S&P Global 20th Aug 2018 , Delayed reactor returns slash French nuclear availability nearly 9 GW. Available nuclear 
power generating capacity in France fell sharply by almost 9 GW after EDF delayed the return of multiple nuclear plants, while high temperatures continued to restrict production at its Saint Alban power station, the operator said. This amounted to a total nuclear output loss of around 2.37 TWh, according to S&P Global Platts calculations.
Wind, tidal conditions force Pilgrim plant to half capacity, http://www.patriotledger.com/news/20180823/wind-tidal-conditions-force-pilgrim-plant-to-half-capacity- By Joe DiFazio
The Patriot Ledger PLYMOUTH — The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station entered its fourth day at half capacity Thursday due to wind and tidal conditions.
Sea water helps cool the station and the plant’s spokesperson Pat O’Brien said that wind was blowing the warm water that leaves the station over toward the station’s intake.
The reduced power, he said, keeps the water leaving the station cooler.
“We can only take in water at 75 degrees and we reduce power to stay well below that,” said O’Brien.
Neil Sheehan, spokesperson for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said that tidal conditions also played a factor in the capacity reduction and pointed out that Cape Cod Bay’s water is generally warmer this time of year.
The power reduction, Sheehan said, should not have any impact on New England’s grid.
ISO New England, the region’s grid operator, said that nuclear power made up one quarter of the system’s fuel Thursday afternoon. New England has one other nuclear power plant in Seabrook, New Hampshire.
Pilgrim was offline for 43 days earlier this year to replace a startup transformer, said O’Brien. Winter storms and other repairs also put the station offline for several days.The beleaguered 45-year-old Pilgrim is the only station in the country’s lowest performance category for nuclear power plants due to technical problems and intermittent shutdowns. Pilgrim’s performance triggered additional federal oversight.
The plant is scheduled to go offline June 2019.
Jeremy Leggett 22nd Aug 2018 , Why the UK nuclear renaissance plan is doomed to failure, in 30 pictures
and charts. Nuclear is ridiculously expensive and utterly uncompetitive says longstanding nuclear advocate, former IEA boss Nobuaki Tanaka.
For the first time global solar capacity grew faster in 2017 than all nuclear and fossil fuels combined. Jerome Pecresse of GE Renewables said in June “We are inventing things we did not even imagine three years ago … renewable baseload is coming fast.”
The UK’s National Infrastructure Commission has urged the government to ditch nuclear and grab the golden opportunity
to go with cheap solar and wind. EDF is in deep financial trouble.
https://jeremyleggett.net/2018/08/22/why-the-uk-nuclear-renaissance-plan-is-doomed-to-failure-in-30-pictures-and-charts/
More than a dozen local environmental groups from coast to coast have organized the Freedom to Breathe Tour, where journalists, activists, and environmental-justice experts will present vulnerable communities with their case for swift and dramatic action on climate change. The 21-day tour, which begins August 25 and will traverse the entirety of the American South and Southwest, will illustrate the current climate realities for communities of color in the nation’s most marginalized places.
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The Victims of Climate Change Are Already Here With a new global summit approaching, communities in the southern United States are calling attention to the disaster scenarios they currently face., VANN R. NEWKIRK II |
Eddie Martin’s letter to the county’s peers https://cumbriatrust.wordpress.com/2018/08/23/eddie-martins-letter-to-the-cumbrian-county-peers/ August 23, 2018
CONSERVATION OF THE NATIONAL PARKS
As the former Leader of Cumbria County Council, it was my Cabinet and I who rejected the last search process for a radioactive waste, Geological Disposal Facility in West Cumbria, orchestrated by the MRWS process, for a substantial number of reasons. including:
No statutory, enshrined Right of Withdrawal from the process.
No Sovereign Wealth Fund for Cumbria – in perpetuity.
Plethora of expert opinion against the geology – NOT rebutted by the NDA
No proposals for a Strategic Environmental Assessment
Allerdale ruled out nem con. by all Cabinet Members.
Copeland too small without infringing designated and protected areas.
Significant democratic deficit. No credible local or Cumbria-wide support.
Huge potential for planning blight/property devaluation
Received no commitment to invest in international standards of safe surface or sub surface storage (e.g. Sweden); the ‘twin-track’ approach, in effect.
The adverse findings of the NAO and the highly critical comments by the Public Accounts Committee (Margaret Hodge et al)
But, nonetheless, emphasising the County Council’s total commitment to urgent alternative investment in Sellafield and West Cumbria – not least, the infrastructure, but with no forthcoming guarantees from the government.
Nothing has changed, except for yet another rebranding exercise and a White Paper which seeks to sideline county councils.
I am now writing to you – ahead of the House of Lords debate on 6th September on the “Draft NPS for Geological Disposal Infrastructure” – as a Director of Cumbria Trust(cumbriatrust.org)
The conclusions reached by the House of Commons BEIS Committee on the Draft NPS for Geological Disposal Infrastructure should be a matter of great concern for those who value and respect the National Parks, and for Cumbrians in particular. The failure to exclude designated areas, including AONBs and National Parks, from the search process for geological disposal is both alarming and irrational, in that it demonstrates a clear lack of understanding of the protection in law given to these areas.
Major developments can only be permitted in exceptional circumstances where it can be demonstrated that there are no alternative sites available outside the National Park (LDNPA Core Strategy CS12). The fact that other UK sites outside a National Park may not have volunteered is of no relevance. Voluntarism is not a concept recognised by planning law, and as such, should a site within a designated area be selected, there would be a requirement to survey the entire non-designated land area (around 91% of the UK) to demonstrate that no alternative exists. This highlights the absurdity of the failure to exclude designated areas, something which even Nirex understood three decades ago. This is not simply a matter of failing to learn from past mistakes, but of introducing new and significant mistakes as they go along, and Cumbria Trust believes it simply must not go unchallenged.
I would also refer you to the Sandford Principle – Section 62 of the Environment Act 1995 –enjoyment of the National Parks ‘shall be in a manner and by such means as will leave their natural beauty unimpaired for the enjoyment of this and future generations’. You will also be aware that as a World Heritage Site, the Lake District has adopted a Statement of Outstanding Universal Value, and that its inclusion in a search area will undoubtedly threaten that status, requiring notification to the World Heritage Centre and ICOMOS.
We would encourage you to speak up strongly for the protection of our designated areas and for Cumbria in particular.
We know from the last process that Ennerdale (specifically the Ennerdale granite intrusion which runs from the shore of Buttermere in the north to Nether Wasdale in the south) was identified by the MRWS geologist, Dr Dearlove, as a potential site for geological disposal, as was a second site (in the Mercia Mudstone Group rocks) near Silloth. If we allow this Draft NPS to proceed unchallenged these areas are likely to find themselves back in the spotlight. If an area such as Copeland volunteers, no test of public support is required until around 20 years into the process, during which time 20-30 deep boreholes will be drilled over the course of a decade. LDNPA planning permission would not be required since they now come under NSIP (Planning Act 2008) legislation.
For all of these reasons, designated areas must be protected and any new search process should exclude them from the beginning. My colleagues and I would urge you to use the debate on 6th September to push for that exclusion. Thank you.
Yours sincerely
Eddie Martin
Medium 22nd Aug 2018 , The dumping of radioactive mud would break the law because the project has
had no Environmental Impact Assessment carried out to ensure that the
radioactive mud has been properly assessed as to the risk to the
environment and people’s health!
Without such an assessment it would also
fall foul of Section 4 of the Environment Wales Act 2016 which requires
full consideration of all relevant evidence and gather evidence on
uncertainties, the Well-being of Future Generations Act 2015 which requires
public bodies in Wales to think about the long-term impact of their
decisions, to work better with people, communities and each other and the
Marine Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Amendment) Regulations
2017. https://medium.com/@tomstanger/hinkley-c-a-project-literally-stuck-in-the-mud-an-update-a7891d8803de
BANNG 22nd Aug 2018 , Fake news has arrived on the shores of the Blackwater estuary!! It takes
the form of the recent, widely distributed CGN/EDF glossy and upbeat
‘Community’ Newsletter, which gives information about what is happening
at the site of the proposed Bradwell B new nuclear power station.
The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) feels compelled to respond to
this Newsletter, which it considers to be a partial and misleading piece of
smooth ‘nuke speak’ that gives all the upsides and none of the
downsides of a new nuclear power station at Bradwell.
So what does the Newsletter actually tell us? It says ‘The project is at an early
stage’. But nowhere is there the slightest hint that Bradwell B might not
go ahead. In fact, early stage or not, so sure is CGN/EDF of success that
an indicative project timeline is provided, showing that construction
‘begins’ in 5 – 7 years from now. It tells us that comments can be
made on the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process.
But the new Blackwater Nuclear Community might well ask if there is any point in commenting on
this given the obvious confidence of CGN/EDF that the Hualong 1000 reactor,
not yet in use anywhere in the world, will pass the regulators’ tests.
BANNG thinks that there is every point in commenting and would encourage
our fellow residents of the new Blackwater Nuclear Community to do so. If
you find a GDA process difficult to comment on (and who doesn’t?), simply
draw attention to the fact that all the digging of boreholes and marine
surveys cannot disguise the fact that the site is in Flood Zone 3 and,
therefore, totally unsuitable for potentially dangerous new nuclear
reactors.
Words such as ‘flooding’, storm surges’, ‘other coastal
processes’, ‘all predicted to get worse with climate change’,
‘madness’ could be woven into your comments, along with ‘the
Blackwater is a Marine Conservation Zone’ and ‘potential harm to marine
and human life’.
Nikkei Asian Review 23rd Aug 2018 , Japanese industrial group Hitachi seeks to rein in the ballooning cost of
its British nuclear power plant project by naming a manager and clarifying
the roles performed by the company and its partners. U.S. engineering
company Bechtel will serve as a project manager for the proposed Wylfa
Newydd power plant from now on, overseeing design, construction and cost
control, while Hitachi and Japanese plant builder JGC will handle design
and construction, Hitachi said on Wednesday.
Hitachi is building two reactors on the Welsh island of Anglesey through U.K. subsidiary Horizon
Nuclear Power. Before the reorganization of roles, Hitachi, JGC and Bechtel
had been undertaking the project as three-way joint venture. The new
arrangement is designed to let Horizon reduce costs on the Wylfa project by
placing orders directly for turbines and other equipment.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Hitachi-names-Bechtel-as-manager-for-UK-nuclear-project
IPFM 20th Aug 2018 , On 31 July 2018, Japan’s Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) issued a newEnergy Voice 20th Aug 2018, The site of Britain’s worst nuclear accident is to be dismantled as part
of the wider decommissioning of the Sellafield nuclear plant. The planned
demolition of the 360 foot structure will begin later this year. A giant
crane has been constructed to bring it down. The 152m crane is the tallest
structure ever built at Sellafield, just six metres shorter than the
Blackpool Tower. It will begin work this autumn, removing and lowering
chunks of the chimney cut out using diamond wire saws. Duncan Thompson, the
Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Sellafield Programme director, said:
“The complex task of decommissioning and demolishing the Windscale Pile
One Stack has reached an important stage. It is another example of the
ingenuity that goes into solving the UK’s decommissioning problems.
https://www.energyvoice.com/otherenergy/nuclear/179544/watch-sellafield-nuclear-chimney-to-be-demolished/
Experts voice safety concerns about new pebble-bed nuclear reactors Eurekalert, 23 Aug 18
Researchers advise caution as a commercial-scale nuclear reactor known as HTR-PM prepares to become operational in China. The reactor is a pebble-bed, high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR), a new design that is ostensibly safer but that researchers in the U.S. and Germany warn does not eliminate the possibility of a serious accident. Their commentary, publishing August 23 in the journal Joule, recommends continued research, additional safety measures, and an extended startup phase that would allow for better monitoring.
“There is no reason for any kind of panic, but nuclear technology has risk in any case,” says first author Rainer Moormann, a nuclear safety researcher based in Germany. “A realistic understanding of those risks is essential, especially for operators, and so we urge caution and a spirit of scientific inquiry in the operation of HTR-PM.”
…….the soon-to-be-operational HTR-PM has been built without the safeguards that nuclear reactors in operation today are usually equipped with: it does not have a high-pressure, leak-tight containment structure to serve as a backup in case of an accidental release of radioactive material. It also does not have a redundant active cooling system.
“No reactor is immune to accidents. The absence of core meltdown accidents does not mean that a dangerous event is not possible,” Moormann says. He and his coauthors, Scott Kemp and Ju Li of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, argue that with new technology, there is always a higher chance of user error. And prototype HTGRs have surprised their operators in the past by forming localized hot spots in the core and unexpectedly high levels of radioactive dust. The pebble-bed design also produces a larger volume of radioactive waste, which is challenging to store or treat……….
Joule, Moormann et al.: “Caution is Necessary in Operating and Managing the Waste of New Pebble-bed Nuclear Reactors” https://www.cell.com/joule/fulltext/S2542-4351(18)30335-0 https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-08/cp-evs081618.php
Finnish firms target Chinese radwaste market, WNN, 23 August 2018
Based on expected installed nuclear generating capacity of 50 GWe by 2020, China’s annual used fuel arisings will amount to about 1200 tonnes at that stage, the cumulative total being about 14,000 tonnes then.
“As China becomes increasingly mindful of environmental integrity and reduces its use of fossil fuels, [its] zero-carbon nuclear energy solution requires enhanced focus on radioactive waste management,” the companies said in a joint statement. “Finnish expertise has an important role in disposing of Chinese radioactive waste and building a cleaner future together with shared respect for nature and the environment.”……….Finnish waste management company Posiva – jointly owned by Fortum and TVO – launched Posiva Solutions in June 2016. The business, it said, would “focus on the marketing of the know-how accumulated from the design, research and development efforts in the final disposal of used nuclear fuel, as well as on associated consulting services”. http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Finnish-firms-target-Chinese-radwaste-market
Bailout money could be better used to cover gaps in tax revenue, help workers retrain for new jobs, and fuel economic development in affected communities. GreenTe4cyhMedia, AUGUST 23, 2018 Coal and nuclear facilities are facing a tough economic reality in the United States. Competitive power markets are oversupplied, while natural gas and renewable energy are undercutting coal and nuclear on cost…..
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See here the final program of the 12th International #Uranium Film Festival #Rio de Janeiro, May 18 – 28, 2023, Modern Art Museum (MAM Rio) #Cinematheque. uraniumfilmfestival.org/en/rio-2023-pr…
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