rupert-murdochs-climate-stance/

December 9, 2017 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | Leave a comment

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