Renewables Investment Nudges Out Fossil Fuel And Nuclear, Forbes,Felicia Jackson Contributor, May 15, 2018, The global clean energy transition is gaining pace as it becomes a mainstream investment option.
The global clean energy transition is gaining pace as it becomes a mainstream investment option. According to the latest research from CERES on progress to a ‘Clean Trillion’ it is also one that far outstripped fossil fuels and nuclear in 2017.
In 2017 the clean energy industry reached a critical turning point. Growth and cost reductions across the sector have far outperformed expectations based on policy frameworks alone. Dramatic reductions in cost, increases in scale, and technology improvements have fundamentally changed the dynamics of the clean energy market. Energy market
dynamics have shifted in favor of clean energy technologies such as wind and solar, which increasingly out-compete new fossil fuel and nuclear power sources.
Within In Sight of the Clean Trillion: Update on an Expanding Landscape of Investor Opportunities, Ceres says that what it calls the ‘Clean Trillion’ – the goal of an additional $1 trillion investment in clean energy per year through 2050 – is increasingly feasible as the market matures.
……..Overall, the combination of lower cost, lower regulatory risks, improved technology and rapid growth and uptake of clean energy creates a very different clean energy investment future and significant, scaled investment opportunities as compared to what we have historically seen. Fulton says, ‘We see a pathway to a post-subsidy world as clean energy increasingly out-competes fossil fuels and nuclear power’.For forward thinking investors, it seems as if fossil fuel weighting in investment portfolios is due another look. https://www.forbes.com/sites/feliciajackson/2018/05/15/renewables-investment-nudges-out-fossil-fuel-and-nuclear/#58038b5e3752
Legislation’s foes fear it would shift risk from shareholders to ratepayers , By Mike Hughlett Star Tribune, MAY 14, 2018
Xcel said the legislation passed Monday would give it more certainty in recovering at least $1.4 billion in maintenance costs expected over the next 17 years at its nuclear reactors in Monticello and Red Wing. Opponents of the Senate bill fear it would shift risk from Xcel’s shareholders to ratepayers.
Similar legislation is pending in the House.
By a vote of 37-29, the Senate passed a newly amended version of the bill. The amendments appear to strengthen the hand of the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The legislation has been criticized for weakening the PUC’s authority over Xcel’s nuclear investment decisions, and Gov. Mark Dayton has threatened to veto it for that reason.
…….. Essentially, the bill would allow Xcel to get upfront approval from the PUC for future nuclear expenses, instead of approval after those investments are made. Critics say that would give Xcel an incentive to aim high on its estimates, in case of any future cost overruns.
The energy minister spoke extensively about successes in renewables and made no mention of nuclear power, at the conference in Cape Town, 15 MAY 2018 TANYA FARBER
Just hours after being sworn in as acting president‚ Jeff Radebe nailed his colours to the renewable energy mast at African Utility Week, on Tuesday.
Radebe was speaking at the Cape Town International Convention Centre‚ where 7‚000 delegates from around the world gathered to talk about water‚ energy and power.
The energy minister‚ who is acting president while President Cyril Ramaphosa and Deputy President David Mabuza are out of the country‚ spoke extensively about successes in renewables and made no mention of nuclear power.
“To date we have concluded 91 projects with a capacity of 63‚000 megawatts (MW). Sixty-two of these projects have the combined capacity of 3‚800MW, which already is connected to the grid‚” he said.
He told delegates that SA had seen a “significant decline in tariffs of about 55% for wind and 76% for solar” energy. About R136bn had been invested in renewable energy‚ with another R56bn to be spent over the next 3-5 years, when the construction of 27 renewable power projects — signed off in April — will begin.
These projects would save water‚ create 39‚000 jobs and reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 23-million tonnes.
Radebe said the resource plan, which maps out the country’s energy mix for the next two decades, would be finalised in August.
The report is seen as the litmus test for whether Ramaphosa’s government has distanced itself from the nuclear aspirations of his predecessor‚ Jacob Zuma.
Although the nuclear deals were deemed unlawful‚ there is a chance they could re-emerge. But if Radebe’s speech was anything to go by‚ nuclear might finally be fading into the background.
FAIRBANKS — An Army Corp of Engineers team is planning the formal decommissioning of the only nuclear power plant ever built in Alaska, Fort Greely’s SM-1A plant.
The SM-1A plant provided steam and electricity to the Army post near Delta Junction off and on between 1962 and 1972. It was one of eight experimental projects to test the use of small nuclear power plants at remote installations.
It’s expected to take about 10 years to plan, contract out and complete the SM-1A cleanup, according to a Baltimore-based team from the Army Corps of Engineers that came to Fort Greely for meetings last month……….
When SM-1A shut down in 1972, the Army chose to place the facility into a safe storage status instead of formally decommissioning it. The highly enriched uranium fuel and waste were shipped out of Alaska and radioactive components of the reactor were encased in cement.
The Army chose this temporary method of mothballing the facility out of hope that within a relatively short amount of time significant quantities of radioactive waste would decay to a safer nonradioactive state, according to an Army Corps of Engineers website about the SM-1A at bit.ly/2G7TjVH.
Later studies showed that the volume of radioactive waste wasn’t decreasing as expected and that a more hands-on approach was needed to clean up the plant. The increasing costs of nuclear waste disposal also motivated the Army to begin cleaning up the site.
There’s no estimate yet for the cost of decomissioning SM-1A, but such a project for a similar power plant has a budget of $66.4 million.
Nuclear transport support questioned Carluke Gazette 15 May 18Local MSP Claudia Beamish voiced concerns about the transportation of nuclear weapons during a recent Parliamentary debate. The issue was raised following the release of the report ‘Unready Scotland’ which analyses the gaps in the civil response to transport incidents involving nuclear weapons.
Convoys transporting high explosives and radioactive material travel between the Royal Naval Armaments Depot in Coulport and sites in England, which takes them through parts of South Lanarkshire, the Borders and Dumfries and Galloway. Ms Beamish questioned whether civil authorities such as the police, fire and rescue and local authorities are given enough support to ensure sufficient plans are in place to respond to emergencies of this nature. She said: “As a campaigner for nuclear disarmament I consider nuclear weapons morally unacceptable and internationally illegal. However this debate wasn’t about that.
It was about how safe their transportation is through our communities on our roads and railways. “My colleague Mark Ruskell MSP, who called for the debate, highlighted that generic risk assessments are relied upon by local authorities and information on managing hazards is only provided to the public near the Clyde Naval base but not to residents living near the route……..https://www.carlukegazette.co.uk/news/politics/nuclear-transport-support-questioned-1-4739756
(Mainichi Japan) HIROSHIMA — In a room filled with the gentle spring sunshine at the city hall in the Nishi Ward of this city in the beginning of April, 93-year-old Sunao Tsuboi met Mayor Kazumi Matsui with a smile.
For his work campaigning for the abolition of nuclear weapons and support for other survivors of the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings, or “hibakusha,” Tsuboi was recognized as an honorary resident of Hiroshima in March, and on April 5, 2018, went to formally receive the title from Mayor Matsui at the municipal government.
“While my time left on Earth may be short, I will continue to be true to my name and ‘honestly’ work toward making a peaceful world with everyone until I burn up from my ardent passion,” said Tsuboi, whose given name is a homonym for “honesty” in Japanese. He made his fiery declaration with a mischievous expression after the medal with its green and white ribbon was draped around his neck. The audience then burst into applause…….. https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20180515/p2a/00m/0na/017000c
Energy Live News 14th May 2018 , The UK Government has denied reports which claim it will guarantee loans
for Hitachi’s Horizon nuclear power project. The proposed nuclear
reactors to be installed at Wylfa – which will have a capacity of 3GW –
were given the green light by the UK’s nuclear regulators last year.
Japanese media reported Prime Minister Theresa May met the chairman of
Hitachi in London earlier this month to discuss the project. BEIS told ELN
the government “regularly engages with new nuclear developers” on a
range of issues, including financing, however, it “does not recognise the
reports”. A spokesperson added: “Nuclear power remains a crucial part
of the UK’s energy future but we have always been clear that this must be
delivered at the right price for consumers and taxpayers. “This principle
runs through all our engagement with any new build developers. These
discussions are commercially sensitive and we have no further details at
this time.” https://www.energylivenews.com/2018/05/14/uk-government-denies-guaranteeing-loans-for-hitachi-nuclear-project/
Express 15th May 2018 , BRITAIN could be left with no fuel to supply power stations after Brexit if it cannot replicate a series of nuclear safeguards currently governed by the European Union, warned Nuclear Industry Association (NIA) Chief Executive Tom Greatrex.
The former Labour minister claimed Britain’s
decision to quit Euratom – the body that governs the transportation of
radioactive materials needed in nuclear energy and research – could
result in no fuel for British power stations after Brexit. Speaking
exclusively to Express.co.uk, Mr Greatrex warned that Britain cannot
produce fuel in the UK without the raw materials from around the world,
which can only be obtained if necessary safety measures are in place –
including a governing body on the transport, trade and regulation of
nuclear matter. https://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/959639/Brexit-news-UK-EU-European-Union-nuclear-industry-referendum-Euratom-power-station
Tekniik & Talous 14th May 2018 , [Machine Translation] New problems have arisen in TVO’s hot tests at
Olkiluoto 3. The connection line of the main pipework of the plant, the reactor cooling circuit, vibrates more than allowed. The problem is reported by the supervising authority Stuk in its recent monitoring report.
The problem has emerged in hot tests where the reactor and turbine plant systems are heated by the heat generated by the main circulation pumps to the correct operating temperatures. Heat tests ensure that the facility is safe to charge nuclear fuel. Before that, the body still needs a government license. According to Stuk, the reason for the vibration is still under way. Stuk explains the following. In Stucco’s Executive Director Petteri Tiippana, the problem is not negligible. https://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/tekniikka/energia/olkiluoto-3-n-tarkein-putkisto-varahtelee-liikaa-stukin-mukaan-korjaaminen-on-mittava-tyo-6724597
FT 15th May 2018 ,I wish I had known Serhii Plokhy was writing this book. I would have told
him why the Chernobyl disaster is an indelible part of my life. When the
nuclear plant’s fourth reactor exploded in the early hours of Saturday,
April 26 1986, I was 130km away in Kiev. A Moscow-based reporter for
Reuters news agency, I was spending the weekend in the Ukrainian capital
with a friend who taught at Kiev university under a British Council
programme.
Like almost all the city’s 2.5m residents, we knew nothing about
the accident, the world’s worst nuclear disaster. Until the evening of
Monday April 28, the Kremlin held to its unforgivable decision to keep
Soviet citizens and the world in complete darkness. All that time,
radiation was spreading far beyond the stricken reactor. For the first few
days, the strongest winds blew to the north-west, so anyone in Kiev – which
is south of Chernobyl – got off relatively lightly.
However, when I returned to Moscow and underwent a radiation check at the US embassy, the
Geiger counter went beep-beep-beep, registering abnormal levels on my
clothes. Before my eyes an embassy official tossed my jeans into an
incinerator. Plokhy, a Harvard professor of Ukrainian background, is
ideally placed to tell the harrowing story of Chernobyl. He is the first
western-based historian to make extensive use of Chernobyl-related material
in Communist party, government and, especially, KGB security police
archives that became available after Ukraine’s 2014 pro-democracy
revolution. https://www.ft.com/content/f7101e6a-4eeb-11e8-9471-a083af05aea7
Daily Maverick 14th May 2018, If South Africa’s new energy plan contains nuclear power as part of the
country’s future energy mix, it suggests that State Capture is still
embedded in government, anti-nuclear lobby groups say.
The new Integrated Resource Plan (IRP), a road map laying out South Africa’s future energy
mix for the next 20 years, will be presented to Cabinet on 15 August,
Energy Minister Jeff Radebe said last week. An energy policy expert has
warned that a nuclear programme in South Africa is “unfinanceable” –
even if Russia pays.
After South Africa’s controversial nuclear deals signed with Russia, Korea and the US, backed by former President Jacob Zuma, were found to be unlawful and unconstitutional by the Western Cape
High Court in 2017, there has been speculation as to whether this spells
the end of the nuclear expansion programme, or whether the government would
begin afresh.
The new IRP will reveal which way government intends to go.
If the energy minister knows, he is not saying. At a ministerial briefing
of the energy portfolio committee on Tuesday last week, MPs asked Radebe
three times if the government intended pursuing the nuclear programme, and
three times he gave a wait-and-see answer. Anti-nuke campaigner Liz McDaid
of the SA Faith Communities’ Environment Institute (SAFCEI), who with
Earthlife Africa’s director Makoma Lekalakala brought the nuclear court
case against the government, said none of the expert reports on South
Africa’s future electricity mix had found that there was a need for
nuclear power. https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2018-05-14-industry-experts-are-watching-to-see-if-state-capture-still-has-a-role-in-future-of-energy-in-south-africa/
Reuters 12th May 2018, Bulgaria’s government will ask parliament to give it the authority to
negotiate with investors to build the Belene nuclear power project on the
Danube River, the prime minister said on Saturday.
The Black Sea state initially canceled the project, estimated to cost about 10 billion euros,
in 2012 after failing to find foreign investors and bowing to U.S. and
European Union pressure to limit the country’s energy dependence on
Russia, which would have supplied some equipment.
Morning Star 14th May 2018 ,A GOVERNMENT decision to spend £2.5 billion on nuclear-armed submarines
was slammed today by local authorities committed against nuclear weapons
and nuclear power. Defence Minister Gavin Williamson announced at the BAE
dockyard in Barrow that he has signed a £1.5bn contract to build a seventh
Astute “hunter-killer” submarine for the Royal Navy. And £960 million
worth of contracts have also been signed for the construction for
Britain’s four nuclear-armed Trident Dreadnought submarines.
VA launches criminal investigation against whistleblowers, Washington Examiner, by Scott Davis, May 14, 2018 “……
The U.S. Office of the Special Counsel, or OSC, whose role is to protect whistleblowers from retaliation, has been on a virtual hiatus for the past two years. It is even less responsive now than it had been under previous administrations.
Recently, several whistleblowers at the Veterans Health Administration Member Services office in Atlanta did get a response from OSC, but not the one they were looking for. Instead of protecting the whistleblowers, OSC officials decided to take the side of the VA leadership.
They authorized VA to conduct an illegal criminal investigation into whistleblowers who had previously reported wrongdoing by VA management officials.
According to the VA Office of the Medical Inspector, or OMI, OSC contacted former Secretary David Shulkin on Feb. 13 for the purpose of investigating a complaint that several known VA whistleblowers, including myself, had violated the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. That law was established to address criminal cyberactivity involving government computer systems, not to retaliate against whistleblowers who may have discovered and reported wrongdoing because of emails they received in the course of their jobs.
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