USA’s nuclear industry staggers to its tomb, as Pilgrim Station shuts down
Entergy’s decision to shut Pilgrim is welcomed by safe energy activists everywhere as part of the rapid collapse of the atomic power mis-adventure.
But across the U.S. some two dozen Fukushima clones still operate. The entire industry is a decayed, money-losing tombstone for the failed lies about “too cheap to meter.”
So it’s great another shut-down has been announced. But four more years of yet another decayed, increasingly dangerous and hugely unprofitable reactor being kept open is not acceptable.
The no nukes movement will not take it lying down. Stay tuned.
Another U.S Nuke Bites the Dust http://ecowatch.com/2015/10/14/nuclear-power-bites-dust/ Harvey Wasserman | October 14, 2015 The chain reactor operator Entergy has announced it will close the Pilgrim nuke south of Boston. The shut-down will bring U.S. reactor fleet to 98, though numerous other reactors are likely to face abandonment in the coming months.
But Entergy says it may not take Pilgrim down until June 1, 2019—nearly four years away.
Entergy is also poised to shut the FitzPatrick reactor in New York. It promises an announcement by the end of this month. Entergy also owns Indian Point 2 and Indian Point 3 some 40 miles north of Manhattan. Unit 2’s operating license has long since lapsed. Unit 3’s will expire in December.
Meanwhile California’s two reactors at Diablo Canyon are surrounded with earthquake faults. They are in violation of state and federal water quality laws and are being propped up by a corrupt Public Utilities Commission under fierce grassroots attack. With a huge renewable boom sweeping the state, Diablo’s days are numbered—and hopefully will shut before the next quake shakes them to rubble.
Meanwhile, like nearly all old American nukes, both Pilgrim and FitzPatrick are losing tons of money. Entergy admits to loss projections of $40 million/year or more at Pilgrim, with parallel numbers expected at FitzPatrick. The company blames falling gas and oil prices for the shortfalls.
Owners of King CONG (Coal, Oil, Nukes and Gas) facilities hate renewables. But in fact the boom in wind, solar, increased efficiency and other Solartopian advances are at the real core of nuke power’s escalating economic melt-down. Continue reading
Planned closure of Pilgrim Nuclear Plant – a sign of the transition to renewables that is now underway
Pilgrim Nuclear Plant in Massachusetts to Close by 2019, Owner Says, nbc news, by ASSOCIATED PRESS, 13 Oct 15 The owners of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts, have announced that they will close the plant by June 2019.
Entergy Corp. said Tuesday it is closing the only nuclear power plant in the state because of “poor market conditions, reduced revenues and increased operational costs.”
The decision by New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. comes about a month after federal inspectors downgraded the plant’s safety rating to the lowest level and said they would increase oversight in the wake of a shutdown during a winter storm…….The owners of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts, have announced that they will close the plant by June 2019.
Entergy Corp. said Tuesday it is closing the only nuclear power plant in the state because of “poor market conditions, reduced revenues and increased operational costs.”Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant’s Pilgrim Station is located a few miles down the coast from Plymouth Rock. Boston Globe / Boston Globe via Getty Images
The decision by New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. comes about a month after federal inspectors downgraded the plant’s safety rating to the lowest level and said they would increase oversight in the wake of a shutdown during a winter storm. Owners maintained that the plant remained safe although it needed millions of dollars in upgrades.
“The real issue here is the financial viability of the plant,” said Bill Mohl, president of Entergy Wholesale Commodities……….
The plant will remain under enhanced oversight by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission throughout the process, and Entergy expects to spend $45 million to $60 million at the plant during that time, he said. After shutting down, Pilgrim will transition to decommissioning. The Pilgrim nuclear decommissioning trust had a balance of about $870 million as of Sept. 30, Entergy said……..
Entergy’s decision was met with mixed reaction from groups that have been fighting for decades to have the plant shut down and fiercely fought relicensing. The state will continue to live in the shadow of a plant that many people consider dangerous, said Arlene Williamson of Cape Downwinders. “Entergy doesn’t have the financial ability to get Pilgrim out of the dog house, but it will continue to operate for four more years with many safety violations and mechanical failures,” she said………
U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Massachusetts, also called for a greater commitment to renewable energy. “Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station is just the latest example of how nuclear power simply cannot compete in the current energy market,” he said.
He later added: “With this announcement we must also recognize that the time is now in New England and around the nation to rapidly transition toward the safe, affordable clean energy of wind, solar and geothermal power and continue to invest in energy efficiency and making the vehicles on our roads even more fuel efficient.” http://www.nbcnews.com/business/energy/pilgrim-nuclear-plant-massachusetts-close-2019-owner-says-n443566
A nuclear power plant project in India is stalled
Nalco’s foray into nuclear energy hits legal roadblock Proposed Rs 12,000-cr nuclear energy plant in a JV with Nuclear Power Corporation in limbo Business Standard, India, Dilip Satapathy | Bhubaneswar October 9, 2015 National Aluminium Company (Nalco)’s plan to foray intonuclear energy generation has hit a legal roadblock.
Though the aluminium major proposed to set up a Rs 12,000 crore nuclear energy plant in joint venture withNuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd (NPCIL), it is unable to go ahead with the project with the present act restricting the sector to only a couple of its own fully owned subsidiaries under the Atomic Energy Department…….
Though NPCIL is keen to involve other public sector firms like Nalco, IOCL and NTPC, with whom it has signed MoUs, for setting up of nuclear power plants in a bid to expand its nuclear power footprint in the country, the present act does not allow this.
The Atomic Energy Act, framed in 1962, also prohibits private control of nuclear power generation though it allows them minority investment……….Apart from the fuel supply issue and protests over establishment of nuclear power plants, changes in the act to allow JVs formed by NPCIL with other PSUs to make them workable is another hurdle, the India government has to take care if the country wants to achieve 20 GWe nuclear energy capacity by 2020, sources said.
Besides nuclear energy, the aluminium major has identified renewable energy as its next focused area.
“We have set up wind mills in Andhra Pradesh (50.4 Mw) and Jaisalmer (47.6 Mw) in Rajasthan. We plan to set up solar plants in Rajasthan and Maharashtra (50 Mw each) and Madhya Pradesh (20 Mw). We are also in the processing of installing a 14 Mw wind power mill at Damanjodi,” Chand said. http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/nalcos-foray-into-nuclear-energy-hits-legal-roadblock-115100900777_1.html
Duke Energy very doubtful about new nuclear stations
Will new nuclear plants be ‘part of the picture’ for Duke Energy? CEO raises doubt, Charlotte Business Journal, Oct 8, 2015, Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good sounded a strongly doubtful note about the company proceeding with its proposed Lee Nuclear Station in her speech Wednesday to the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce.Talking about what Charlotte-based Duke (NYSE:DUK) would look like in 2025, she said natural gas would be the backbone of its power fleet and that the utility would make greater use of renewable energy and battery storage.“Nuclear will continue to be an important part of energy supplies in the Carolinas,” she said “But whether or not new nuclear is a part of the picture remains to be seen.”
Abandoned plants Duke still includes the proposed 2,334-megawatt Lee plant in its long-range plans. But the utility has never formally committed to construction of the $12 billion project. Good’s comments raised new doubts about whether it ever will. Since 2012, Duke has abandoned plans to build new nuclear units in Raleigh and in Florida. The Lee plant, proposed for Gaffney, S.C., is the last new nuclear plant still included in the company’s plans……..the company will have to “look very hard at whether we can replace current nuclear with new nuclear,” she said.
That is likely to mean a much greater dependence on natural gas plants than there is now.
Good said that no new coal plants will be built in the United States…….http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/energy/2015/10/will-new-nuclear-plants-be-part-of-the-picture-for.html
Rating agencies warn EDF of downgrade, if they continue with Hinkley nuclear station plan
EDF faces threat of credit downgrade over Hinkley Point Two of the world’s biggest ratings agencies have warned that EDF and its Chinese partners face credit-rating downgrades if they press ahead with a £16 billion nuclear power station at Hinkley Point in Somerset.
Amid growing doubts about the deal, Moody’s said the project would have a “credit negative effect” on the companies because of the dangers of big cost overruns and delays to EDF’s untested EPR French reactor technology……. (subscribers only) .http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/utilities/article4574734.ece
France’s nuclear corporation AREVA is still there – only just
Areva still standing despite turbulent times News Advance October 3, 2015 Jason Ruiter Like an eroding plateau, the nuclear industry sloughed off a section of its market share – but it still stands.
Areva announced a loss of $5.3 billion in global income in 2014 from the year prior, resulting in a loss of roughly several hundred employees in the Lynchburg area and a need to consolidate, adopt austerity measures and sell a chunk of its business to Électricité de France, the largest utility in France which is also majority-owned by the French government. The power plant business segment of Areva – which employs most Areva Lynchburg employees and constructs, designs and services nuclear plants – will sell 75 percent of the company to EDF for an injection of equity into the business…….
survival came at a cost: Areva NA introduced an advanced severance package to qualified employees to retire early in addition to cutting 22 jobs in the area last fall. Last year, Areva, one of the biggest employers in the region, reported about 1,800 employees in the area. This year, they have about 1,500, a decrease of about 16 percent. For the North America continent, those numbers are steeper, decreasing roughly 20 percent from 5,000 full-time and part-time employees to “closer to 4,000,” Mignogna said……
“Debt is due now,” Mignogna said. “So the [French] government had to react now and try to work out a deal where we could get some cash inflow to the company and they chose to do that.” The result was the EDF purchase of Areva’s power plant operations, which will be consummated by the end of 2016.
Just how much Areva will be changed through the purchase by EDF is unclear. Mignogna said that due to anti-trust considerations, where Areva will be providing services to EDF’s competitors, the North American portion will be operated at “arm’s length.” But he wasn’t sure if Areva’s name will be changed to EDF as a result……..http://www.newsadvance.com/work_it_lynchburg/news/areva-still-standing-despite-turbulent-times/article_a2d991c0-4197-5c04-a163-e7ba145cfea1.html
Japn’s PM Abe keen to sell nuclear technology to India
Japan eyes nuclear deal with India October 5, 2015 Clearing the way for exports Nikkei Asian Review,
TOKYO –– Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is expected to visit India around the end of this year to sign an atomic energy agreement with counterpart Narendra Modi, laying the groundwork for exports by Japanese corporations in that field.
India holds nuclear weapons but is not a signatory of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), so a focal point of negotiations between Japan and India was how to prevent the spread of nuclear technologies. The two sides are expected to agree on tight management of nuclear technologies on a par with the NPT.
Another obstacle to an agreement had been Indian laws that hold nuclear plant manufacturers partly liable in the event of nuclear accidents. In January, the U.S. and India agreed that an insurance framework created by India would cover damages related to accidents. Japan and India are seen reaching an agreement with conditions similar to the deal that Washington signed for such matters as the management of nuclear technologies and liability for damages………http://asia.nikkei.com/Politics-Economy/International-Relations/Japan-eyes-nuclear-deal-with-India
Troubled nuclear corporation AREVA wooing Japanese company Mitsubishi
French PM Valls discusses nuclear, China, culture on Japan visit, 2 Oct 15 Reuters/Toru Hanai/Files
By RFI French Prime Minister Manuel Valls met Japanese PM Shinzo Abe on Saturday during a three-day visit to the country that is Asia’s biggest investor in France. The Mitsubishi conglomerate could buy into troubled French nuclear power company, Areva, he said as his trip started……..
Nuclear power – French nuclear giant Areva is in trouble and its reactor branch is currently being bought by the EDF power company. Valls indicated that he was not opposed to Mitsubishi Heavy Industries investing in the branch in an interview with Asahi Shimbun newspaper and sources travelling with him said it could invest in Areva’s other activities, uranium mining for example. While 47 Japanese nuclear reactors remain closed following the Fukushima disaster, one reopened in August and another should be soon. Japan’s nuclear industry has always been an important client for Areva and EDF……http://www.english.rfi.fr/asia-pacific/20151003-french-pm-valls-discusses-nuclear-china-culture-japan-visit
Dr Ian Fairlea sets out the grim facts on costs at the end of the nuclear power party
pity UK taxpayers in decades, centuries and millennia to come.
When the party’s over … the financial spectre at the end of nuclear power http://www.theecologist.org/News/news_analysis/2985577/when_the_partys_over_the_financial_spectre_at_the_end_of_nuclear_power.html Dr Ian Fairlie 1st October 2015
There are two rules about the end costs of nuclear power, writes Ian Fairlie. It’s far more than you ever knew. And whatever sum of money was ever set aside, it’s nowhere near enough. Germany understands this. That’s why it refused to let E.ON spin off its nuclear liabilities into a hands-off company. But the UK, it seems, has lost the ability to learn from its nuclear mistakes.
Nuclear power has a wide spectrum of disadvantages.
One is that when reactors are shut down for good, a host of financial liabilities continue with no income flow from the sale of nuclear electricity to pay for them.
And enormous new liabilities for decommissioning and final disposal commence at the same time.
This became crystal-clear in April when the German energy giant E.ON proposed to spin off its remaining nuclear activities1 into a separate company, Uniper, in an attempt to protect the parent company from the multiple nuclear liabilities from the impending shutdowns of its nuclear reactors: Germany is phasing out all nuclear power by 2022. Continue reading
Financial forecasts bode ill for the nuclear industry
Nuclear reactors are closing and we are counting http://www.beyondnuclear.org/the-nuclear-retreat/2015/9/30/nuclear-reactors-are-closing-and-we-are-counting.html The United Bank of Switzerland (UBS), the second largest bank in the world, headlined that “Nuke Retirements are coming” in its September 24, 2015 global financial research issue of US Electric Utilities and IPPs. The international investment giant projects “a growing capitulation in the nuclear sector as the prospects for protracted downturn remains front and center.”
UBS forecasts, “We see both ETR (Entergy) and EXC (Exelon) as substantially exposed to this thesis: it has specifically emerged in recent days that not just ETR’s Fitzpatrick but also the Pilgrim unit could well be shut in lieu of investing to improve profile up to NRC levels. Further, we see EXC as highlighting this nuclear retirement thesis further with not just its Ginna plant in NY and Oyster Creek (NJ) plants poised to retire in 2019, but also now its Three Mile Island unit is at risk beyond known the ongoing saga in Illinois over support for Quad Cities, Clinton, and even Byron.”
UBS admits that its forecast “could well underestimate total retirements” as actual retirements might prove more aggressive particularly for the other single unit nuclear power stations. With Exelon’s two unit Quad Cities nuclear power plant in Illinois still posting losses, UBS sees the nuclear power corporation’s “plans to retire the plant as entirely credible (and seemingly committed to investors) should Illinois fail to produce a sufficiently attractive scheme” in spite of the fact that 50% of its nuclear assets are clustered in the state.
There is even more good news to be found in this particular UBS forecast where, “In turn, if retirements move forward as contemplated, we see a real corresponding uplift to the renewable industry as this becomes the growing source of ‘plugging’ for any further holes in meeting prospective carbon targets.” The UBS assessment undermines the pro-nuclear industry’s most prevalent false argument that “No Nukes” means more coal. It clearly doesn’t.
You can keep pace with these anticipated nuclear power plant closures and more by periodically visiting our website’s “Reactors are closing” page.
Bank of England warns on climate change’s threat to global stability
The Bank of England governor has given a stark warning that climate change poses a huge risk to global stability.
At a gathering of leading insurers at Lloyd’s of London, Mark Carney pointed out the rapid increase in weather-related catastrophes and the jump in both the physical and financial costs.
He said the challenges currently posed by climate change “pale in significance compared with what might come”……http://www.bbc.com/news/business-34396961
Entergy’s Pilgrim Nuclear Station looks close to shutdown
Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant In Massachusetts May Close Down, Clean Technica, September 27th, 2015 by James Ayre Owing to a probable lack of funds for necessary repairs and safety improvements, the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station will possibly be shut down at some point in the near future, according to the officials involved.
The multimillion dollar safety improvements and repairs in question are federally required actions if the project is to remain open — following the recent downgrading of the facility’s safety rating by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The 43-year-old facility is now ranked as one of the least safe nuclear plants in the US.
If the corporation finds that the cost of making the improvements of the plant exceed the value of the plant, the corporation may decide to shut the plant down,” stated David Noyes, the director of regulatory and performance improvement at the facility. “No business decision has been made about Pilgrim. We’re looking at specific conditions, and analyzing weaknesses associated with the plant. As of right now, we don’t know the costs.”
It could ended up being the case, though, that the regulatory commission simply decides to shut down the plant regardless of actions taken to address its issues. The regulatory commission currently rates the facility’s level of risk as “low to moderate.”
As the facility currently provides roughly 12.5% of Massachusetts’ electricity, this is all of course not to be taken lightly. But neither is the fact that the facility is only 35 miles from the mega population center of Boston. Roughly 5 million people currently reside within a 50-mile radius around the facility.
This is a point made recently by Governor Charlie Baker in a letter to Entergy (the operating company) officials, urging officials to “make certain that the plant meets the highest safety standards.”
Interestingly, he also noted that that the company “has failed to take appropriate corrective actions to address the causes of several unplanned shutdowns dating back to 2013.”……….
A couple of final points worth making here are: 1) the basic design of the facility is the same as that of the Fukushima station that is continuing to cause problems in Japan, and 2) Entergy has, as a result, spent some funds in the years since to try and address perhaps latent weaknesses in the design — the company claims to have spent around $70 million on these actions since 2011.
State officials in Massachusetts have yet to comment on what actions would/will be taken to make up for the electricity generation shortfall in the state if the plant closes.
In any case, it is interesting to see that this generation of nuclear power plants is getting to the point where repairs/improvements are too expensive to be worth the life extension. In other words, I think we’re likely to see a gradual decline in nuclear power in the US in the coming decade or so. http://cleantechnica.com/2015/09/27/pilgrim-nuclear-power-plant-massachusetts-may-close/
Russia woos Malaysia to its nuclear technology
Russia offers nuclear expertise to Malaysia Star.com. 25 Sept 15 KUALA LUMPUR: Russia will extend its expertise if Malaysia decides to develop its own nuclear programme.
Russian Minister of Economic Development Alexei Ulyukayev, who said this, added that his country was well-placed to build and support a national nuclear industry.
“We will propose a very sophisticated and complex construction of a local nuclear programme. We can construct nuclear power generation stations………http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2015/09/25/Russia-offers-nuclear-expertise-to-Msia/
UK’s £24bn Hinkley Point nuclear project shunned by investors
Investors shun UK’s £24bn Hinkley Point nuclear project, FT.com , Christopher Adams , 24 Sept 15
Delays and cost overruns that have dogged two nuclear reactors being built in France and Finland have deterred investors from joining a £24bn project to build a plant at Hinkley Point.
French utility EDF is in advanced talks with two Chinese partners — China General Nuclear Corporation and China National Nuclear Corporation — over their final shares of construction spending and roles in the building of up to three nuclear plants in the UK. An agreement could be reached this year.
But Jean-Bernard Levy, EDF chief executive, told Les Echos, the French financial daily newspaper, that it had been unable to secure the support of other investors after persistent problems with the proposed European pressurised reactor design………http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/67001140-6208-11e5-9846-de406ccb37f2.html#axzz3mgxe3MV2
Nobody except China wants to risk investing in Britain’s new £2bn Hinkley Point nuclear plant
Only China wants to invest in Britain’s new £2bn Hinkley Point nuclear plant because no one else thinks it will work, EDF admits Investors put off by problems facing nuclear reactors under construction in France and Finland Geert De Clercq Wednesday 23 September 2015 Delays and cost overruns at two nuclear reactors under construction in France and Finland have made potential investors wary of joining a consortium led by France’s EDF for a similar project in Britain, EDF’s chief executive has admitted…….http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/only-china-wants-to-invest-in-britains-new-2bn-hinkley-point-nuclear-plant-because-no-one-else-10513752.html
1 This Month
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