nuclear-news

The News That Matters about the Nuclear Industry Fukushima Chernobyl Mayak Three Mile Island Atomic Testing Radiation Isotope

Nuclear: seven questions about the industrial disaster that threatens EDF.

Nuclear: seven questions about the industrial disaster that threatens EDF.
While the electricity supply is at risk for this winter, EDF is still
revising its production forecast downwards. At the origin of its
difficulties, microcracks located in a sensitive area of the reactor.
Extensive work is needed on the park.

How low will EDF’s nuclear production
go? Given the number of reactors affected by corrosion and the scale of the
work in progress, the energy company has further revised its electricity
production forecast downwards in 2022. It is now counting on production of
between 280 and 300 TWh against 295 and 315 TWh expected so far. Unheard of
since the end of the construction of the French reactor fleet.

Consequently, EDF has also revised its revenue outlook downwards. In 2022,
it is counting on a fall in its gross operating surplus (EBITDA) linked to
the collapse of its nuclear production of 18.5 billion euros, against 14
billion estimated previously. Overview of the main questions raised by this
unprecedented industrial disaster.

 Les Echos 19th May 2022 https://www.lesechos.fr/industrie-services/energie-environnement/nucleaire-sept-questions-sur-la-catastrophe-industrielle-qui-menace-edf-1408214

May 21, 2022 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Cost of shutting down UK’s old nuclear reactors is doubling and then some

 The cost of decommissioning the UK’s seven ageing nuclear power stations
has nearly doubled to £23.5bn and is likely to rise further, the public
accounts committee has said. The soaring costs of safely decommissioning
the advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGRs), including Dungeness B, Hunsterston
B and Hinkley B, are being loaded on to the taxpayer, their report said.
Failures in the government’s investment strategy for the fund, which was
set up to pay for the decommissioning, have led to the taxpayer topping it
up by an additional £10.7bn in just two years. The nuclear power stations
are owned by EDF Energy and provide much of the UK’s nuclear
power-generated electricity, which makes up 16% of the energy mix. But the
stations are nearing the end of their lives and are scheduled to stop
generating electricity during this decade. The government has recently
agreed that once the stations have been defuelled by EDF, which involves
the removal of all the spent fuel from the reactor core and cooling ponds,
ownership of the stations will be transferred to the government’s Nuclear
Decommissioning Authority (NDA) to complete decommissioning.

 Guardian 20th May 2022

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/may/20/uk-nuclear-power-stations-decommissioning-cost

May 21, 2022 Posted by | decommission reactor, UK | Leave a comment

EDF shares fall after new profit warning due to nuclear outages

Shares in EDF fell 1.8% on Thursday after the French utility warned
outages at its nuclear power plants would result in a steeper-than-expected
cut in power output and thus have a greater than previously estimated
impact on 2022 core earnings. EDF said the impact of the outages largely
related to a program of inspections and repairs the company is carrying out
on some of its reactors would have a negative impact of around 18.5 billion
euros on the group’s core earnings this year instead of the 14 billion
euros previously forecast.

 Financial Post 19th May 2022

https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/edf-shares-fall-after-new-profit-warning-due-to-nuclear-outages

May 21, 2022 Posted by | business and costs, France | Leave a comment

The U.S. energy secretary says it is critical to find a solution for storing the nation’s spent nuclear fuel.

Energy Secretary: We Must Find a Solution for Nuclear Waste The U.S. energy secretary says it is critical to find a solution for storing the nation’s spent nuclear fuel. By Associated Press, May 20, 2022,  JENNIFER McDERMOTT, Associated Press

WATERFORD, Conn. (AP) — It is critical to find a solution for storing the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Friday during a visit to a nuclear power plant in Connecticut……………………

There’s renewed momentum to figure out a storage site, or sites, to free up the land where the waste is currently being stored and move it away from population centers, fault lines and flood plains………….

There is roughly 89,000 metric tons of used commercial fuel at nearly 80 sites in 35 U.S. states, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry’s trade association. At 20 of the sites, there’s no longer an operating reactor, the institute said………………..

Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney is part of a bipartisan congressional caucus working to change how spent nuclear fuel is stored. Its members believe the current system is not sustainable, particularly for sites that could be redeveloped. Many are along the coastline, in flood plains — the worst geology for spent fuel to be stranded, Courtney said.


WATERFORD, Conn. (AP) — It is critical to find a solution for storing the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said Friday during a visit to a nuclear power plant in Connecticut……………………

There’s renewed momentum to figure out a storage site, or sites, to free up the land where the waste is currently being stored and move it away from population centers, fault lines and flood plains………….

There is roughly 89,000 metric tons of used commercial fuel at nearly 80 sites in 35 U.S. states, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute, the industry’s trade association. At 20 of the sites, there’s no longer an operating reactor, the institute said………………..

Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney is part of a bipartisan congressional caucus working to change how spent nuclear fuel is stored. Its members believe the current system is not sustainable, particularly for sites that could be redeveloped. Many are along the coastline, in flood plains — the worst geology for spent fuel to be stranded, Courtney said.

Congress has provided about $40 million to fund the consent-based siting process that would be used to identify sites to store the nation’s spent nuclear fuel, and the administration asked for $53 million more for fiscal 2023, Courtney said.

Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, said his main concern is that planning for consolidated interim storage could undermine efforts to figure out a permanent storage repository underground.

If there’s a place to ship fuel, there won’t be the political momentum to site an underground repository, which is the only plausible, safe, long-term solution for this waste, he said Friday…………… https://www.usnews.com/news/business/articles/2022-05-20/energy-secretary-to-visit-nuclear-plant-discuss-waste-issue

May 21, 2022 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

May 20 Energy News — geoharvey

World: ¶ “Mitsubishi Tops EV Sales In Germany In April” • Multiple crises are raging (chips, batteries, covid, Ukraine war…), and the German car market has been hit hard. Overall, it dropped 22% last month, and even full battery EVs were down 7%, YOY. Still, the plugin maket share is growing, and a 30% result […]

May 20 Energy News — geoharvey

May 21, 2022 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

    Next Entries »