2023 October 09 « nuclear-news

France seeks European subsidies for its nuclear industry – fears “discrimination against nuclear”

France urges swift deal on EU power reform to counter US subsidies Energy minister says bloc will lose out to Biden’s IRA if Paris and Berlin fail to resolve differences over nuclear power.

The US will be the main winner if a Franco-German divide over nuclear power prevents a long-awaited reform of Europe’s electricity market being finalised, France’s energy minister has warned. Agnès Pannier-Runacher said in an interview with the Financial Times that the sweeping overhaul of EU rules was needed as soon as possible to give businesses visibility on power prices, at a time when the US was luring industry with President Joe Biden’s clean energy subsidy programme under the Inflation Reduction Act……………….

The call comes ahead of a bilateral conference in Hamburg, starting on Monday, between French president Emmanuel Macron and German chancellor Olaf Scholz, accompanied by their cabinet ministers. Energy issues will be high on the agenda because Paris and Berlin have been arguing for months over the EU electricity market reform, specifically over how nuclear energy will be priced and the extent to which it can be subsidised……………

Behind the scenes in recent days, Paris and Berlin have been exchanging duelling policy papers and rewritten clauses for the draft law, while marshalling support from other EU member states.

On this reform and others, France has mounted a pro-nuclear campaign now joined by other countries that use the technology, including Poland and Hungary, in an effort to ensure the sector will be treated favourably.

But its drive has hit roadblocks, particularly in Germany, over concerns France will end up riding roughshod over state aid rules and benefit from lower prices for consumers and industry that other countries cannot match………………………………………………………..

Whether France and Germany will be able to square their differences in time for the next meeting of EU energy ministers on October 17 is unclear. The risk is that the reform will not be done by the end of the year and only become harder as EU parliament elections approach……………………..

The main thing still to be ironed out in the reform is the use of a mechanism known as “contracts for difference” (CFDs) which guarantee a minimum price for energy produced, and whether they should be applied to existing nuclear plants or just new ones. The CFDs have typically been used to incentivise renewable energy projects by guaranteeing revenues for producers, and Berlin has argued they should only apply to new investments.

France’s Energy Minister Pannier-Runacher said French reactors built decades ago required billions of euros in new investments for maintenance and to extend their lifespan and therefore should not be penalised with heavy restrictions around the application of CFDs.

As well as a minimum price, the CFD mechanism allows governments to recover excess revenues if prices jump past a set threshold, raising more questions about how governments then use those funds, especially if they were to be directed at providing further energy subsidies.

France had been happy with an original proposal on market reform put forward by the European Commission in March. But subsequent amendments with more restrictions on the uses of CFDs in a version presented by the European parliament have sparked the pushback. “At a certain stage it amounts to a discrimination against nuclear. We would not be allowed to do in the French system what other countries can [with their energy assets],” Pannier-Runacher said.

October 9, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, politics international | Leave a comment

How safe is the release of treated radioactive water from Fukushima plant

#nuclear #antinuclear #nuclear-free #NoNukes

5 Oct 2023Japan begins second discharge of treated nuclear water from Fukushima Japan has begun discharging a second batch of treated radioactive water from the crippled Fukushima plant into the ocean. It’s happening amid protest from countries like China, Russia and South Korea who are all concerned about the risks. Robert Jacobs from the Hiroshima Peace Institute explains with these worries are founded.

October 9, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Fukushima continuing, oceans | Leave a comment

Wind and solar are only forms of power generation rising globally, study finds.

Independent, Stuti Mishra 8 Oct 23,

China leads the charge by contributing to 43 per cent of the global
growth in solar energy generation.

. Electricity data from 78 countries that
represented 92 per cent of global electricity demand for the first half of
2023 was analysed in the study released by environmental think-tank Ember
on Thursday. It found that while overall emissions remained stable, with a
slight 0.2 per cent increase, wind and solar power generation surged ahead.

Independent 6th Oct 2023

more https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/solar-wind-energy-growth-rising-globally-b2425311.html

October 9, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable | Leave a comment

Class action launched against British Government over nuclear bomb tests in Australia

By A Current Affair Staff 7 Oct 23 https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/nuclear-bomb-testing-australia-class-action-british-government/199eafe9-c774-432e-99b2-f71a96ffb696—

It’s a scandal that has spanned decades as Australian and British servicemen sent to nuclear testing sites fight to be officially recognised for their service and suffering.

Between 1952 and 1963, Great Britain carried out nuclear bomb tests in Australia and the Pacific.

Doug Brooks was at the first one.

“The only thing we were told to do was turn our backs to the blast ground zero, cover our eyes with our hands and the blast x-rayed our hands we could see the bones,” he told A Current Affair.

Tony Spruzen was at the Maralinga test range in the remote outback of South Australia.

“The brightness was so much, it’s something like I never experienced before, I could see through my eyelids, I could see the bones of my fingers,” he said.

Doug and Tony are two of the rapidly diminishing number of veterans sent to the nuclear test sites.

In total 45 tests were conducted by Britain’s Ministry of Defence – 12 of those were in Australia at the blessing of the Menzies government.

There were 22,000 servicemen in the Pacific tests. 1500 are still alive.

Now there is a new class action against the British Government.

“Well, what’s prompted it is that we’ve discovered medical records do in fact exist for these servicemen,” lawyer Matthew Jury said.

“We have a copy of these records and what that tells us is the other medical records exist which the government has been concealing for 70 years so those surviving servicemen who want answers now know that those records exist so where and the government has been concealing them.”

Jury’s firm has launched the action class and he claims records reveal the radiation levels in the blood and urine of the servicemen.

“As they have grown older they have developed extreme and aggressive forms of cancer,” Jury said.

“There have been miscarriages and other birth defects which can’t be treated by their doctors because their doctors don’t have their full medical records.”

The British Ministry of Defence hasn’t responded to requests for an interview or statement.

Watch the full story in the video player above. [on original]

October 9, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, UK | Leave a comment

Portland filmmaker on ‘Downwind,’ a powerful documentary about nuclear tests on U.S. soil

Oregon Live Kristi Turnquist 6 Oct 23 #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclear-free #NoNukes

Millions of people bought tickets this summer to see “Oppenheimer,” Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster movie about J. Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the atomic bomb during World War II. The first nuclear weapon was dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945, and a second bomb was dropped a few days later, on Nagasaki, Japan.

While the bombs are credited by some with ending World War II, as Japan surrendered shortly after the atomic weapons were dropped, the long-term effects of the radioactive fallout unleashed by detonating nuclear weapons is a subject the movie didn’t delve into, which has drawn some criticism.

However, a new documentary, “Downwind,” takes an in-depth look into the devastating impact the American government’s testing of nuclear weapons on U.S. soil has had, particularly on those unfortunate enough to live near testing sites, and potentially in people far beyond those borders.

………………………………….. In a phone interview, Shapiro and Miller talked about how they became interested in the subject of nuclear tests in America, and how for years the government downplayed the effects of radioactive fallout.

Shapiro recalls how he and Miller, who have collaborated on various projects over the years, became intrigued by a magazine report about “The Conqueror,” a 1956 movie produced by Howard Hughes that starred John Wayne in the unlikely role of Genghis Khan.

The movie was filmed in Utah in 1954, in locations a little over 100 miles from the Nevada Test Site, which was about 65 miles north of Las Vegas, and was the place where hundreds of above and below-ground nuclear tests were conducted, from 1951 through 1992.

As Patrick Wayne, son of the iconic star, says in an interview for “Downwind,” at the time “The Conqueror” was filmed, the nuclear tests were kept quiet, and those involved in the film didn’t know they were working in an area that had been dusted with, as the film says, some of the highest levels of radioactive fallout ever recorded in United State history.

A large number of people who worked on “The Conqueror,” including Wayne, ultimately died of complications related to cancer. In “Downwind,” Patrick Wayne acknowledges that some of the people involved in the making of “The Conqueror” smoked, but he suggests that the number of cancer-related fatalities suffered by members of “The Conqueror” cast and crew was still remarkable.

From this early interest, “We dove deeper into the research,” Shapiro says. They found that, from 1951 through 1992, the U.S. detonated 928 nuclear weapons at the Nevada Test Site.

“Downwind” looks at how miscalculated wind forecasts, government proclamations that radiation exposure wasn’t a serious health threat, and revelations from now-declassified documents referring to those who lived near the test site as a “low use segment of the population” potentially contributed to illnesses suffered by Americans who were never warned about the dangers of living near the test sites.

……………………….. Most affecting, however, are interviews filmed with some of the people who have been directly impacted by being “Downwinders,” and have become activists trying to draw attention to the dangers of exposure to radioactive fallout.

Ian Zabarte, Principal Man of the Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indians, for example, speaks with emotion about how the Nevada Test Site was located on Shoshone land, and how the soil, the water, and the people have all been affected, a process Zabarte calls “disgustingly shameful.”…………………………..

Another striking element of “Downwind” are clips from films produced by Lookout Mountain Laboratory, which operated generally in secret as a Hollywood film studio that was a unit of the U.S. Air Force and churned out films that, among other things, tended to downplay the impact of exposure to radioactive fallout…………………………….

Since “Downwind” has been shown at film festivals and became available to rent on streaming services, Shapiro says the filmmakers have been hearing from lots of people either interested in or close to the topic, including, as Shapiro says, “folks from Hanford,” the Washington state site that was established in 1943 “as part of the Manhattan Project to produce plutonium for national defense,” as the U.S. Department of Energy describes it………………………………………………………………………………. more https://www.oregonlive.com/entertainment/2023/10/portland-filmmaker-on-downwind-a-powerful-documentary-about-nuclear-tests-on-us-soil.html

October 9, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | media, Resources -audiovicual | Leave a comment

‘Substantial’ safety violation alleged at South Carolina nuclear plant after 20 years of problems

The State, Sammy Fretwell, Sun, October 8, 2023 #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclear-free #NoNukes

Federal regulators have cited Dominion Energy for what they say is a substantial safety violation after finding that utility workers failed for 20 years to resolve cracking problems at the company’s V.C. Summer nuclear power plant northwest of Columbia.

This past week, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued what’s known as a preliminary “yellow’’ safety assessment, a measure of how serious an atomic safety problem is considered at a power plant. Yellow assessments are the second most serious on an NRC scale of severity.

The NRC, which rarely issues yellow findings, said nuclear plant operators did not resolve cracking problems from 2003 to 2022 in V.C. Summer’s diesel generator system, one of the most important backup safety systems at an atomic power plant.

NRC officials were not available Friday to explain their concerns with the backup diesel generator system, but an Oct. 4 enforcement letter to Dominion nuclear operations president Eric Carr said the utility violated an atomic safety standard that could result in more scrutiny of the power plant……………………………………….

the NRC says the utility never adequately assessed what could be done to make sure the diesel piping system did not experience more cracking. The most recent cracks were identified in November 2022 during a 24-hour test of the system. Workers found a small leak on one of two diesel generator systems. The leak increased over time and workers discovered a 140-degree crack around a pipe, records show………………..

Tom Clements, a long-time nuclear safety advocate, said the NRC’s recent yellow safety assessment reveals a violation “too egregious to ignore.’’ He called for a “severe monetary fine’’ against Dominion, which he said ignored preventative maintenance through the years.

Dominion’s problems are noteworthy in light of the company’s recent request to renew its V.C. Summer operating license another 40 years, Clements said. The power plant, which cranked up operations in the early 1980s, is about 25 miles northwest of Columbia in rural Fairfield County………… https://news.yahoo.com/substantial-safety-violation-alleged-sc-141716023.html

October 9, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Senators worry about Saudi nuclear arms plans

Beyond Nuclear October 8, 2023 #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclear-free #NoNukes

US should reconsider helping Saudi Arabia develop domestic nuclear power, they wrote

Editor’s introduction: Brett Wilkins with Common Dreams has reported on an important step taken by a handful of US Senators who pushed back last week on selling commercial nuclear technology to Saudi Arabia. We republish the article below. (As always, any views expressed in the article are the writer’s own and do not necessarily reflect those of Beyond Nuclear.) But while the Senators’ letter to President Joe Biden voices concern that the Saudis could use a domestic reactor program to transition to nuclear weapons, it fails to recognize that this is an inevitable outcome of nuclear power technology no matter whose hands it is in.

By Brett Wilkins, Common Dreams

Amid reports that Saudi Arabia is seeking United States support for its nuclear energy program—whose capacities critics fear could be utilized to develop nuclear weapons—a group of 20 U.S. senators on Wednesday urged President Joe Biden to “seriously consider” whether such a move is in the national interest as the administration brokers a possible normalization deal between the kingdom and Israel.

In addition to concerns over the fundamentalist monarchy’s desire for a U.S. security guarantee as a condition for normalizing relations with apartheid Israel, as well as the future of a two-state solution in illegally occupied Palestine, the senators note in a letter to Biden that “the Saudi government is also reportedly seeking U.S. support to develop a civilian nuclear program, and to purchase more advanced U.S. weaponry.”

“While we should seriously consider whether it is in U.S. interests to help Saudi Arabia develop a domestic nuclear program, we should always maintain the high bar of the ‘gold standard’ 123 Agreement and insist on adherence to the Additional Protocol,” the senators wrote, referring to a provision of the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 requiring a country seeking a nuclear cooperation deal with the United States to commit to a set of nine nonproliferation criteria and expanded International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspections. The U.S. has entered into such agreements with more than two dozen countries, Taiwan, and the IAEA…………………………

The lawmakers’ letter was led by Democratic Sens. Chris Murphy (Conn.), Chris Van Hollen (Md.), Dick Durbin (Ill.), and Peter Welch (Vt.). Signatories include Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), John Fetterman (D-Pa.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Patty Murray (D-Wash.), and Ed Markey (D-Mass.)……………………………………………………………………………. more https://beyondnuclearinternational.org/2023/10/08/senators-worry-about-saudi-nuclear-arms-plans/

October 9, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics international, Saudi Arabia, USA | 1 Comment

World breaches key 1.5C warming mark for record number of days

The world is breaching a key warming threshold at a rate that has
scientists concerned, a BBC analysis has found. On about a third of days in
2023, the average global temperature was at least 1.5C higher than
pre-industrial levels. Staying below that marker long-term is widely
considered crucial to avoid the most damaging impacts of climate change.
But 2023 is “on track” to be the hottest year on record, and 2024 could be
hotter. “It is a sign that we’re reaching levels we haven’t been before,”
says Dr Melissa Lazenby, from the University of Sussex.

BBC 7th Oct 2023

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-66857354

October 9, 2023 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change | Leave a comment

Why The US Canceled Project Pluto: The Super Weapon That Never Was

Slash Gear, BY QUINA BATERNA/OCT. 8, 2023 #nuclear #antinuclear #nuclear-free #NoNukes

With the role of nuclear powers in maintaining global order and its ongoing arms race, it’s unsurprising that the United States has its eyes on Russia’s ongoing development of nuclear-powered missiles. However, it’s also a little more personal, especially because the United States had canceled a similar project more than half a century earlier: Project Pluto.

……………………………………………………………………………………… What is Project Pluto?

……………………. In 1961, the United States successfully unveiled the revolutionary Tory IIA-I in the midst of the Cold War. Mounted on top of a railroad car, it marked the world’s first nuclear ramjet engine when it came to life for just a few seconds. Three years later, the U.S. tested the Tory II-C, which was able to run for five minutes at full power — generating 513 megawatts or 35,000 pounds of thrust.

In theory, this marked a game-changing innovation for nuclear-powered missiles. However, coming off the heels of the success from the Tory II-C testing, the U.S. Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission canceled Project Pluto for good. So, what made the U.S. Air Force change its mind?

The beginning of the end for Project Pluto

Despite spending $260 million for its budget, Project Pluto’s sponsors cited fears that the project would be dangerous to even its allies, doing things such as “deafen, flatten, and irradiate people” en route to its target (even before the bomb drops).

SCIENCE
Why The US Canceled Project Pluto: The Super Weapon That Never Was
Romolotavani/Getty Images
BY QUINA BATERNA/OCT. 8, 2023 7:45 AM EST
With the role of nuclear powers in maintaining global order and its ongoing arms race, it’s unsurprising that the United States has its eyes on Russia’s ongoing development of nuclear-powered missiles. However, it’s also a little more personal, especially because the United States had canceled a similar project more than half a century earlier: Project Pluto.

In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced the development of several innovative nuclear weapons, including a nuclear-powered cruise missile. In his presidential address, Putin claimed that Russia’s innovations would make NATO missile defense systems “useless.” Citing the United States’ withdrawal from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty in 2002, Putin reiterates that its ongoing response is reactionary to the increasing range and proximity of the U.S. global missile defense systems to Russian borders.

A year later, The New York Times published an article stating U.S. officials suspected a nuclear blast from Russia’s Nenoksa Missile Test Site was one of the worst nuclear accidents in the region since Chernobyl. Reports claim that at least seven people were killed in the explosion, including five scientists (via The Bulletin). Here’s how it could have been inspired by the United States’ Project Pluto, and why it may cause problems.

What is Project Pluto?
Nevada National Security Site
For decades, the Nevada National Security Site (NNSS) has had an extensive history of supporting U.S. national security through nuclear testing. The base has served as a testing site for several types of new weapons, such as the Supersonic Low-Altitude Missile (SLAM) using nuclear ramjet power: codenamed Project Pluto.

In a 2013 brochure, the NNSS claimed that the principles behind the ramjet power used nuclear heat in combination with the force from the air in front of a vehicle to make it expand. Afterward, its exhaust provides the thrust necessary to fly and create impact.

In 1961, the United States successfully unveiled the revolutionary Tory IIA-I in the midst of the Cold War. Mounted on top of a railroad car, it marked the world’s first nuclear ramjet engine when it came to life for just a few seconds. Three years later, the U.S. tested the Tory II-C, which was able to run for five minutes at full power — generating 513 megawatts or 35,000 pounds of thrust.

In theory, this marked a game-changing innovation for nuclear-powered missiles. However, coming off the heels of the success from the Tory II-C testing, the U.S. Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission canceled Project Pluto for good. So, what made the U.S. Air Force change its mind?

The beginning of the end for Project Pluto
Federal Government of the United States (via Wikimedia)
Despite spending $260 million for its budget, Project Pluto’s sponsors cited fears that the project would be dangerous to even its allies, doing things such as “deafen, flatten, and irradiate people” en route to its target (even before the bomb drops).

Aside from this, it’s possible that additional testing requirements and manufacturing risks may have also come into consideration. In an interview with Scientific American, Edwin Lyman, a senior scientist in the Union of Concerned Scientists’ Global Security Program shared, “They had a proof-of-principle reactor on the ground, but my impression is that at the time the project was canceled there was probably still a substantial amount of engineering work that needed to be done, not to mention flight testing.”

According to the NNSS brochure, one of the key challenges that scientists cited was the materials used for the reactor. While typically used at the time, concrete made it difficult for missiles to fly long trips towards targets. In addition, materials needed to be able to withstand incredible heat to avoid damaging the structural integrity of the missile.