IAEA Nuclear inspectors reported Iran continued adhering to its 2015 accord with world powers
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Iran Sticking to Nuclear Deal as EU Vies to Prevent Its Collapse https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-05-31/iran-sticks-to-nuclear-limits-under-2015-deal-with-world-powers By Jonathan Tirone, June 1, 2019, IAEA issues quarterly inspections report on Iran program Tensions rising in region between Iran, U.S. and Gulf states Nuclear inspectors reported Iran continued adhering to its 2015 accord with world powers, giving European nations room to pursue their troubled efforts to prevent a total collapse of a pact facing intensifying U.S. pressure. International Atomic Energy Agency monitors said Iran’s inventories of enriched uranium and heavy water remained below the thresholds allowed under the 2015 agreement, according to a restricted report seen by Bloomberg News. It’s the 15th consecutive quarterly report showing that Iran has observed its obligations, and comes amid growing concerns that the Trump administration’s campaign to counter Iranian influence in the Middle East could spill into war. The IAEA conducted snap inspections “to all the sites and locations in Iran which it needed to visit,” read the 6-page IAEA report that was circulated Thursday among diplomats in Vienna. “Throughout the reporting period, Iran’s total enriched uranium stockpile has not exceeded” the maximum permitted 300 kilograms, it said. Iran’s president signaled May 8 that stockpiles of nuclear material would soon exceed limits after the U.S. revoked waivers permitting it to be shipped abroad. That declaration was made on the one-year anniversary of the U.S. decision to unilaterally exit the nuclear accord and reimpose sanctions, including on vital oil exports. With its economy plunging into recession, Iran said it will violate even more sensitive provisions of the deal unless European signatories deliver the financial relief offered in return for moderating its nuclear program. Tensions have since spiked further after the U.S. accelerated the deployment of a carrier strike group to the Gulf to counter unspecified Iranian threats, suggested without providing proof that Iran and its proxies were to blame for attacks on ships in the crucial waterway as well as a Saudi oil pipeline, and sent more troops to the region. President Donald Trump has made confronting Iran a cornerstone of his foreign policy and is squeezing its economy to force it to roll back its ballistic missile program and support for groups such as Lebanon’s Hezbollah, which the U.S. deems a terrorist organization. The White House is counting on Saudi Arabia and other Arab allies to form a united front to contain Iran, prompting a series of meetings involving regional leaders in the kingdom this week. The stockpile of low-enriched uranium rose 7%, to 174 kilograms (384 pounds), the IAEA said. Its inventory of heavy-water was unchanged at 125 metric tons, less than the 130 metric tons permitted by the agreement. Iran has been enriching uranium well below capacity and should be able to boost its rate of production, according to a senior diplomat with knowledge of Iran’s program. The country said May 22 it would ramp up the rate at which it produces the material by four times. That implies accumulating as much as 18 kilograms of new low-enriched uranium a month rather than some 4 to 4.5 kilograms previously, the person said. The stored uranium is still well short of what would be needed to construct a bomb, were the material to be further enriched, and if Iran made the decision to pursue weapons. Iran had previously accumulated enough of the heavy metal to construct more than a dozen weapons before the agreement forced it to eliminate some 97% of its stockpile. Tehran says its nuclear program is solely for civilian energy and medical use. Heavy water, so named because it contains extra hydrogen atoms, can moderate neutrons inside a nuclear reactor or act as a tracer in medical applications. Iran had been shipping excess inventory to Oman before the U.S. blocked that activity. IAEA inspectors continued to confirm Iran’s Arak reactor, for which the heavy water production was originally intended, remained disabled as agreed under the 2015 accord. Tehran says it could reconstitute that project in the third quarter without sanctions relief. The IAEA report follows U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton’s statement on Wednesday in the United Arab Emirates that a violation of the deal would show Iranians haven’t “constrained their continuing desire to have nuclear weapons.” The Trump administration has threatened to sanction Europeans for trying to hold the atomic pact together via a non-dollar-denominated financial channel. Critically, the IAEA report said Iran continued allowing access to sites under what its director general has called “the most robust verification system in existence anywhere.” Inspectors conducted a record number of surprise visits in Iran last year. Iran has also stuck to the number of centrifuges — the supersonic spinning machines that separate uranium isotopes — allowed for enrichment. Iran is holding “technical discussions” about new generations of more powerful centrifuges that are undergoing testing. |
Trump re-election push – big effort to make sure that Ohio lawmakers approve nuclear and coal subsidies
Ohio advances coal, nuclear subsidies after pressure from Trump campaign official, Politico, By GAVIN BADE, 05/29/2019
The Ohio House approved a bill Wednesday to gut clean energy standards and subsidize at-risk nuclear and coal plants after a last-minute push from a Trump reelection official to secure its passage.
Bob Paduchik, a senior adviser to the Trump reelection campaign, made calls Tuesday night to at least five members of the Ohio House of Representatives, pressuring them to vote ‘yes’ on the bill, five people familiar with the outreach told POLITICO. Sources said Paduchik emphasized preserving jobs at the Perry and Davis-Besse nuclear plants, both located in northeastern Ohio on the shores of Lake Erie…
“The message is that if we have these plants shut down we can’t get Trump reelected,” said one senior legislative source with knowledge of the conversations. “We’re going into an election year, we can’t lose the jobs.”
Paduchik did not return requests for comment, but confirmed to a local reporter that he called lawmakers to support the bill, saying he did so as a personal matter……..
The bill, which would create a $300 million subsidy program for two nuclear plants and two coal plants in the state, passed 53-43 Wednesday afternoon. It now heads to the state Senate.
Owner FirstEnergy Solutions has threatened to shut the plants down if they are not subsidized, and Cleveland.com reports Republican Gov. Mike DeWine, and labor union leaders made similar arguments in other 11th hour calls to lawmakers.
Legislators contacted by Paduchik include Republican Reps. Don Manning, Darrell Kick, Laura Lanese, Reggie Stoltzfus and Dave Greenspan, sources told POLITICO. The sources requested anonymity because they have other business before the legislature.
Paduchik led President Trump’s successful 2016 campaign in Ohio, after which he became co-chair of the Republican National Committee. In December, the Trump 2020 campaign announced he would return to oversee the president’s reelection bid in the crucial Midwestern swing state.
The White House referred questions on Paduchick’s involvement to the Trump campaign, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In addition to Paduchik, three sources said some legislators received calls from two members of the Ohio delegation to the U.S. House — Republican Reps. Steve Stivers and Bob Gibbs. Their offices did not return requests for comment.
FirstEnergy Solutions, which split from utility FirstEnergy in a bankruptcy proceeding last year, said it did not engage Paduchik or the House members on its behalf. FirstEnergy’s political action committee has supported Trump, DeWine and Ohio Republicans in the past, and CEO Chuck Jones met with the president and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry on energy policy before the utility and subsidiary split……..
Along with subsidizing the nuclear plants, HB 6 would also increase existing payments to two large coal plants owned by the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation, a conglomeration of Midwestern utilities. To pay for the new subsidies, the bill would eliminate the state’s energy efficiency standard and its 12.5 percent-by-2027 renewable energy standard, which are financed on customer utility bills.
Approval in the House means the bill will now move to the Senate. Insiders told POLITICO earlier this week that chamber could take longer to debate the bill, which could create a conundrum for FirstEnergy Solutions, which must decide next month whether to refuel the Perry plant or move ahead with shutdown procedures…….. https://www.politico.com/story/2019/05/29/ohio-coal-nuclear-trump-1347274
Laundry in UK permitted to take radioactive materials from Sellafield!!
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A Quick & Dirty Look At Energy Coast Laundry’s Radioactive Materials Permit (Starting With Caesium 137 Discharges to Air) https://mariannewildart.wordpress.com/2019/05/30/a-quick-dirty-look-at-energy-coast-laundrys-radioactive-materials-permit-starting-with-caesium-137-discharges-to-air/ |
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Merkel urges world to do all ‘humanly possible’ on climate change
SBS, 1 June 19 In her commencement address delivered at Harvard University in the United States, German Chancellor Angela Merkel has urged the world to join together to combat climate change.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday urged the world to do “everything humanly possible” to combat climate change and pledged to do her part.
“Climate change poses a threat to our planet’s natural resources,” Ms Merkel said in her commencement address delivered at Harvard University in the United States.
“It and the resulting crises are caused by humans.”,……. https://www.sbs.com.au/news/merkel-urges-world-to-do-all-humanly-possible-on-climate-chang
Ohio’s subsidy Bill unnecessarily bails out nuclear, coal owner FirstEnergy Solutions
 Ohio lawmakers pass bill to cut renewable requirement, help nuclear and coalCritics say the bill unnecessarily bails out nuclear, coal owner FirstEnergy Solutions. Ars Technica, MEGAN GEUSS – 6/1/2019, THIS WEEK, LAWMAKERS IN OHIO’S HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES VOTED 53-43 IN FAVOR OF A CONTROVERSIAL BILL THAT WOULD PERMIT A CONSUMER-FUNDED SUBSIDY FOR NUCLEAR PLANTS AND POSSIBLY FOR AILING COAL PLANTS AS WELL. The bill would also end Ohio’s renewable portfolio standard, which required that the state’s utilities to obtain 12.5 percent of their power from renewable sources by 2027. Instead, that renewable portfolio standard is replaced by smaller steps to bolster renewable power, but environmental groups say the bill is a step in the wrong direction.A version of House Bill 6 has now been introduced to the state’s Senate. If it passes there, it will likely become law due to the Governor’s support of the bill. A boon for FirstEnergy Solutions Currently, Ohioans pay a $4.39 surcharge on their electricity bills to fund Ohio’s renewable portfolio standard, according to local news site Cleveland.com. House Bill 6 would eliminate that surcharge and replace it with a $1 surcharge to raise more than $170 million per year, which would be given to Ohio energy company FirstEnergy Solutions to keep its Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants open. The subsidies would be retired in 2026. First Energy Solutions owns nuclear and coal plants throughout Ohio and Indiana. In April 2018, its coal business filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company then asked the Trump Administration to grant it an emergency bailout using Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act, which allows the federal government to keep the electrical grid operating during emergencies. Thus far, the Administration has not invoked that Act. House Bill 6 also has some good news for the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation, which will be allowed to petition public utility regulators for an additional fee of $2.50 per month per customer to keep two of its coal plants in Ohio and Indiana open. Another, smaller provision in the bill would allow residents of unincorporated areas of Ohio to hold a referendum on whether to allow wind projects to proceed…….. UCS disputes that statement. “While the charges appearing on consumer bills might be less, this ignores the much greater energy bill savings consumers have been realizing through investments in energy efficiency,” UCS writes. “In addition, the cost of wind and solar has fallen by more than 70 percent over the past decade, making them more affordable for consumers and competitive with natural gas power plants in many parts of the country.” https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/05/ohio-house-passes-bill-that-would-allow-consumer-funded-nuclear-and-coal-subsidies/ |
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Michael Cohen and an Alabama Nuclear Plant Show Everything About This Administration* Is for Sale
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Michael Cohen and an Alabama Nuclear Plant Show Everything About This Administration* Is for Sale, A bipartisan swamp-dweller is back in the news. Esquire, BY
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USA Dept of Energy funding bankrupted French company AREVA – now resuscitated as Framatome
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Lightbridge fuel development gains DOE funding, WNN 30 May 2019, Framatome has received a voucher through the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Gateway for Accelerated Innovation in Nuclear (GAIN) programme to support development of Lightbridge Fuel in collaboration with Idaho National Laboratory (INL). ….. Enfission – a joint venture of Lightbridge Corporation and Framatome – was set up in January 2018 to commercialise nuclear fuel assemblies based on this technology.
The GAIN initiative was launched in November 2015 to provide a way to fast-track nuclear innovation,….. This is Framatome’s third GAIN voucher and its first supporting the Lightbridge Fuel design. Framatome said its collaboration with INL under this GAIN voucher will “leverage the laboratory’s experience in fuel and material development, as well as its performance knowledge, to facilitate Framatome’s understanding of phenomena unique to uranium-zirconium metallic fuel”. …… For this work DOE will fund INL at a value of USD477,000…… https://www.world-nuclear-news.org/Articles/Lightbridge-fuel-development-gains-DOE-funding |
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Nuclear envoys from Japan, U.S., South Korea discuss North Korea during trilateral meeting in Singapore
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Nuclear envoys from Japan, U.S., South Korea discuss North Korea during trilateral meeting in Singapore, Japan Times, KYODO, MAY 31, 2019, SINGAPORE – Stephen Biegun, U.S. special representative for North Korea, held talks on the Korean Peninsula nuclear issue with his Japanese and South Korean counterparts in Singapore on Friday. Negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang are currently at a standstill.
The trilateral meeting was the first since North Korea fired projectiles that appeared to be short-range ballistic missiles on May 4 and May 9 in an apparent attempt to coax Washington into making concessions in denuclearization negotiations. Biegun met with Kenji Kanasugi, director-general of the Foreign Ministry’s Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, and Lee Do-hoon, South Korea’s special representative for Korean Peninsula peace and security affairs. The outcome of the talks was not immediately available, but they probably exchanged views on how to pave the way for the resumption of denuclearization negotiations with Pyongyang, which have been stalled following the collapse of the second U.S.-North Korea summit in Hanoi in late February…… https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/05/31/national/politics-diplomacy/nuclear-envoys-japan-u-s-south-korea-discuss-north-korea-trilateral-meeting-singapore/#.XPGycBYzbGg |
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Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay set to visit Fukushima nuclear complex
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay set to visit Fukushima nuclear complex, PACNEWS, 1 June, 2019,
A staff takes out a banner featuring Tokyo 2020 Olympics emblem from the wall after a news conference in Tokyo, Japan June 30, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
TOKYO, 01 JUNE 2019 (INSIDE THE GAMES) – A town devastated by the nuclear meltdowns in the Fukushima Prefecture in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan is set to feature on the route of the Olympic Torch Relay for Tokyo 2020. The relay course will pass through the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear…. (subscribers only ) https://www.fijitimes.com/tokyo-2020-olympic-torch-relay-set-to-visit-fukushima-nuclear-complex/
Duke plans to decommission nuclear plant ahead of schedule
Duke plans to decommission nuclear plant ahead of schedule, Gainsville.com By Carlos E. Medina, 31 May 19, It will seek permission to decommission the idle Crystal River plant about 50 years sooner than planned at a cost of $540 million.
Duke Energy wants to tear down its Crystal River nuclear power plant about 50 years earlier than planned, the company announced Thursday.
In 2013, Duke decided to keep the facility idle until 2074 and then demolish the physical plant after removing all radioactive material. But a recent review of the cost to accelerate the timeline found the company had enough money in their decommissioning trust fund to cover the accelerated plan, said Heather Danenehower, Duke communications manager.
They need approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to change plans and that process will take at least a year.
The accelerated process, which will take until 2027 to complete, would cost $540 million. The trust fund balance stood at $717 million on March 31. Whatever remains will go back to Duke’s customers. Customers, including the more than 66,000 in Marion County and the more than 4,000 in Alachua County, will not see their electricity bills increase because of the move, she said…… https://www.gainesville.com/news/20190530/duke-plans-to-decommission-nuclear-plant-ahead-of-schedule
Volcanoes not the major cause of global warming
Humans and volcanoes caused nearly all of global heating in past 140 years, Guardian, Dana Nuccitelli 30 May 19
New study confirms natural cycles play little role in global temperature trends and tackles discrepancies in previous models, Emissions from fossil fuels and volcanoes can explain nearly all of the changes in Earth’s surface temperatures over the past 140 years, a new study has found.
The research refutes the popular climate denial myth that recent global warming is merely a result of natural cycles….. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/30/humans-and-volcanoes-caused-nearly-all-of-global-heating-in-past-140-years
Proposals to transport nuclear waste through Bridgwater, Somerset
Somerset Live 29th May 2019 , Bridgwater residents only have a few days to have their say on proposals to
transport nuclear waste through their town. Magnox Ltd currently operates
the Hinkley Point A site near Stogursey, which includes a small area where
nuclear waste is stored before being moved elsewhere for processing. The
company has applied to Somerset County Council for permission to store
waste from other nuclear power stations at the Hinkley site – which would
involve moving it through Bridgwater on agreed routes.
It is staging four drop-in sessions in June where residents of Bridgwater and the surrounding
villages can have their say on the plans before county councillors make a
final decision. Magnox’s proposals relate to “intermediate-level waste”,
which includes cladding around nuclear fuel and materials which have become
contaminated in the process of decommissioning a nuclear reactor.
https://www.somersetlive.co.uk/news/somerset-news/bridgwater-residents-only-few-days-2921627
Swedish court rejects effort to delay Assange hearing
https://www.theage.com.au/world/europe/swedish-court-rejects-effort-to-delay-assange-hearing-20190529-p51s61.html 29 May 19. Stockholm: A Swedish court has rejected efforts to postpone a hearing relating to Julian Assange, a lawyer for the WikiLeaks founder says.
A Swedish prosecutor this month filed a request for Assange to be detained for a June 3 hearing about a rape allegation.
Defence lawyer Per Samuelson told Reuters he visited Assange in British custody on Friday before seeking to postpone the hearing.
“One of the reasons is that Assange’s health situation on Friday was such that it was not possible to conduct a normal conversation with him,” Samuelson said.
“I meant that it should be postponed until I had time to meet again and go through the issues in peace and quiet. I suggested no specific date and meant it should be postponed until everything was ready, but the district court has now decided that this won’t happen .
he Uppsala district court, where the hearing is due to take place, was not immediately available for comment. A prosecutors’ office spokesman declined to comment.
Sweden reopened the investigation into alleged rape, which Assange denies, in early May. It was begun in 2010 but dropped in 2017 while Assange was in refuge in Ecuador’s London embassy.
Assange was arrested in London last month after spending nearly seven years inside the embassy.
If the court order is granted, it would be the first step in a process to have Assange extradited from Britain, where he is serving a 50-week sentence for skipping bail.
US authorities are separately seeking to extradite Assange on charges relating to the public release by WikiLeaks of a cache of secret documents, and last week unveiled 17 new criminal charges against him, including espionage.
The British courts will have to rule on the two extradition requests, with the home secretary having the final say on which one takes precedence.
A new way to remove CO2 from the air – (perhaps – or too good to be true?)
Scientists Have Found A Way To Remove CO2 From Air, Which May Reverse Global Warming, https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/science-and-future/scientists-have-found-an-easy-way-to-remove-co2-from-air-reduce-global-warming-368327.html A number of research teams around the world are currently working towards scrubbing all the excess carbon dioxide from the air. It’s one of the prime reasons we are seeing record breaking rise in temperature across India this summer.Not only could this do wonders to push back global warming, but we can also put all of that CO2 to good use in other applications. Take this research team from the University of Toronto Engineering for instance. They’ve developed a new electrochemical path to transform carbon dioxide that’s been pulled from the atmosphere into valuable products like jet fuel or plastics.
“Today, it is technically possible to capture CO2 from the air and, through a number of steps, convert it to commercial products,” says Professor Ted Sargent who led the research team. “The challenge is that it takes a lot of energy to do so, which raises the cost and lowers the incentive. Our strategy increases the overall energy efficiency by avoiding some of the more energy-intensive losses.”
The previous direct-air carbon capture method does so by forcing air through an alkaline liquid solution. The CO2 dissolves in the liquid, forming a carbonate. To use that captured CO2 however, it has to be turned back into a gas, which is the convoluted part. It requires adding chemicals to the carbonate to turn it into a solid salt, and then heat that powder to a whopping 900-degrees Celsius to regain CO2 gas. That heating method is what’s responsible for the energy wastage that makes this sub-optimal.
This team’s new method instead uses an electrolyzer, a device that uses electricity to power a chemical reaction. Electrolyzers are sometimes used to produce hydrogen fuel from water, and this team realised they can also use it to release the CO2 from dissolved carbonate, skipping the heating entirely.
The electrolyzer also has a silver-based catalyst that immediately converts the CO2 into a gas mixture known as syngas. Syngas can be easily turned into a wide variety of products, including jet fuel and plastic precursors.
“This is the first known process that can go all the way from carbonate to syngas in a single step,” says Sargent.
According to the team’s reports, their method has an overall energy efficiency of 35 percent, much higher than current methods. They do believe there’s scope to improve that, and it can of course be scaled up to an industrial level given enough time.
When that happens, we might actually be able to set up giant plants, the sole purpose of which is to scrub carbon dioxide from our air, and turn it into products we can use, helping reverse climate change in the process.
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