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Point Lepreau nuclear station – a heavy financial burden that keeps getting heavier.

Point Lepreau has become a heavy financial burden

the station will remain at risk of unplanned outages because of aging equipment.

NB Power’s latest financial plan forecasts its debt will continue to grow. In the utility’s base case model, debt will keep rising for the rest of this decade, reaching nearly $6.3-billion by 2029. It keeps rising even in more optimistic scenarios.

Point Lepreau station is among North America’s worst-performing nuclear power plants. Can New Brunswick Power turn it around?

Globe and Mail, MATTHEW MCCLEARN , July 29, 2024

In the early hours of Dec. 14, 2022, New Brunswick’s Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station lost power after an electrical fault. Just hours later, at 4:40 a.m., an alarm sounded: The plant had suffered a small coolant leak and NB Power, the facility’s owner, detected radioactivity. The station was locked down to prevent that radioactivity from escaping, and an emergency response team was readied.

Somehow, two unrelated pieces of equipment had failed simultaneously, touching off a costly and time-consuming recovery. Workers needed to bring the reactor to a guaranteed shutdown state. They had to regain entry to the reactor building and decontaminate it. And they needed to find the leak and stop it. The station would remain out of service for 42 days.

This outage was just one of several in recent years that, in combination, point to severe reliability problems at Atlantic Canada’s only nuclear power plant. The latest, which was planned to end after 100 days on July 12 and cost more than $100-million, included installing a new 9,000-horsepower primary heat transport pump and motor, which moves heat generated by the reactor to the station’s steam generators.

But NB Power spokesperson Dominique Couture said workers discovered a problem with the station’s main generator, which provides electricity to the province’s grid. At a rate hearing before the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board, company officials said the plant is expected to remain offline until at least September. And the station will remain at risk of unplanned outages because of aging equipment.

It will be many years before we have put those risks behind us,” said Jason Nouwens, the station’s director of regulatory and external affairs.

Point Lepreau is one of North America’s worst-performing nuclear stations. Intending to keep it running until at least 2039, NB Power has struggled unsuccessfully for the past several years to rehabilitate the station and expects to spend hundreds of millions of dollars more on it in the next few years.

The utility is not too proud to ask for help: It wants Ontario Power Generation to effectively incorporate the plant into OPG’s large fleet of Candu reactors. Key senior leadership positions at the station are now held by OPG employees.

But there’s no guarantee OPG will agree to take over the stricken station on favourable terms, or at all. And it’s not clear NB Power can afford the steep repair bill.

New Brunswick’s dilemma points to challenges that other provinces, such as Alberta and Saskatchewan, should consider as they look to build new reactors………………………………………………………………………….

According to NB Power, Point Lepreau has roughly 115,000 components. The December, 2022, outage illustrated how the failure of just one of them, however inconsequential it may seem, can knock it out. The culprit for the water leak turned out to be a crack in a small instrument line near the reactor core, about the diameter of a finger. This line had been deemed necessary for the plant’s commissioning more than 40 years earlier, but was useless thereafter.

NB Power concluded that when the station lost power, other systems fired up that increased vibration throughout the plant. “This was essentially the final straw that propagated the crack to a failure point,” Mr. Nouwens explained to the federal safety regulator during a hearing after the incident. “It had been coming for some time.”

Outages are expensive. Point Lepreau’s 900 workers must be paid regardless of how much electricity the plant generates. Each day it’s out of service, NB Power also incurs hundreds of thousands of dollars in overtime costs.

NB Power must purchase energy to cover the shortfall as well, at an average cost of $900,000 a day.

Repeated outages have forced NB Power to divert capital to the station. This thwarted efforts to repay debts, most of which were incurred at Point Lepreau. This year’s extended outage also forced the utility to delay work at other power plants…………………………………………………………………..

NB Power’s latest financial plan forecasts its debt will continue to grow. In the utility’s base case model, debt will keep rising for the rest of this decade, reaching nearly $6.3-billion by 2029. It keeps rising even in more optimistic scenarios.

Heeding nuclear’s siren song

When Point Lepreau was still being planned, some experts doubted how suitable nuclear power was for a small province. Andrew Secord, an economics professor at St. Thomas University, found a March, 1972, memo by Myles Foster, an official at the federal Finance Department, that said that NB Power’s decision to go nuclear was “the equivalent of a Volkswagen family acquiring a Cadillac as a second car.”

Since then, Point Lepreau has become a heavy financial burden. At various times, the province has considered shuttering it or selling it. Ultimately, though, NB Power’s board of directors decided in 2005 to double down and extend the station’s life.

Refurbishments compel utilities to make crucial decisions about which equipment to replace, and what to keep. Pressure tubes, the Candu’s main life-limiting components, are a given, but many other components must be carefully assessed. Misjudgments can be costly.

Point Lepreau’s refurbishment began in March, 2008, and was scheduled to wrap up by October, 2009, at an expected cost of $845-million. According to a 2002 NB Power document, even if all two dozen of the worst disasters the utility could envision came to pass – everything from delays to strikes to unexpected additional work – it would add up to a combined maximum overrun of $623-million.

But things went worse – far worse – than NB Power imagined possible. It called in OPG to assist. The reactor finally returned to service in November, 2012, three years late and massively over budget.

Even this might have been salvageable had the plant operated reliably thereafter. NB Power was counting on Point Lepreau reaching a capacity factor of 89 per cent. Instead, NB Power found itself playing a game of Whac-A-Mole with recurring maintenance issues…………………………

NB Power has acknowledged that while the 2008-12 refurbishment focused on the reactor itself, equipment in the rest of the plant – sometimes referred to as the “conventional” side – typically was not replaced. Some of that equipment, such as the problematic generator that recently delayed the station’s return to service, is now breaking down. The utility made bad calls and is now paying a terrible price.

Recovery plan

NB Power is now drawing up a recovery plan for its ailing station, which features greatly increased maintenance spending: more than $87-million in 2025, tapering off thereafter.

But according to ScottMadden, this likely won’t suffice. Spending less than $80-million a year is “slightly more likely than not to result in performance declines,” whereas spending $100-million to $120-million is expected to deliver “the highest marginal returns in expected improvements.” Under current plans, ScottMadden warned, Point Lepreau’s performance will likely decline again beginning in 2030.

OPG sent a delegation to the stricken station last year to assess its condition, examine maintenance plans and interview NB Power employees. Last September, the utilities signed a three-year agreement under which OPG has seconded staff to the Point Lepreau station. NB Power says it has received support from OPG’s chief nuclear officer, a vice-president who’d supervised refurbishments and outages, and a chief nuclear projects officer.

OPG and NB Power are now in talks that might lead to Point Lepreau becoming part of OPG’s reactor fleet. At a hearing before the New Brunswick Energy and Utilities Board in June, Ms. Clark said OPG would likely assume majority ownership and would bring “some capital to the table to help with some of the investments that are required in the station over the longer term.”

She added, however, that given the difficulty of reaching “even general agreement on things,” a deal likely wouldn’t be reached before late 2025.

Even as NB Power officials struggle to fix Point Lepreau, they continue to offer their services to provinces such as Alberta and Saskatchewan, which possess little prior experience with nuclear technology. At an industry conference in Calgary in April, officials offered to help such provinces evaluate new reactor technologies and work with regulators…………..

They did not share any sense of the pitfalls of nuclear power – a topic for which NB Power has unfortunately gained formidable expertise.  https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-point-lepreau-station-is-among-north-americas-worst-performing-nuclear/

July 30, 2024 Posted by | business and costs, Canada | Leave a comment

Netanyahu’s Visit to Congress Underscores US Contempt for International Law

Netanyahu is getting cozy with Congress, just days after the ICJ told UN members to stop aiding the Israeli occupation.

By Marjorie Cohn , Truthout July 24, 2024

he U.S. has long ignored many commands of international law, but its casual disregard of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has come into sharp focus this week as the U.S. Congress extends a warm welcome to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, just five days after the ICJ notified all UN member states that they have a legal “obligation not to render aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”

The World Court’s historic 83-page advisory opinion, which was issued on July 19 and held that the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal, was quickly hailed by Middle East political expert Nomi Bar-Yaacov as a “legal earthquake” and the strongest decision that the court had ever issued.

Unsurprisingly, however, both the Israeli and U.S. governments denounced the ICJ’s ruling and proceeded with their plans — including Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, D.C. — as if it had never occurred.

The purpose of Netanyahu’s trip is to shore up U.S. support for his ongoing genocidal campaign against the Palestinians in Gaza and for his crusade against Iran.

“The Jewish people are not occupiers in their own land, including in our eternal capital Jerusalem nor in Judea and Samaria, our historical homeland,” Netanyahu declared after the ICJ issued its decision. “No absurd opinion in The Hague can deny this historical truth or the legal right of Israelis to live in their own communities in our ancestral home.”

Joe Biden’s administration meanwhile conveyed that it is “concerned that the breadth” of the decision will “complicate” the “efforts to resolve the conflict.” The U.S. State Department said the ICJ’s order that Israel withdraw from the Palestinian territories is “inconsistent with the established framework” for resolving “the conflict.” Parroting Israel’s mantra, the State Department said the resolution should occur through negotiations.

Negotiations have proved worthless in ending Israel’s illegal occupation and its genocide in Gaza and achieving justice for the Palestinians. Although the Biden administration has advocated a two-state solution, its unbridled support for the Zionist regime, which continues to carve up occupied Palestinian territory into noncontiguous enclaves, makes that “solution” impossible.

The U.S. government enables Israel’s illegal occupation by providing $3.8 billion annually and it has sent Israel an addition $15 billion in military aid since October 7, 2023. This helps fund Israel’s genocide, which has killed nearly 39,000 Palestinians by the official Gaza Health Ministry count, although the true death toll is likely much higher. Moreover, the U.S. has vetoed three Security Council resolutions that would have demanded a ceasefire in Gaza.

In order to comply with the ruling of the World Court, the U.S. government would have to end its military assistance to Israel and stop providing political and diplomatic cover to enable Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.

The ICJ’s Legal Findings

The ICJ ruled that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza violates international law, which prohibits the acquisition of territory by threat or use of force and enshrines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. “The sustained abuse by Israel of its position as an occupying Power, through annexation and an assertion of permanent control over the Occupied Palestinian Territory and continued frustration of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, violates fundamental principles of international law and renders Israel’s presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory unlawful,” the court wrote…………………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Consequences of the Ruling

The World Court’s advisory opinion was issued in response to a request by the General Assembly. Although not legally binding, the decision carries great moral weight………………………………………………………………………………………….. more https://truthout.org/articles/netanyahus-visit-to-congress-underscores-us-contempt-for-international-law/

July 30, 2024 Posted by | Israel, Legal, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Americans! How to make your vote count in November, and save the world in the process.

 Substack Scott Ritter: Voting Against Nuclear War, July 29, 2024 

“……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………… The 2024 Presidential race, however, does directly impact the existential survival of the United States, the American people, and indeed the entire world, but not because of its outcome. The harsh reality is that regardless of who among the two major candidates wins in November, American policy vis-à-vis Russia, especially when it comes to nuclear posture and arms control, is hard-wired to achieve the same result. And it is this result that seals the fate of all humanity unless a way can be found to prompt a critical re-think of the underlying policies that produce the anticipated outcome.

A future Harris administration is on track to continue a policy which commits to the strategic defeat of Russia, the lowering of the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons in Europe, the termination of the last remaining arms control treaty (New START) in February 2026, and the re-deployment of intermediate-range missiles into Europe, also in 2026.

No matter who wins among the two major candidates in November, the United States is on track for a major existential crisis with Russia in Europe sometime in 2026. The re-introduction of INF-capable systems by the US will trigger a similar deployment by Russia of nuclear-capable INF systems targeting Europe………………………………………………………………………..

The INF treaty, signed in 1987, removed these destabilizing weapons from Europe. But now that treaty is no more, and the weapons that brought Europe and the world to the brink of destruction in the 1980’s are returning to a European continent where notions of peaceful coexistence with Russia have been replaced with rhetoric promoting the inevitability of conflict.

When one combines the existence of a policy objective (the strategic defeat of Russia) which, when coupled with a policy of supporting a Ukrainian victory over Russia predicated on Ukraine regaining physical control over Crimea and the four territories of New Russia (Kherson, Zaporizhia, Donetsk, and Lugansk), one already has a recipe for disaster, since this policy, if successful, would automatically trigger a Russian nuclear response, since doctrinally nuclear weapons would be used to respond to any non-nuclear scenario where the existential survival of Russia is at stake. (The loss of Crimea and the New Territories is like the United States losing Texas, California, or New York—a literal existential situation.)

Add to this the end of arms control as we know it come February 2026, when the New START treaty expires. The Biden administration has declared that it will seek to add new nuclear weapons “without limitation” once the New START caps on deployed weapons expires—the literal definition of an arms race out of control. One can only imagine that Russia would be compelled to match this rearmament activity.

And finally, the recent agreement by the US and Germany to redeploy intermediate-range missiles on European soil in 2026, and Russia’s decision to match this action by building and deploying its own intermediate-range missiles, recreates the very situational instability which threatened regional and world security back in the 1980’s.

When one examines these factors in their aggregate, the inescapable conclusion is that Europe will be faced with an existential crisis which could come to a head as early as the summer of 2026. The potential for the use of nuclear weapons, either by design or accident, is real, creating a situation that exceeds the Cuban Missile Crisis in terms of the risk of a nuclear war by an order of magnitude or more.

While a future nuclear conflict would very likely start in Europe, it will be virtually impossible to contain the use of nuclear weapons on the European continent. Any use of nuclear weapons against Russian soil, or the territory of its ally, Belarus, would trigger a general Russian nuclear response which would lead to a general, global-killing nuclear war.

The question Americans confront today is what to do about this existential threat to their very survival.

The answer put forward here is to empower your vote in the coming presidential election by tying it not to a person or party, but rather a policy.

The answer put forward here is to empower your vote in the coming presidential election by tying it not to a person or party, but rather a policy.

In short, empower your vote by pledging it to the candidate who will commit to prioritizing peace over war, and who pledges to make the prevention of nuclear war, not the promotion of nuclear weapons, the cornerstone of his or her national security policy.

Don’t give your vote away by committing to a candidate at this early stage—when you do this, you no longer matter, as the candidates will simply turn their attention to those uncommitted voters in an effort to win them over.

Make the candidates earn your vote by linking it to a policy posture that reflects your core values.

And this election, your core value should be exclusively centered on promoting peace and preventing nuclear war.

Such a policy posture would be built upon for basic pillars.

1. Immediately end the current declaratory policy of the United States which articulates the strategic defeat of Russia as a primary US objective and replace it with a policy statement which makes peaceful coexistence with Russia the strategic goal of US foreign and national security policy. Such a policy redirection would include, by necessity, the goal of rethinking European security frameworks which respect the legitimate national security concerns of Russia and Europe, and would incorporate the necessity of a neutral Ukraine.

2. A freeze on the re-deployment of INF-capable weapons systems into Europe, matched by a Russian agreement not to re-introduce INF-capable weapons into its arsenal, with the goal of turning this freeze into a formal agreement that would be finalized in treaty form.

3. A commitment to engage with Russia on the negotiation and implementation of a new strategic arms control treaty which seeks equitable cuts in the strategic nuclear arsenals of both nations, a reduction in the number of nuclear weapons each side can retain in storage, and which incorporates limits on ballistic missile defense.

4. A general commitment to work with Russia to pursue verifiable and sustainable nuclear arms reduction globally using multi-lateral negotiations.

I will be working with Gerald Celente, Judge Andrew Napolitano, Garland Nixon, Wilmur Leon, Max Blumenthal, Anya Parampil, Jeff Norman, Danny Haiphong, and many others to put together an event, Operation DAWN, on September 28, 2024. The goal of this event will be to get as many American citizens as possible to tie their vote to the policy posture spelled out above, and then to leverage these commitments in a way that compels all candidates for the presidency to articulate policies that meet this criterion.

In doing so, the voter would be fighting for a chance to save democracy by making his or her vote count, save America and the world by creating the possibility to avert nuclear conflict, all by making the candidates for presidency earn their vote, as opposed to simply giving it away.

Operation DAWN is still in the preliminary planning stages. More details will be published here as the planning progresses.  https://scottritter.substack.com/p/operation-dawn-update-a-vote-earned

July 30, 2024 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Putin warns the US of Cold War-style missile crisis

Reuters By Guy Faulconbridge and Dmitry Antonov, July 28, 2024

  • Summary
  • Russia warns United States over missiles in Germany
  • Putin says Russia will deploy if plans are implemented
  • Putin: United States risks Cold War-style crisis
  • U.S. plans to deploy longer range missiles in Germany

MOSCOW, July 28 (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday warned the United States that if Washington deployed long-range missiles in Germany then Russia would station similar missiles in striking distance of the West.

The United States said on July 10 that it would start deploying long-range missiles, opens new tab in Germany from 2026 in preparation for a longer-term deployment that will include SM-6, Tomahawk cruise missiles and developmental hypersonic weapons.

n a speech to sailors from Russia, China, Algeria and India to mark Russian navy day in the former imperial capital of St Petersburg, Putin warned the United States that it risked triggering a Cold War-style missile crisis with the move.

“The flight time to targets on our territory of such missiles, which in the future may be equipped with nuclear warheads, will be about 10 minutes,” Putin said.

“We will take mirror measures to deploy, taking into account the actions of the United States, its satellites in Europe and in other regions of the world.”……………………………………….  Https://www.reuters.com/world/putin-warns-united-states-cold-war-style-missile-crisis-2024-07-28/

July 30, 2024 Posted by | politics international, Russia, USA | Leave a comment

Stop Sizewell C applied to High Court to challenge Sizewell C Nuclear Site Licence

On Friday Stop Sizewell C applied to the High Court for permission to
challenge the Sizewell C Nuclear Site Licence, on the basis that the
boundary of the Nuclear Site Licence (NSL) does not cover the sea defences
and proposed new flood barriers, which are critical for future site safety.
This legal action concerns the safety of the Sizewell C site in the age of
climate change, with sea levels potentially rising further and faster than
previously thought, but we consider it urgent to be challenged given
Sizewell C’s push to achieve a Final Investment Decision.

Stop Sizewell C 29th July 2024

https://mailchi.mp/stopsizewellc/nslchallenge?e=326ee81c22

July 30, 2024 Posted by | Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Controversy in France about future energy policy

 Electricite de France SA Chief Executive Officer Luc Remont urged French
policymakers to review subsidies for solar power, saying the measures add
too much generation to the grid and undermine the nuclear giant’s
finances as electricity demand remains subdued.

The comments will fuel controversy among nuclear and renewable opponents as EDF seeks financial backing from the government for the construction of six new atomic plants,
which may cost €67.4 billion.

However, the lack of a clear parliamentary
majority that emerged from legislative elections raises questions about
France’s future energy policy, including support for nuclear projects in
the near term.

 FFinancial Post 26th July 2024

https://financialpost.com/pmn/business-pmn/edf-chief-says-french-solar-power-subsidies-need-scrutiny

July 30, 2024 Posted by | France, politics | Leave a comment

Counteracting the nuclear spin, and more – week to 29 July

Some bits of good news. The Gambia’s decision to uphold ban on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) a  critical win for girls’ and women’s rights.   Oceana Canada Celebrates Major Conservation Victory: Underwater Mountains off the Coast of B.C. Now Permanently Protected, under indigenous guidance.   Great Green Wall has revived Africa’s degraded landscapes

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TOP STORIES. 

What the top UN court’s ruling means for Israel.   Netanyahu Commands, US Obeys. 

Rolling stewardship of nuclear waste. 

Young Changemakers Advocate for Nuclear-Free Future through Educational Journey in Kazakhstan.

Climate. Severe heatwave in Iran forces shops and public institutions to close

Noel’s notes. Militarism: How NATO is co-opting women and young people – with a veneer of peace and fun.         The digital system threatens the nuclear industry – it’ll get worse with AI.          Absolutely fed up with Facebook and Google’s censorship of nuclear issues.

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AUSTRALIA. Dutton’s nuclear delusion an exercise in stupidity. Czech nuclear deal shows CSIRO GenCost is too optimistic, and new nukes are hopelessly uneconomic. Aussies react to Dutton’s Nuclear Policy – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9o4S335dXM4 

Canada rejects AUKUS nuclear submarine deal. AUKUS and the pride of politicians. 

From the archives. Gina Rinehart’s threat to the proud independence of Australia’s Fairfax newspapers.

 Respect and responsibility: Jabiluka safe as uranium mining lease for Kakadu site not renewed8. 

Lots more Australian news at https://antinuclear.net/2024/07/23/australian-nuclear-news-headlines-22-29-july/

NUCLEAR ITEMS

CLIMATE. Hungary to allow nuclear plant to exceed Danube water temperature limit. Huge wildfire rips into California.

ECONOMICS.

EDUCATION. Bangor University to collaborate with Rolls Royce and the University of Oxford to develop nuclear power for space.ENERGY. Solar doesn’t need a toxic “friendship” with nuclear power.ETHICS and RELIGION. A letter to the children of tomorrow. “Nuclear disarmament is a right to life issue” – Catholic Archbishop John C Wester.

EVENTS. 30 July Webinar: Halt Holtec – the Nuclear Mafia Atomic People will be broadcast on Wednesday 31 July on BBC Two and BBC iPlaye 6 August WEBINAR. Never Again! Remembering the Atomic Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

LEGAL. A $36.8 billion lesson from Georgia– “The most expensive electricity in the world”Potential claims against NANO Nuclear Energy Inc.  The World Court Has Cleared the Fog Hiding Western Support for Israel’s Crimes.Hundreds protesting Netanyahu visit arrested at US Capitol. Two legal actions against the hasty commissioning of Flamanville nuclear reactor.MEDIA. BBC correspondent exposes ‘collapse of journalistic norms’ after 7 Oct. Meta’s Policy On Zionism Exposed: Cyberwell Scrambles After Israel Ties Revealed. U.S. media downplays and ignores ICJ ruling declaring Israeli occupation illegal.
We published an analysis from a leading economist on soaring nuclear costs. Facebook removed it 

OPPOSITION to NUCLEAR . Nuclear energy not the way to go: coalition Taiwan. UK Nuclear Free Local Authorities back joint statement condemning AUKUS nuclear proliferation. Nuclear Free Local Authorities congratulate marchers on Lakenheath protest.

PEACE. 2024 Golden Rule Voyage Begins!PERSONAL STORIES. ‘Atomic bomb hell must never be repeated’ say Japan’s last survivors.PLUTONIUM. Is nuclear waste able to be recycled? Would that solve the  nuclear waste problem?
SAFETY Safety warnings as cracks rise at Torness nuclear plant. Japan Nuclear Restart Suffers Major Setback.TECHNOLOGY. Humans should teach AI how to avoid nuclear war—while they still can.WASTES. Radioactive Wastes from Nuclear Reactors.
WAR and CONFLICT. Israel nearing ‘all-out war’ – foreign minister. Washington gives Netanyahu ‘full backing’ to expand war on Lebanon: Israel Report. While Netanyahu is feted in U.S. Congress, Israeli airstrike hits a school sheltering people in Gaza, killing at least 30.

Scottish parliamentarian highlights ‘nuclear annihilation risk’ in major UN speech		WEAPONS and WEAPONS SALES. Will US defend Japan with nukes or turn it into the line of fire? US Forces Japan to be upgraded to warfighting command.

Tit for tat? Putin warns Russia may resume production of intermediate-range nuclear weapons.
EU sets date of transfer of Russian money to Ukraine for arms purchases.

July 29, 2024 Posted by | Christina's notes | Leave a comment

‘Atomic bomb hell must never be repeated’ say Japan’s last survivors

Atomic People will be broadcast on Wednesday 31 July on BBC Two and BBC iPlaye

Lucy Wallis, BBC News  https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crg5lyd25jno 26 July 24

It was early in the day, but already hot. As she wiped sweat from her brow, Chieko Kiriake searched for some shade. As she did so, there was a blinding light – it was like nothing the 15-year-old had ever experienced. It was 08:15 on 6 August 1945.

“It felt like the sun had fallen – and I grew dizzy,” she recalls.

The United States had just dropped an atomic bomb on Chieko’s home city of Hiroshima – the first time a nuclear weapon had ever been used in warfare. While Germany had surrendered in Europe, allied forces fighting in World War Two were still at war with Japan.

Chieko was a student, but like many older pupils, had been sent out to work in the factories during the war. She staggered to her school, carrying an injured friend on her back. Many of the students had been badly burnt. She rubbed old oil, found in the home economics classroom, onto their wounds.

“That was the only treatment we could give them. They died one after the next,” says Chieko.

“Us older students who survived were instructed by our teachers to dig a hole in the playground and I cremated [my classmates] with my own hands. I felt so awful for them.”

Chieko is now 94 years old. It is almost 80 years since the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki and time is running out for the surviving victims – known as hibakusha in Japan – to tell their stories.

Many have lived with health problems, lost loved ones and been discriminated against because of the atomic attack. Now, they are sharing their experiences for a BBC Two film, documenting the past so it can act as a warning for the future

After the sorrow, new life started to return to her city, says Chieko.

“People said the grass wouldn’t grow for 75 years,” she says, “but by the spring of the next year, the sparrows returned.”

In her lifetime, Chieko says she has been close to death many times but has come to believe she has been kept alive by the power of something great.

The majority of hibakusha alive today were children at the time of the bombings. As the hibakusha – which translates literally as “bomb-affected-people” – have grown older, global conflicts have intensified. To them, the risk of a nuclear escalation feels more real than ever.

“My body trembles and tears overflow,” says 86-year-old Michiko Kodama when she thinks about conflicts around the world today – such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the Israel-Gaza war.

“We must not allow the hell of the atomic bombing to be recreated. I feel a sense of crisis.”

Michiko is a vocal campaigner for nuclear disarmament and says she speaks out so the voices of those who have died can be heard – and the testimonies passed on to the next generations.

“I think it is important to hear first-hand accounts of hibakusha who experienced the direct bombing,” she says.

Michiko had been at school – aged seven – when the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.

“Through the windows of my classroom, there was an intense light speeding towards us. It was yellow, orange, silver.”

She describes how the windows shattered and splintered across the classroom – the debris spraying everywhere “impaling the walls, desk, chairs”.

“The ceiling came crashing down. So I hid my body under the desk.”

After the blast, Michiko looked around the devastated room. In every direction she could see hands and legs trapped.

“I crawled from the classroom to the corridor and my friends were saying, ‘Help me’.”

When her father came to collect her, he carried her home on his back.

Black rain, “like mud”, fell from the sky, says Michiko. It was a mixture of radioactive material and residue from the explosion.

She has never been able to forget the journey home.

“It was a scene from hell,” says Michiko. “The people who were escaping towards us, most of their clothes had completely burned away and their flesh was melting.”

She recalls seeing one girl – all alone – about the same age as her. She was badly burnt.

“But her eyes were wide open,” says Michiko. “That girl’s eyes, they pierce me still. I can’t forget her. Even though 78 years have passed, she is seared into my mind and soul.”

Michiko wouldn’t be alive today if her family had remained in their old home. It was only 350m (0.21 miles) from the spot where the bomb exploded. About 20 days before, her family had moved house, just a few kilometres away – but that saved her life.

Estimates put the number of lost lives in Hiroshima, by the end of 1945, at about 140,000.

In Nagasaki, which was bombed by the US three days later, at least 74,000 were killed.

Sueichi Kido lived just 2km (1.24 miles) from the epicentre of the Nagasaki blast. Aged five at the time, he suffered burns to part of his face. His mother, who received more serious injuries, had protected him from the full impact of the blast.

“We hibakusha have never given up on our mission of preventing the creation of any more hibakusha,” says Sueichi, who is now 83 and recently travelled to New York to give a speech at the United Nations to warn of the dangers of nuclear weapons.

When he woke up after fainting from the impact of the blast, the first thing he remembers seeing was a red oil can. For years he thought it was that oil can that had caused the explosion and surrounding devastation.

His parents didn’t correct him, choosing to shield him from the fact it had been a nuclear attack – but whenever he mentioned it, they would cry.
Not all injuries were instantly visible. In the weeks and months after the blast, many people in both cities began to show symptoms of radiation poisoning – and there were increased levels of leukaemia and cancer.

For years, survivors have faced discrimination in society, particularly when it came to finding a partner.

“‘We do not want hibakusha blood to enter our family line,’ I was told,” says Michiko.

But later, she did marry and had two children.

She lost her mother, father and brothers to cancer. Her daughter died from the disease in 2011.

“I feel lonely, angry and scared, and I wonder if it may be my turn next,” she says.

Another bomb survivor, Kiyomi Iguro, was 19 when the bomb struck Nagasaki. She describes marrying into a distant relative’s family and having a miscarriage – which her mother-in-law attributed to the atomic bomb.

“‘Your future is scary.’ That’s what she told me.”

Kiyomi says she was instructed not to tell her neighbours that she had experienced the atomic bomb.

Since being interviewed for the documentary, Kiyomi has sadly died.

But, until she was 98, she would visit the Peace Park in Nagasaki and ring the bell at 11:02 – the time the bomb hit the city – to wish for peace.

Sueichi went on to teach Japanese history at university. Knowing he was a hibakusha cast a shadow on his identity, he says. But then he realised he was not a normal human being and felt a duty to speak out to save humankind.

“A sense that I was a special person was born in me,” says Sueichi.

It is something the hibakusha all feel that they share – an enduring determination to ensure the past never becomes the present.

Atomic People will be broadcast on Wednesday 31 July on BBC Two and BBC iPlaye

July 29, 2024 Posted by | Japan, PERSONAL STORIES, Reference, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Rolling stewardship of nuclear waste

Rolling Stewardship is not a solution to the radioactive waste problem, but an acknowledgement that we do not have a solution. Instead of assuming a solution exists, we should recognize that there is no proven solution.

Instead of abandoning the waste, we should monitor it and make sure it is retrievable.

We know how to package these wastes well enough to keep the radioactive contents out of the environment. The containers should be thick-walled, very robust, and built to last. They should not be right beside major bodies of water. They should be subject to Hardened On-Site Storage away from the shore.

Radioactive Wastes from Nuclear Reactors, Questions and Answers, Gordon Edwards 28 July 24.

Rolling Stewardship is a concept put forward by the National Academy of Sciences in connection with other long-lived toxic wastes like heavy metals and asbestos. When we do not have a genuine waste solution, we must not abandon it. We must continue to look after it on an intergenerational basis, passing the responsibility, the knowledge and the resources to the next generation, with the object of continually improving safe storage.

For the first thirty years of the nuclear age, until mid 1970s, no one knew about radioactive waste. The nuclear industry did not tell anyone about it. People were told that nuclear power is clean. And they believed it. But it was not true.

In the mid-1970s, radioactive waste suddenly became public knowledge. Major reports in several countries called for a halt to nuclear power unless the problem is solved. The waste problem became an existential problem for the industry. In self-defence, the industry claimed – without real evidence – that they had a solution: “Bury the waste in an undisturbed geologic formation”. But of course, the moment you dig, it is no longer undisturbed. We have seen three deep underground repositories for lower level radioactive waste fail – two in Germany, and one near Carlsbad New Mexico. As for high-level radioactive waste, the USA has tried eight times to locate a deep underground disposal site, and they have failed all eight times.

Here in California, in 1976, hundreds of thousands of people signed a citizen’s initiative bill to stop any new reactors from being built in the state because there is no waste solution. That bill was passed into law, and it is still the law. The California Legislature asked the Energy Resources and Conservation Commission to determine if there is a safe disposal method. After 2 years of intensive public hearings the verdict was “no”.

The Commission Chairman said : “We think it probable that [safe permanent disposal] will never be demonstrated. Excessive optimism about the potential for safe disposal [of nuclear wastes] has caused backers of nuclear power to ignore scientific evidence pointing to its pitfalls. That’s the real crux of what we found — that you have to weigh scientific evidence against essentially engineering euphoria.”  

Emilio Varanini III, Chairman, California Energy Resources and Conservation Commission, 1978 

Rolling Stewardship is not a solution to the radioactive waste problem, but an acknowledgement that we do not have a solution. Instead of assuming a solution exists, we should recognize that there is no proven solution.

Instead of abandoning the waste, we should monitor it and make sure it is retrievable.

Instead of waiting for the containers to fall apart underground, we should repair and repackage and improve safety measures from one generation to the next. Instead if walking away from the waste, we should keep it under close surveillance.

Leakage in a burial chamber will not be detected until it is too late. Rolling Stewardship will allow us to take timely action to intervene – to stop the leak and prevent recurrence.

Instead of waiting for the containers to fall apart underground, we should repair and repackage and improve safety measures from one generation to the next. Instead if walking away from the waste, we should keep it under close surveillance.

Leakage in a burial chamber will not be detected until it is too late. Rolling Stewardship will allow us to take timely action to intervene – to stop the leak and prevent recurrence.

Instead of closing the door on research to find a genuine solution to the waste problem, Rolling Stewardship will ensure that we keep that quest at the forefront of human consciousness.

This may sound idealistic, but in fact it is simply realistic. The worst thing about self-deception (thinking you have a solution when you don’t)  is that you end up with a radioactive mess – a vastly inferior and dangerous form of rolling stewardship – and very much costlier, because it was not planned at the outset.

We know how to package these wastes well enough to keep the radioactive contents out of the environment. The containers should be thick-walled, very robust, and built to last. They should not be right beside major bodies of water. They should be subject to Hardened On-Site Storage away from the shore.

The main reason waste storage is currently so unsatisfactory is that the industry has told us it is only temporary. We have to stop thinking that way.

Because we do not have a solution, Rolling Stewardship is what we do in the meantime to keep ourselves and our environment safe from the radioactive legacy of the nuclear age.

 One of the worst things about abandoning radioactive waste is that, over the very long term, amnesia sets in. Everyone forgets where the waste is or what it is or how to contain it. So when it leaks out into the environment – and it will leak out sooner or later – no one knows how to even detect it or to deal with it.

Rolling Stewardship, on the other hand is predicated on the persistence of memory. The knowledge of these highly toxic wastes and how to deal with them must be kept alive from generation to generation because it remains an ongoing risk.

In 2019 I attended a 3-day conference in Stockholm about how to warn future generations abut the legacy of radioactive waste that we are leaving behind. We do not know what languages people will be speaking in 2,000 years, or 10,000 years.

So how do we warn them? Do we put up a sign saying “Do not dig here”?  Will they understand the sign? And if they do understand it, will they obey it? If I were a future archeologist who came across such a sign, I would say to my team “Hey guys, Let’s dig here!”

The Strockholm Conference was a fascinating affair. One-third of the participants were nuclear scientists from several countries. One-third were independent commentators and critics of nuclear power, such as myself. And one-third were librarians, archivists and curators who knew little about radioactive waste, but lots about preserving Records, Knowledge and Memory (RKM). The conference was an outgrowth of the European Nuclear Energy Agency’s “RKM Project”, already working eight years on this exact question.

We were all keenly aware that the problem under consideration is similar to the problem of communicating with extra-terrestrial intelligence. How do we communicate with others, with no assurance that they understand any human languages that are used in the 21st century?

One of the advantages of Rolling Stewardship is that we can more easily pass on knowledge, information and advice from one generation to the next – rather than trying to communicate with a completely unknown society of the future, thousands of years away from us. We can still leave records for future societies, but each generation can review the adequacy of those records and try to improve them.

It became evident during the conference that if we want to communicate with future generations we have to begin by communicating with the present generation. If we cannot tell people today the truth about radioactive wastes, what hope do we have of telling future civilizations?

One of the conclusions of this conference was that decision-making about radioactive wastes can no longer be left solely in the hands of the nuclear industry and its captured regulator, the NRC. We have to plan now to address the future. This is a societal problem, not just an industry problem.

We need radioactive waste and nuclear decommissioning agencies that are independent of the promoters of nuclear energy, whether commercial or governmental.

We need agencies whose sole focus is the protection of people and the environment.

We need agencies that can communicate openly and transparently with citizens about the nature of the radioactive waste problem and the range of possible options.

The Age of Nuclear Energy will come to an end, but the Age of Nuclear Waste will continue forever – unless we learn how to completely eliminate that radioactive legacy permanently. At present we have no idea how to do that.

As long as we continue to operate old nuclear reactors and build new ones, we are simply compounding an already intractable problem. No matter how fast we bury the old waste, the surface of the Earth will always be prone to catastrophic releases from the freshly produced nuclear wastes which accumulate every day in the cores of operating reactors and in the immediate vicinities of those plants. Burial is no solution as long as the industry is growing, or even continuing with the status quo.

California was wise to pass a law in 1976 that phases out the production of new nuclear waste, by banning the building of any new nuclear plants. It is time for other states and other nations to follow suit. ——–

www.ccnr.org/Radioactive_Q&A_2024.pdf

July 29, 2024 Posted by | Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Young Changemakers Advocate for Nuclear-Free Future through Educational Journey in Kazakhstan

The Astana Times – bringing Kazakhstan to the world, By Assel Satubaldina , 29 July 2024

ASTANA—A group of 20 young changemakers from Kazakhstan and Germany recently embarked on a week-long educational journey through Kazakhstan to explore the country’s nuclear past, meet policymakers, and talk to affected communities. 

The tour took the group to the ministerial halls in Astana, activists in Almaty, researchers, and the nuclear-affected communities in Semei, which was once the site for the Soviet-run nuclear test site. This educational tour, organized by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Kazakhstan, ICAN Germany, and Kazakhstan’s STOP (Steppe Organization for Peace) youth initiative, aimed to foster a deeper understanding of nuclear non-proliferation and amplify the voices of affected communities. 

Kazakhstan’s Semipalatinsk nuclear test site was a venue for the Soviet Union to test nuclear weapons. Official data indicates that 456 nuclear tests between 1949 and 1989, including 340 underground and 116 atmospheric tests, were conducted at the test site, with an area of 18,300 square kilometers. 

Around 1.5 million people have been affected by radiation exposure over the years, including health consequences such as an increase in cancer rates, birth defects, and other radiation-related illnesses among the local population. The long-term effects are still present for generations. 

Meeting with government officials in Astana

Astana was the first stop on the trip. The group visited the Kazakh Ministry of Foreign Affairs. There, Arman Baissuanov, the head of the ministry’s international security department, briefed them on the country’s nuclear history and its leading role in global non-proliferation efforts. He also discussed Kazakhstan’s role in the Central Asian Nuclear Weapon Free Zone and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

Among other officials, the group met with Roman Podoprigora, a judge of the Constitutional Court of Kazakhstan, who spoke about recommended changes to the 1992 law on those affected by the nuclear tests, and Nurlan Auesbaev, a member of the Parliament.

Yerdaulet Rakhmatulla, co-organizer of the study tour, described it as a positive sign that civil society representatives could visit the ministry and productively discuss the nuclear politics and more. According to him, it is quite a rare occasion. 

“I think just this step from their side was a great sign of progress in our bilateral relationships as state, as government and civil society,” he said in a comment for this story.

Officially titled the law on social protection of citizens who suffered from nuclear tests at the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, the document envisioned measures to address the severe health and social impacts. However, experts say the law has many shortcomings, including a limited scope of financial compensation, which is insufficient to cover the long-term health needs of the affected population. The law’s criteria to identify affected individuals have also been seen as too narrow.

Сonfronting the human impact of nuclear testing

Understanding Kazakhstan’s tragic nuclear past would not be complete without visiting the region where thousands of people witnessed the tests firsthand and have borne the consequences for many years since. In Semei, the young people met with people still grappling with the legacy of the Soviet-era tests, listening to their stories that, for some reason, often remain unheard. 

Maira Abenova, a survivor of the Soviet nuclear tests in Semei and founder of the Polygon 21, an institution that advocates for the rights of Semipalatinsk nuclear test survivors, helped the group to meet those affected in Semei and Astana.

During the meeting in Semei, many of the survivors reported on their health problems, such as cancer and heart disease, according to a press report from ICAN Germany. They said they hope their voices will be heard internationally. Their voices “do not yet reach as far as those of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” say the survivors. 

For Rakhmatulla, these meetings were “extremely special………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Lessons learned

Janina Ruther, a participant of the tour and project manager at ICAN Germany, spoke to The Astana Times, sharing her impressions and key takeaways from the educational tour. 

Because of her experience with ICAN, she got to know more about Kazakhstan and the country’s history with nuclear weapons. 

Ruther said what made the trip so special was the variety of places they visited and the diverse range of people they spoke to in different contexts. 

“That was so special, and it made it a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” she added. “I think I don’t have words for that because we talked to so many people who were actually surviving all these tests. It was so brave that they talked to us because I cannot imagine how hard it must be.”

She also shared meeting young people at the universities and experiencing the night train journey was unforgettable.

She described the tour using a quote from one of the meetings: “The more we educate young people, the greater the hope for a world without nuclear weapons.”

She stressed that the primary goal was to reach young people who could spread the message and educate others. Equally important was understanding the needs and desires of the people affected by nuclear testing in Kazakhstan and bringing their voices to an international level.  https://astanatimes.com/2024/07/young-changemakers-advocate-for-nuclear-free-future-through-educational-journey-in-kazakhstan/

July 29, 2024 Posted by | Kazakhstan, opposition to nuclear | Leave a comment

While Netanyahu is feted in U.S. Congress, Israeli airstrike hits a school sheltering people in Gaza, killing at least 30

The strike came a day before officials from the U.S., Egypt, Qatar and Israel were scheduled to meet in Italy to discuss the ongoing hostage and cease-fire negotiations.NBC News, By Freddie Clayton and The Associated Press, 27 July 24,

Israeli airstrikes hit a school being used by displaced people in central Gaza on Saturday, killing dozens of people, as the country’s negotiators prepared to meet international mediators to discuss a proposed cease-fire.

At least 30 people sheltering at a girls school in Deir al-Balah were taken to Al Aqsa Hospital and pronounced dead after a strike that Israel’s military said targeted a Hamas command and control center used to store weapons and plan attacks.

The devastation was caught on camera by an NBC News team. Ambulance sirens rang out as footage showed hundreds of men and women rushing toward the school, or carrying their bloodied and injured away on makeshift stretchers.

Standing in the rubble, a young boy wept amid the chaos. “We were sitting, happily playing,” he said. “Missiles hit us. Four missiles went down on us. Glass and stones fell on us. Everything became dusty.”

A volunteer at a clinic at the school was inside at the moment of the strike. She carried her young son over her shoulder as she went in search of another one of her children.

“I hid for a short while, then I went looking for my children,” she said. “I found my son hurt, and the third boy is not around. A school like this — why did they target it? What’s in it to target?”

Gaza’s Health Ministry said at least 11 people had been killed in other strikes on Saturday.

Near the hospital, Associated Press journalists saw an ambulance rushing through a dusty road as a few people ran in the opposite direction. An injured man lay on a stretcher on the ground. A body covered with a blanket and a dead toddler lay inside the ambulance.

Inside the school, classrooms were in ruins. People were seen searching for victims under the rubble and some were gathering remains of those who were killed.

Earlier, Israel’s military ordered the evacuation of part of a designated humanitarian zone in Gaza ahead of a planned strike on Khan Younis on Saturday……………………………………………….. more https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israeli-airstrike-hits-school-sheltering-people-gaza-rcna163917

July 29, 2024 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

2024 Golden Rule Voyage Begins!

The Golden Rule peace boat departed from Humboldt Bay in northern California on Sunday July 28 at 5:10 am, crossing into the ocean around 6 am!

We’re headed for the Pacific Northwest, and will stop in 16 Washington, Oregon and British Columbia ports over the next two months

To follow the Golden Rule’s voyage, click HERE or go to https://share.garmin.com/goldenrule to see the interactive map that’s updated every 10 minutes.

……..The VFP Golden Rule Project is delighted to announce that Michelle Marsonette has joined our team as Project Co-Manager!  

This much-needed organizational boost is made possible by the generous donations of the Golden Rule’s loyal supporters. Thank you! The job of coordinating boat repairs, captains and crews, organizing events, producing a newsletter, fundraising and much more is way too big for one person. We now have two half-time Project Co-Managers, but we all know this is no half-time job. Helen Jaccard, who has been Project Manager for almost ten years, is VERY happy to have Michelle aboard……………………..

 Jeju Island woman Kim A-Hyun Joins Golden Rule Crew

………………………..now there is another. South Korean activists resisting the expansion of a U.S. military base on Jeju island were inspired by the prospect of the Golden Rule’s planned 2020 visit to Asia. Covid stopped us from making that voyage, but it didn’t stop them. They decided to restore another boat, Jonah’s Whale, and they sailed from Jeju to Okinawa, Taiwan, and several other island nations. Last year they completed a 107-day voyage, with the mission to unite the various struggles against the militarization of their islands.

The VFP Golden Rule Project is delighted to announce that a Jonah’s Whale crew member, Ms. Kim A-Hyun (her nickname is Shik-Cho) will be on the Golden Rule crew for our Pacific Northwest voyage……………………

July 29, 2024 Posted by | weapons and war | Leave a comment

Is nuclear waste able to be recycled? Would that solve the  nuclear waste problem?

Radioactive Wastes from Nuclear Reactors, Questions and Answers, Gordon Edwards 28 July 24.

Well, you know, the very first reactors did not produce electricity. They were built for the express purpose of creating plutonium for atomic bombs. Plutonium is a uranium derivative. It is one of the hundreds of radioactive byproducts created inside every uranium-fuelled reactor. Plutonium is the stuff from which nuclear weapons are made. Every large nuclear warhead in the world’s arsenals uses plutonium as a trigger.

But plutonium can also be used as a nuclear fuel. That first power reactor that started up in 1951 in Idaho, the first electricity-producing reactor, was called the EBR-1 — it actually suffered a partial meltdown. EBR stands for “Experimental Breeder Reactor” and it was cooled, not with water, but with hot liquid sodium metal.

By the way, another sodium-cooled electricity producing reactor was built right here in California, and it also had a partial meltdown. The dream of the nuclear industry was, and still is, to use plutonium as the fuel of the future, replacing uranium. A breeder reactor is one that can “burn” plutonium fuel and simultaneously produce even more plutonium than it uses. Breeder reactors are usually sodium-cooled.

In fact sodium-cooled reactors have failed commercially all over the world, in the US, France, Britain, Germany, and Japan, but it is still the holy grail of the nuclear industry, the breeder reactor, so watch out.

To use plutonium, you have to extract it from the fiercely radioactive used nuclear fuel. This technology of plutonium extraction is called reprocessing. It must be carried out robotically because of the deadly penetrating radiation from the used fuel.

Most reprocessing involves dissolving used nuclear fuel in boiling nitric acid and chemically separating the plutonium from the rest of the radioactive garbage. This creates huge volumes of dangerous liquid wastes that can spontaneously explode (as in Russia in 1957) or corrode and leak into the ground (as has happened in the USA). A single gallon of this liquid high-level waste is enough to ruin an entire city’s water supply.

In 1977, US President Jimmy Carter banned reprocessing in the USA because of fears of proliferation of nuclear weapons at home and abroad. Three years earlier, in 1974, India tested its first atomic bomb using plutonium from a Canadian research reactor given to India as a gift.

The problem with using plutonium as a fuel is that it is then equally available for making bombs. Any well-equipped group of criminals or terrorists can make its own atomic bombs with a sufficient quantity of plutonium – and it only takes about 8 kilograms to do so. Even the crudest design of a nuclear explosive device is enough to devastate the core of any city.

Plutonium is extremely toxic when inhaled. A few milligrams is enough to kill any human within weeks through massive fibrosis of the lungs.

A few micrograms – a thousand times less– can cause fatal lung cancer with almost 100% certainty. So even small quantities of plutonium can be used by terrorists in a so-called “dirty bomb”. That’s a radioactive dispersal device using conventional explosives. Just a few grams of fine plutonium dust could threaten the lives of thousands if released into the ventilation system of a large office building.

So beware of those who talk about “recycling” used nuclear fuel. What they are really talking about is reprocessing – plutonium extraction – which opens a Pandora’s box of possibilities. The liquid waste and other leftovers are even more environmentally threatening, more costly, and more intractable, than the solid waste. Perpetual isolation is still required. ————

www.ccnr.org/Radioactive_Q&A_2024.pdf

July 29, 2024 Posted by | - plutonium, reprocessing | Leave a comment

Hungary to allow nuclear plant to exceed Danube water temperature limit

By Reuters, July 27, 202  https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/hungary-allow-nuclear-plant-exceed-danube-water-temperature-limit-2024-07-27/

BUDAPEST, July 27 (Reuters) – Hungary is planning to allow the temperature limit for a section of the Danube which receives cooling water from the Paks nuclear power plant to be exceeded for security of supply reasons, the energy ministry said in a statement on Friday.

The plant’s four reactors operate by using the water of the Danube to cool its operations. Currently, according to the regulation, the river cannot receive water if its temperature exceeds 30 degree Celsius, in which case the operator must cut output and wait for the river to cool below the limit.

“In addition to environmental considerations, it may therefore be justified to exceed the limit value on a case-by-case basis if this is unavoidable for security of supply.”

The Paks plant has four Russian-built VVER 440 reactors with a combined capacity of about 2,000 megawatts. The reactors became operational between 1982 and 1987 and are scheduled to be retired in 2032-2037.

Hungary plans to expand the plant, with Russia’s Rosatom building two VVER reactors with a capacity of 1.2 gigawatts each, in addition to the currently working four reactors.

Hungary is planning to allow the temperature limit for a section of the
Danube which receives cooling water from the Paks nuclear power plant to be
exceeded for security of supply reasons, the energy ministry said in a
statement on Friday. The plant’s four reactors operate by using the water
of the Danube to cool its operations. Currently, according to the
regulation, the river cannot receive water if its temperature exceeds 30
degree Celsius, in which case the operator must cut output and wait for the
river to cool below the limit.

Reuters 27th July 2024

https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/hungary-allow-nuclear-plant-exceed-danube-water-temperature-limit-2024-07-27/

July 29, 2024 Posted by | climate change, EUROPE, water | Leave a comment

Scottish Greens warn that “Great Britain Energy” could funnel public money into subsidising non-viable nuclear power projects

Patrick Harvie warns of major devolution tests for GB Energy

By Nan Spowart , 28th July

LABOUR’S new flagship energy company will be an important test of the relationship between the new regime in Westminster and the devolved governments, according to Scottish Greens co-leader Patrick Harvie.

……………………….. He is now calling for more detail of the remit of GB Energy after it was revealed that the organisation could get involved in planning disputes…………………

“The real worry I have is that it ends up simply as a way of channelling
public money into subsidising otherwise non-viable nuclear developments
like small modular reactors which is a technology that the industry was
pushing very aggressively a few years ago but is failing at a commercial
level in a number of other countries. “We should not be going down that
route and the principal means Scotland has been saying no to new nuclear
has been through the planning system, so we need clarity early doors that
that is not their agenda.”

The National 28th July 2024

https://www.thenational.scot/news/24480590.patrick-harvie-warns-major-devolution-tests-gb-energy/

July 29, 2024 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

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