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Jellyfish keep attacking nuclear power plants

Jellyfish Keep Attacking Nuclear Power Plants. Jellyfish are continuing to clog the cooling pipes of nuclear power plants around the world. GG, By Gabriel Geiger  3 Nov 21, Jellyfish are continuing to clog the cooling intake pipes of a nuclear power plant in Scotland, which has previously prompted a temporary shutdowns of the plant.

The Torness nuclear power plant has reported concerns regarding jellyfish as far back as 2011, when it was forced to shut down for nearly a week—at an estimated cost of $1.5 million a day—because of the free-swimming marine animals………

Like many other seaside power plants, the Torness plant uses seawater to prevent overheating. While there are measures in place to prevent aquatic life from entering the intake pipes, according to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, they are no match for the sheer number of jellyfish that come during so-called “jellyfish blooms.”

“Usually, screens prevent aquatic life and similar debris from being drawn into the power plants’ cooling system,” the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists wrote in a 2015 blog post. “But when sufficiently large volumes of jellyfish or other aquatic life are pulled in, they block the screens, reducing the volume of water coming in and forcing the reactor to shut down.” ……

“Any industry on the coast which uses seawater can find its operations complicated when seaweed or jellyfish blooms impact protective systems,” Angus Bloomfield, a marine biologist, is quoted as saying in a press release from the University of Cranfield. “They can damage machinery and even stop power generation, which could threaten stability of the electricity grid. An early warning system involving drones could allow industries in marine environments to act early and avoid the most dramatic effects these events can bring.” https://www.vice.com/en/article/epx4mj/jellyfish-keep-attacking-nuclear-power-plants

November 4, 2021 Posted by | environment, UK | Leave a comment

China increasing its nuclear arsenal, but still far smaller than USA’s


China increasing nuclear arsenal much faster than was thought, Pentagon says .  Guardian, China is expanding its nuclear force much faster than US officials predicted just a year ago, highlighting a broad and accelerating buildup of military muscle designed to enable Beijing to match or surpass US global power by mid-century, according to a new Pentagon report.

The number of Chinese nuclear warheads could increase to 700 within six years, the report said, and may top 1,000 by 2030. The report released on Wednesday did not say how many weapons China has today, but a year ago the Pentagon said the number was in the “low 200s” and was likely to double by the end of this decade.

The numbers would still be significantly smaller than the current US nuclear stockpile of about 3,750 nuclear weapons. The Biden administration is undertaking a comprehensive review of its nuclear policy and has not said how that might be influenced by its China concerns………… https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/03/china-increasing-nuclear-arsenal-much-faster-than-was-thought-pentagon-says

November 4, 2021 Posted by | China, weapons and war | Leave a comment

White Mesa uranium mill – its owners want to accept radioactive trash from Estonia – 1000s of miles away !

Over the past 40 years, the construction of the mill demolished
archaeological and burial sites important to the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe and
depleted the tribe’s traditional hunting grounds, destroying places where
people once gathered plants for basketry and medicine.

Radioactive waste
has been spilled along the main highway from trucks hauling material from
Wyoming to White Mesa for processing. The children can no longer play
outside because of the stench and the fear of what might be causing it. The
mill sits in the heart of San Juan County, a few miles east of the original
boundaries of Bears Ears National Monument, with Canyonlands National Park
to the north and Monument Valley to the southeast.

It opened in 1980 to
process uranium ore from the Colorado Plateau into yellowcake, a
concentrated powder used in energy production and nuclear weapons. Most
uranium mines closed in the last half-century. But White Mesa not only
remains open, it has become a destination for radioactive material from
around the world. Now, its owners want to accept waste from the Northern
European country of Estonia, nearly 5,000 miles away.

 High Country News 1st Nov 2021

The nation’s last uranium mill plans to import Estonia’s radioactive waste

November 4, 2021 Posted by | indigenous issues, Uranium, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Nuclear power for Bangladesh – a long, very costly, very dangerous process.

 MV Ramana and Zia Mian: Bangladesh is on the way to having its first
nuclear power plant. Designed and being built by Russia at a cost of over
12 billion dollars, the Rooppur nuclear plant has been part of an
on-and-off planning process for six decades.

This sixty-year quest for constructing a reactor is blind to what has been learned over the same
period about nuclear energy.

It could take many more years before the plant
starts to produce any electricity. Intended to operate for sixty years,
electricity from this power plant will contribute to higher electricity
bills for Bangladeshi consumers for decades given the high cost of
construction.

The same amount of electricity could be had much cheaper and
much more quickly. Worse, for its sixty-year working life, and possibly for
longer, it will cast a shadow of a nuclear accident over the people of
Bangladesh, who will be forced to live with constant worry or try to just
forget. Even if an accident does not occur, the nuclear waste produced by
Rooppur will threaten people and nature for millennia with risk of
radioactive contamination. This is what it is now to be a nuclear-powered
nation.

 Sarbojonkotha 3rd Nov 2021

The Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant: The Long, Troubled, Costly and Dangerous Life and After-Life of a Very Old Idea

November 4, 2021 Posted by | ASIA, politics | Leave a comment

A close shave in 1999 with a flood at France’s Blayais nuclear power plant

 “Sensitive affairs”. “Tcherno-Blaye”: the scenario of a French Chernobyl?
What happened at the end of December 1999, during the “storm of the
century”, at the Blayais nuclear power plant in Gironde? Incident under
control or disaster scenario narrowly avoided? That evening, in any case,
one of the jewels of the French nuclear fleet found itself … with its
feet in the water. A flood that could have led to the worst: the meltdown
of a reactor, with its dramatic consequences .

 France Info TV 1st Nov 2021

https://www.francetvinfo.fr/replay-magazine/france-2/affaires-sensibles/affaires-sensibles-du-lundi-1-novembre-2021_4805545.html

November 4, 2021 Posted by | France, incidents | Leave a comment

Nuclear is Not Green – campaigners from Suffolk travel to COP26

Campaigners from Suffolk have travelled to COP26 host city Glasgow to
protest over Sizewell C, which they say is not the solution to the climate
emergency. Stop Sizewell C, two Suffolk Coastal 2019 General Election
candidates and local supporters unfurled a “Nuclear is Not Green” banner in
the centre of the city.

 East Anglian Daily Times 2nd Nov 2021

https://www.eadt.co.uk/news/stop-sizewell-c-protest-at-cop26-in-glasgow-8458020

November 4, 2021 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, UK | Leave a comment

Entering the Absurdicene as the Anthropocene loses its relevance — Sustainability Bites

So, if you accept that humanity is now acting in an absurd way (ie, you accept the premise of the Absurdicene) then maybe we need to be honest about the prospects of a rational process towards sustainability. Maybe we need to focus on why this absurdity prevails, and what we need to do to short circuit it.

Entering the Absurdicene as the Anthropocene loses its relevance — Sustainability Bites

November 4, 2021 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

November 3 Energy News — geoharvey

Opinion:  ¶ “My Island Home Is Threatened – We Have No Hill To Run To” • The Marshall Islands are only 2 meters above sea level and we are one of the most threatened countries in the world, due to the sea level rise caused by climate change. Unlike many other island nations, we have […]

November 3 Energy News — geoharvey

November 4, 2021 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

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