Mitsubishi cutting back on nuclear engineering staff
Mitsubishi cutting Charlotte nuclear engineering staff in half Charlotte Business Journal, John Downey 14 Nov 13 Mitsubishi Nuclear Energy Systems will lay off 48 people from its Charlotte Engineering Center by the end of the year, cutting the staff by roughly half.
The layoffs come as Mitsubishi has decided to slow its efforts to get Nuclear Regulatory Commission certification of its US-APWR reactor. That led the power companyLuminant to announce plans last week to suspend its effort to license two 1,700 megawatt Mitsubishi reactors at the Commanche nuclear plant in Texas.
In April, Dominion announced it was abandoning plans to build a Mitsubishi unit at its North Anna Nuclear Station…….. Mitsubishi had about 100 workers when it celebrated the grand opening of its center in Ballantyne in spring of 2012.
At that time, executives said the center could have as many as 150 workers by 2017. But the center never got above the 100 mark.
The state offered $4.1 million in incentives to bring the center here.http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/blog/power_city/2013/11/mitsubishi-cutting-charlotte-nuclear.html
Poor uranium market freezes Uranium One’s expansion
Rosatom’s Uranium One to Freeze Expansion Moscow Times, 13 November 2013 | Issue 5255 Reuters Canadian miner Uranium One Holding, acquired this year by state-owned reactor builder and supplier Rosatom, said it would freeze expansion projects in Russia and elsewhere due to low uranium prices.
The price of uranium, used mainly as fuel for nuclear plants, plummeted after the March 2011 meltdown at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi atomic power plant and has shown no signs of recovery.
“We cannot discount the dramatic fall in natural uranium prices, as a result of which more than 50 percent of global uranium production is currently loss-making,” Uranium One President Vadim Zhivov said in e-mailed comments Wednesday.
Uranium One, which Rosatom took private last month, will mothball the Honeymoon mine in uranium-rich South Australia, local media reported this week, citing high costs and unfavorable contracts with Japan’s Mitsui.
A company spokesman confirmed Wednesday that the mine would be put in “care and maintenance” mode. Zhivov did not specify which of the company’s projects had been cancelled, saying the details would be announced later…….
November uranium futures on the New York Mercantile exchange closed at $35.85 per pound on Tuesday, compared with $68 per pound before the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.
Fukushima cleanup costs – $250-$500 billion!
The staggering costs to clean up Fukushima Smart Planet By Tyler Falk | November 12, 2013 More than two years since the worst nuclear disaster since Chernobyl, the Fukushima power plant meltdown is still a major, global environmental problem. And the staggering price tag for cleaning it up continues to rise.
The Japanese government just announced that it’s borrowing about $30 billion more to cover costs related to Fukushima, bringing the total amount the Japanese government has borrowed to clean up the mess to around $80 billion, more than three times the amount BP spent to clean up the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. That money will go into cleanup, along with compensation for the people who may never go back to their homes near the contaminated area, and the decommissioning of the nuclear reactors. But it’s not money that the government is on the hook for, Reuters reports:……
it should hardly come as a surprise that the cleanup is proving so costly. Independent estimates put the total economic cost of the disaster at $250-$500 billion. Tepco has said it will need $137 billion to cover costs related to Fukushima. And if Chernobyl is any indication, the costs will likely continue for decades to come. And the real issue might not even be the cleanup costs or health concerns, but the fact that a large, productive area of land (of which Japan doesn’t have much to begin with) is now essentially useless and will be for many years, decades, or possibly centuries to come……. http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/the-staggering-costs-to-clean-up-fukushima/33974
Japan’s electricity companies profitable without using nuclear power
Fukushima Watch: Some Power Companies in Black without Nuclear Restarts WSJ, By Mari Iwata, 12 Nov 13 Many of Japan’s power companies generated a profit in the first half of the year. While that’s good news for shareholders, it’s an awkward outcome for utilities that have insisted they cannot stay out of the red without restarting their nuclear reactors. The latest earnings show that many of Japan’s major utilities generated a profit in the first half of this fiscal year, even without the help of their nuclear power plants.
Amid uncertainty about whether nuclear restarts can win regulatory approval, that is good news for shareholders. But it puts the utilities themselves in a difficult position, since they have been loudly complaining that without their nuclear plants, they will remain in the red.
Five of the nine regional utilities that have nuclear power plants posted a net profit for the six months ending Sept. 30. They include Tokyo Electric Power Co., whose Fukushima Daiichi plant in northern Japan was at the center of the nuclear crisis that led to the shutdown of nuclear plants amid safety concerns. Also making profits were Tohoku Electric Power Co.,Hokuriku Electric Power Co., Kansai Electric Power Co. and Chugoku Electric Power Co…….
epco was the biggest gainer, with a ¥616 billion ($6.19 billion) net profitfor the six months. That compared with a ¥299 billion net loss a year earlier and a ¥627 billion net loss in the same period the previous year as the company struggles to pay for the cleanup and decommissioning of the Fukushima plant…..
“Tepco’s profit is false, coming from the government’s handouts,” said Akiko Sekine of Greenpeace Japan.
But she said that for other utilities, the figures showed there may be life after nuclear power.
“They have said they wouldn’t be able to get by without restarting reactors, but it seems they can,” she said…… http://stream.wsj.com/story/latest-headlines/SS-2-63399/SS-2-379528/
Another $5 billion borrowed by Japan for Fukushima nuclear cleanup
Japan readies additional $30 billion for Fukushima clean-up: sources BY YOSHIFUMI TAKEMOTO TOKYO Tue Nov 12, (Reuters) – Japan’s government is finalizing plans to borrow an additional 3 trillion yen ($30 billion) to pay for compensating Fukushima evacuees and cleaning up the area outside the wrecked nuclear plant, said people with knowledge of the situation.
The additional borrowing would mark both a recognition of the project’s mounting costs and the difficulty of hitting initial targets for reducing radiation levels in the towns and villages hardest hit by the fallout from the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl.
The new government borrowing program would increase the amount earmarked for Fukushima-related expenses to the equivalent of just over $80 billion, according to government officials with knowledge of the developing plan who asked not to be named.
That $80 billion excludes the cost of decommissioning Fukushima’s six reactors, a process expected to take decades.
The new funding, which is being reviewed as part of the regular budget-setting process, would increase the amount earmarked for paying for work crews to decontaminate Fukushima towns and villages by about $500 million, according to the sources.
The rest of the extra funding raised by the government would be used to defray the cost of creating a storage facility for the radioactive waste, including topsoil and leaves collected from the evacuated zone, and would be available to pay compensation to more than 50,000 nuclear evacuees who remain shut out of their homes more than two and a half years after a massive earthquake and tsunami in March 2011 triggered meltdowns and explosions at the Fukushima plant…… http://in.reuters.com/article/2013/11/12/us-japan-fukushima-borrowing-idINBRE9AB0H520131112
South Korea could find nuclear power much more costly
Nuclear power could be more costly than thought, The Hankyorheh, S. Korea, : Nov.12,2013 Analysis shows that if full range of costs is factored in, nuclear energy is not as low-cost an option as the gov’t says By Hwangbo Yeon, staff reporter
A newreport suggests that nuclear power would lose its price competitiveness if taxes on power sources like coal and liquefied natural gas (LNG) were collected more fairly and costs of transmission grid construction and social risks were assessed.
If such a price structure is realized, it stands to undermine claims of the superior cost-effectiveness of nuclear power, which the government has used to argue for its expansion.
The report on a price recalculation scenario for different power generation facilities was presented at a recent Power Industry Research Association seminar by Hanbat National University professor Cho Young-tak…….
The cost-effectiveness reversal becomes even more conspicuous when nuclear power accident risk costs and price variations from the introduction of shale gas are also factored in. The price of nuclear power rises from as low as 95 won to as much as 143 won when conditions such as damage payment costs (based on the compensation levels for the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant disaster in Japan) and a 25% drop in gas import costs due to shale gas are taken into account. This range is well ahead of the 88-102 won for coal and 92-121 won for LNG.
Nuclear power ” Very Disappointing “ – economists
EdF’s major shareholder, the French government, is looking to reduce the share of nuclear in France’s generation to around 50 per cent from more than 70 per cent, and intends to fill that hole with (cheaper) renewables.
EdF has effectively handballed the risk of new nuclear to consumer and the UK government. The consumer is picking up the tab through higher electricity bills, and the UK government is using taxpayers money to guarantee 65 per cent of the project cost.
Nuclear Energy Verdict:” Very Disappointing “ Clean Technica, Giles Parkinson, 112 Nov 13 (very good graphs, diagrams) …..we have received an analysis from Deutsche Bank, which makes some other observations about the cost of nuclear, the comparisons with gas, the price of abatement, and the cost of upkeep for France’s existing fleet.
The first point made by Deutsche is that this deal underlines the fact that nuclear is not cheap, but really, really expensive – a point that should not be forgotten in Australia, where there is still a push for nuclear in some quarters despite the abundant alternatives (in particular solar) that are not available to the UK.
As we have noted in the other article, the £92.50/MWh strike price is nearly double the current average cost of generation in the UK. Deutsche takes issue with the UK government’s claim that the contract is “competitive with other large-scale clean energy and with gas’. Continue reading
Consortium cleaning up Sellafied radioactive mess has been wildly over-spending
Sellafield nuclear complex clean-up contract winner criticised on spending Margaret Hodge and KPMG, working for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, accuse group of overspending Terry Macalister The Guardian, Saturday 9 November 2013 A five-year extension to the Sellafield nuclear decommissioning contract worth £5bn was handed to a private consortium even though its performance had been fiercely criticised by accountants.
KPMG, working for the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, accused the clean-up group of overspending, failure to reach operational targets and weak leadership at the atomic complex in Cumbria, according to documents seen by the Guardian.
Margaret Hodge, who chairs the parliament’s public accounts committee, said that in the light of the critical review it was “inexplicable” that the NDA was prepared to reward the Nuclear Management Partners (NMP) consortium for spending cash “like confetti”.
She also complained the critical KPMG report was not shown to her committee or the National Audit Office until the last minute. It had only been sent to the spending watchdogs via a member of the public who conducted a freedom of information request. “But having looked at the report it is inexplicable that the NDA would continue with this consortium after such a hugely critical assessment,” she added.
The NMP decommissioning consortium comprises Areva, the French engineering firm that is also working on the new Hinkley Point power station, in Somerset, which also includes URS of the US and Amec of Britain.
KPMG says it went through 28 out of 154 “bid commitments” at Sellafield and found 30% were deemed fully achieved and 4% partially achieved. KPMG added: “There is still considerable uncertainty in schedules and costs of the projects that account for 26% of annual spending” while the site manager “does not bear risks for delays and cost increases”.
There had been widespread speculation that the consortium would either see the renewal time shortened or be stripped of the work, which would be handed back to the public sector. But the decommissioning authority nevertheless gave the go-ahead to a further five years in October….http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/08/sellafield-nuclear-margaret-hodge-kpmg-overspending
No, Pandora, the slump in nuclear energy is due to economics, not anti-nuclear protestors
Most of the new plants announced with such enthusiasm have been cancelled or deferred indefinitely. Those that have commenced construction have run over time and over budget, exactly as happened in the last big nuclear boom of the 1970s.
the fact that the world has not turned to nuclear power as a solution to climate change is a matter of economics. much of the current demand for “baseload” power is an artifact of pricing systems designed for coal, and may disappear as prices become more cost-reflective.
Reviving nuclear power debates is a distraction. We need to use less energy, The Guardian, John Quiggin, 8 Nov 13 The documentary Pandora’s Promise presents an environmentalist case for nuclear power. But why has the world has not turned to it as a solution? It’s a matter of economics There’s been a lot of buzz recently about a new film by controversialist documentary-maker, Robert Stone, Pandora’s Promise…..
The only surprising thing about this film is the release date. The makers and participants are apparently unaware that the rest of the world had this debate 10 to 15 years ago, and that, for the most part, the advocates of nuclear power were victorious. Environmentalists largely abandoned anti-nuclear campaigns and focused their energy on attempts to reduce the use of fossil fuels, and promote energy efficiency and renewable energy sources. While most environmentalists remained sceptical of, or opposed to, nuclear power, the end of active opposition paved the way for a range of pro-nuclear policy initiatives….. Continue reading
USA nuclear plants likely to be shutting down in a ‘domino effect’
6 Nuclear Plants That Could Be Next To Shut Down Forbes, 7 Nov 13 “…..“In the last year, U.S. utilities have closed or announced plans to close five nuclear reactors in addition to the canceled development plans,” according to Morningstar’s Utilities Outlook for November, “leading to speculation that prolonged low gas prices could drive more plant closures given the high maintenance capital investment requirements.”Below is a list of operating nuclear plants that Morningstar analysts believe are most exposed to the possibility of closure. The list does not include disabled plants, like Fort Calhoun in Nebraska, that are offline and may never reopen. And it does not include plants already scheduled for closure, like Exelon’s Oyster Creek plant in New Jersey.
1. Indian Point: Less than 50 miles north of Manhattan, the reactors at Entergy’s Indian Point Energy Center face a tough political fight for relicensing. One license has expired, and that reactor is operating under an allowance from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Another license is due to expire in 2015. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo opposes relicensing. Outgoing New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has defended the plant, based on the impact closure could have on New Yorkers’ electric bills. Mayor-elect Bill DeBlasio has called for a gradual decommissioning as alternative power sources come online, which isn’t how the process works. Ultimately, the decision rests not with local officials, but with the NRC.
2. Ginna Nuclear Generating Station: On the south shore of Lake Ontario near Rochester, NY, Ginna is a single-reactor plant that faces fresh competition from wind turbines, falling power prices, and, like Indian Point, a political climate hostile to nuclear reactors. “Upstate New York off-peak power prices have fallen to $32 per megawatt hour as of mid-2013 from $55/MWh in 2008,” according to Morningstar. Ginna is owned jointly by Exelon and Électricité de France.
3. James A. Fitzpatrick Nuclear Power Plant: Another plant on the south shore of Lake Ontario in New York, FitzPatrick faces the same challenges as Ginna, but it’s also an older boiling-water reactor that may need upgrades. “Fitzpatrick’s operating license expires in 2034, but its revenue-sharing agreement with the New York Power Authority expires in December 2014, and unfavorable contract renewal negotiations could lead Entergy to shut the plant.”
4. Three Mile Island: Most of the shale gas boom in America is happening in the Marcellus region of Western Pennsylvania, according to the Energy Information Agency, which means Exelon’s infamous Three Mile Island plant now has to compete with an abundance of gas never before seen in its lifetime. Several large, high-efficiency gas power plants are planned for the region.
5. Davis Besse Nuclear Power Station: FirstEnergy’s plant near Toledo is not far from the Marcellus Shale formation and all that cheap natural ga. After Indian Point, it’s the next power plant up for license renewal— in 2017. “We expect strong opposition from some parties,” says Morningstar. “It has a tarnished reputation after an extended outage in 2002-04 due to corrosion in the reactor vessel head and several smaller issues since then.”
6. Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station: Entergy’s Pilgrim plant in Plymouth, Mass., just survived a contentious license renewal process and was granted a new lease on life through 2032. But it may not survive the energy economy in which it now must compete. “Entergy is not obligated to operate it for that long and could exit if power prices sink much further,” Morningstar says. The old boiling water reactor is more expensive to operate than newer designs.
Reactors recently closed or scheduled for closure:
- Vermont Yankee, Vermont
- San Onofre, California
- Kewaunee, Wisconsin
- Crystal River, Florida
- Oyster Creek, New Jersey….. http://www.forbes.com/sites/jeffmcmahon/2013/11/07/6-nuclear-plants-that-may-be-next-to-shut-down/
Uranium workers unhappy with safety arrangements
A Fridge Full of Uranium for Honeywell Employees, In These Times, BY MIKE ELK 7 Nov 13 On Monday, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) team arrived at Honeywell’s Metropolis, Ill., uranium conversion plant to do a routine weeklong inspection. Recently, workers at the plant have alleged that the employee refrigerator in the control room of the main processing building has repeatedly tested positive for dangerous levels of uranium.
But because Honeywell will not allow a qualified union worker to accompany NRC representatives on their inspections if the workers are on layoff, the union claims that the company is putting them and the local community at risk.
During the last few years, the plant has faced problems with federal authorities over a series of safety issues. In March 2011, after an investigation by the Environmental Proection Agency (EPA), Honeywell pleaded guilty to one felony offense for knowingly storing hazardous radioactive waste without a permit in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA)” and paid an $11.9 million fine to the federal government. Two months later, OSHA officially cited the company for 17 serious violations for the accidental release of toxic hydrogen fluoride (HF) gas directly into the atmosphere outside of the plant in December 2010.
Members of United Steel Workers Local 7-699, which represents workers at the Metropolis plant, claim that having a specifically designated worker present during inspections was the key to at least some of the company’s citations in 2011. The plant, workers say, is large and complex. Though inspectors are highly trained, they may miss small but crucial details during their visits. Union representatives, they say, can point out problems known to workers that regulatory officials may otherwise overlook.
So when workers found out that the union’s elected representative, USW Local 7-699 President Stephen Lech, would not be allowed to go on the NRC inspections because he is on what the union labels a “punitive” layoff, they were outraged. As union president, they say, Lech talks to more members of the union and has a more in-depth knowledge of safety issues than anyone else…….http://inthesetimes.com/working/entry/15848/honeywell_employees_west_texas_regulation_uranium_fridge/
Low morale amongst Fukushima’s cut price nuclear clean-up workers
Fukushima: Japan’s Cut-Price Nuclear Cleanup: Human Error, Plummeting Morale and Worker Exodus 福島は割引清掃 By Global Research News Global Research, November 04, 2013
The Asia-Pacific Journal, Vol. 11, Issue 43, No. 2, October 28, 2013. TEPCO woes continue amid human error, plummeting morale and worker exodus By Justin McCurry and David McNeill reporting from Fukushima
During a visit to Fukushima Daiichi in September, Abe Shinzo told workers: “the future of Japan rests on your shoulders. I am counting on you.”
The prime minister’s exhortation was directed at almost 6,000 technicians and engineers, truck drivers and builders who, almost three years after the plant suffered a triple meltdown, remain on the frontline of the world’s most hazardous industrial cleanup.
Yet as the challenges facing Fukushima Daiichi become clearer with every new radiation leak and mishap, the men responsible for cleaning up the plant are suffering from plummeting morale, health problems and deep anxiety about the future. Even now, at the start of a decommissioning operation that is expected to last four decades, the plant faces a shortage of workers qualified to manage the dangerous work that lies ahead, according to people with firsthand knowledge of the situation inside the facility. Continue reading
Nuclear power – the costly ‘renaissance’ that went awfully wrong
“The fundamental problem was the renaissance was always economically unsound,” Bradford said. “There was never a point in time at which private investors were prepared to back new nuclear. There were just too many things that could go wrong.”
“The problem with using nuclear as an answer to climate change is it’s so much more expensive than other potential answers,” Bradford said. “It’s like building palaces to solve a housing shortage, or using caviar to solve world hunger.”
The ‘nuclear renaissance:’ What went wrong? By Matt Smith, CNN 6 Nov 13“…….Not long ago, nuclear energy seemed poised to start a much-touted renaissance in the United States. Buoyed by forecasts of increased demand, utilities were gearing up to start building the first new reactors since the 1970s. Concerns about the emissions from carbon-rich fossil fuels blamed for global warming started to offset public fears about safety that had lingered since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979. But since then, the industry has seen a dramatic reversal of fortune. And while some environmentalists, now argue that nuclear power is needed to head off climate change, the market has become a hostile place. Continue reading
Uranium project in trouble – will apply for $2 billion govt loan
Uranium project faces more money quandaries Politico, By DARIUS DIXON | 11/6/13
A major project aimed at maintaining the nation’s ability to enrich its own uranium may soon find itself in another cash crunch.
USEC, the company behind the American Centrifuge Project, said Tuesday that it will enter a period of fiscal uncertainty after the end of the year, when it’s scheduled to finish a cost-share agreement with the Energy Department aimed at demonstrating the project’s technology. The company plans to reapply for a $2 billion loan guarantee from the agency as early as December, but that will leave a gap when USEC may not have the money to keep working on the Ohio project while DOE studies the application.
“In light of our liquidity, we do not have the ability to continue to fund ACP at its current levels beyond the end of 2013 without additional government support,” USEC President and CEO John Welch said Tuesday on a call with investors. “Even with their support, our ability to provide funding in 2014 will be limited.”
He said the company “could make a decision to demobilize or terminate the project in the near term.”…….
“In light of our liquidity, we do not have the ability to continue to fund ACP at its current levels beyond the end of 2013 without additional government support,” USEC President and CEO John Welch said Tuesday on a call with investors. “Even with their support, our ability to provide funding in 2014 will be limited.”
He said the company “could make a decision to demobilize or terminate the project in the near term.”
: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/11/uranium-project-faces-more-money-quandaries-99407.html#ixzz2jzXqnI26
Uranium miner at Grand Canyon halting, due to poor uranium market
Work for uranium mine near Grand Canyon hits pause Arizona Daily Star, 7 Nov 13 The Associated Press FLAGSTAFF — A uranium mining company that was sinking a shaft for a mine south of Grand Canyon National Park has put the work on hold, citing market conditions and the expense of litigation. Energy Fuels Resources Inc. said the operation will be on standby until December 2014 or until a ruling is issued in a federal case challenging the U.S. Forest Service’s decision to allow development of the Canyon Mine near Tusayan. The company had planned to start extracting 83,000 tons of ore to produce 1.6 million pounds of processed uranium, or yellow cake, in 2015 but now will have to re-evaluate the timeframe….
….Prices for uranium have dropped to the mid-$30s per pound on the spot market, among the lowest in the past five years. http://azstarnet.com/ap/state/work-for-uranium-mine-near-grand-canyon-hits-pause/article_643f8e19-f2a1-565e-ad6b-7acb0ac2a625.html
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