Gloomy future for nuclear energy in South Carolina
Doubts dampen S.C.’s nuclear future The State, South Carolina, August 19, 2013 By RODDIE BURRIS — rburris@thestate.com The hallmark of the future of nuclear power right now is uncertainty.
Utilities largely have backed off any rush to forge ahead in constructing the next generation of expensive, new nuclear reactor plants — even though they seemed plausible just a few years ago. Continue reading
Renewable energy creates many more jobs than there are in fossil fuel energy
Debunking the Renewables “Disinformation Campaign”, Mother Earth News, Despite vast evidence supporting the advancement of renewable energy, various media outlets insist on denying its progress, blurring the lines between inefficient reporting and deliberate lying. By Rocky Mountain Institute August 19, 2013 “……..a recent study commissioned by Germany’s Federal Environment Ministry found that the renewable energy sector provided around 382,000 jobs in 2011, up four percent in a year, and more than doubled in seven years. More jobs have been created than lost in Germany’s energy sector—plus any jobs gained as heavy industry moves to Germany for its competitive electricity.
Yet a myth persists that countries lose more jobs then they gain when they transition to renewables. This upside-down fantasy rests largely on a 2009 study from King Juan Carlos University in Spain, by an economist reportedly tied to ExxonMobil, the Heartland Institute, and the Koch brothers. His study asserted that, on average, every renewable energy job in Spain destroys 2.2 jobs in the broader Spanish economy. This story was picked up by news media around the world and is still promoted by U.S. anti-renewables groups. But its methodology and assumptions were promptly demolished by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the Spanish government, among others. A 2012 report for the International Labour Organization (ILO) even cites Spain, which built a renewable export industry, as a counterexample: “The green economy presents a good opportunity to increase competitiveness, promote the creation of quality employment and reduce the economy’s environmental impact,” says Joaquín Nieto, who heads the ILO Office in Madrid, especially “when Spain needs to kick-start its economy.” Sure enough, despite new electricity taxes and a halt to subsidies for new renewable projects, Spain’s latest solar projects continue to be built to compete without subsidy.
The disinformation campaign about job creation is not limited to Europe. A Cato Institute article claimed that if people believe a commitment to renewables will fuel job growth “we’re in a lot of trouble.” Yet in 2012 alone, more than 110,000 new U.S. clean-energy direct jobs were created, and in 2010, the U.S. had more jobs in the “clean economy” than in the fossil-fuel industries. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that direct employment in May 2012 totaled 181,580 for oil and gas extraction, 87,520 for coal mining, and 93,200 for iron and steel production. BLS doesn’t similarly classify solar or wind jobs, but reputable analysts have determined from bottom-up industry surveys that in September 2012, for example, the U.S. had 119,016 direct solar jobs (89 percent full-time, the rest at least half-time), up 27 percent in two years—more than in steel-making or coal-mining. Had you heard that before? Why not? …….. http://www.motherearthnews.com/renewable-energy/debunking-the-renewables-disinformation-campaign-zm0z1308zsal.aspx#axzz2cYi1w7VS
German utilities losing money on coal, gas, and nuclear plants
German energy giants pull plug on coal, nuclear The Local, 18 Aug 2013 Ever since Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a phase-out of nuclear energy over the next decade and pledged to generate as much as 80 percent of the country’s electricity from renewables by 2050, big question marks have been hanging over the future of coal and gas-fired plants in Germany.
Merkel, seeking a third term in general elections on September 22nd, is a staunch supporter of this hugely popular policy move.
But the turnaround is depriving utilities, including market leaders RWE and E.ON, of massive profits from their atomic plants and turning their gas and coal-fired stations into loss-makers as they are sidelined by rival renewable sources of energy.
Last week, the two biggest players in the German sector unveiled steep drops in profits, and “many of our plants are operating at a loss,” complained RWE’s finance chief Bernhard Günther.
Indeed, RWE announced that it would shut down a number of plants –representing combined capacity of 4,300 megawatts — in both Germany and the Netherlands. And more could follow, Continue reading
Squabble in Europe over subsidies for nuclear power
Opponents of nuclear power, including environmental groups, say government funding for atomic power would be a breach of EU legal principles and would mark a major shift in policy.
Under EU law, state aid is designed to address problems that the market cannot solve and must not cause unfair competition. It is in principle reserved for technology in its infancy, such as renewable energy. Nuclear generation began more than half a century ago.
Picking up the nuclear energy bill divides the EU Planet Ark, Date: 15-Aug-13 Country: UK/BELGIUM Author: Barbara Lewis and Karolin Schaps European Union rules to be published over the coming weeks could make it easier to justify using taxpayers’ money to fund new nuclear power, which would pitch major EU powers against each other.
The European Commission, the EU executive, says its mind is still open on the topic, but it is under pressure to set a legal framework for state aid to nuclear projects after several member states, including Britain, sought its guidance.
Whatever it lays down, as part of a wider modernization of state aid rules, is likely to widen a rift between anti-nuclear nations, such as Germany and Austria, and those willing to support the technology, including Britain and the Czech Republic.
A Commission spokesman said the executive is not planning to encourage nuclear state aid, but lawyers said a leaked draft of its proposal last month indicated it was leaning towards allowing nuclear financing….. Continue reading
Russia keen to sell nuclear reactors to UK, as long as UK subsidises price
RUSSIA’S ROSATOM EYES NUCLEAR CONTRACTS IN BRITAIN YAHOO NEWS, BY SVETLANA BURMISTROVA , 13 Aug 13, MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian state nuclear company Rosatom is considering selling reactors in Britain and will soon decide whether to apply for a UK reactor licence, a senior company executive said.
Rosatom is now building more atomic power plants than any other vendor and has been marketing the legacy of the former USSR’s own nuclear disaster, at Chernobyl in 1986, as a lesson learned in nuclear safety.
A major player in developing markets such as China, Vietnam and India, Rosatom has long been interested in building reactors in the European Union, where it is already a supplier of nuclear fuel…… Russian nuclear technology has been unpopular in western Europe since the Chernobyl disaster, but Britain is in dire need of investors willing to replace its ageing nuclear fleet after a series of utility companies, including Germany’s RWE and E.ON and Britain’s Centrica , have dropped out…….
Before entering the UK market, Komarov said, Rosatom would wait to see whether EDF reaches a deal with the British government on a guaranteed minimum power price for its proposed Hinkley Point project, Britain’s first new nuclear plant in almost 20 years.
The guaranteed price, also known as a contract-for-difference (CfD), is part of a major electricity market reform, currently being assessed by Parliament, to encourage types of energy that emit little or no carbon.
Through the CfDs, the government guarantees to top up prices to reach an agreed ‘strike price’ for power generated by the nuclear plants, should market prices fall after they are commissioned.
“This is a very comfortable scheme that guarantees return on investments,” Komarov said. EDF expects to announce by year-end whether it has reached a deal with the British government and plans to hold talks on partnering with a Chinese state-run firm.
“We are waiting to see what agreements EDF reaches,” Komarov said. “If we see that we can get a return on our investments, we will enter the project with great desire……. http://au.news.yahoo.com/world/a/-/world/18488685/russias-rosatom-eyes-nuclear-contracts-in-britain/
Entergy’s finances being probed by Nuclear Regulatory Commission
NRC to probe Entergy’s nuclear plant finances Rutland Herald, By Susan Smallheer
Deb Katz, executive director of the Citizens Awareness Network, said Saturday that the NRC accepting the petition for review was a major accomplishment for the groups. She said she hoped the NRC would get answers to many people’s questions about Entergy’s financial status.
Katz made her remarks during the “Flotilla 2013” rally and protest Saturday on the banks of the Connecticut River, directly across from the Vermont Yankee plant in Vernon, Vt. Entergy, the corporate parent of Vermont Yankee, announced last month it was laying off 800 employees out of its workforce of 15,000 nationwide. The cuts translate to a 4.6 percent staff cut at Yankee, which will lose 30 employees out of a total of 650.
Earlier in the year, the company announced it had been forced to write down the value of Vermont Yankee from $517 million to $162 million due to ongoing financial problems.
The NRC announced late last week that it was accepting the petition and would delve into Entergy’s finances. Continue reading
Escalating costs at Nuclear Plant Vogtle as Public Service Commission dilly dallies
State defers showdown on Ga. nuclear plant costs News Tribune, : August 11, 2013 By RAY HENRY — Associated Press ATLANTA — A debate over the rising cost of building a first-of-its-kind nuclear plant in Georgia will be pushed far into the future.
Regulators at the Public Service Commission were facing a legal dilemma ever since Southern Co. subsidiary Georgia Power asked in February to raise its construction budget for building two more nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle by $737 million to $6.85 billion. That request raised expectations that PSC staffers would seek this month to block the utility from passing along some of its costs to customers, but that didn’t happen. Instead, Southern Co. and Georgia utility officials recently reached a preliminary deal that would postpone a major budget debate until at least January 2018, when the first reactor is projected to come online.
A glimmer of the state’s strategy emerged Friday in a report filed by nuclear engineer William Jacobs Jr. and PSC analyst Steven Roetger. Their report lays out the reasons why regulators could try to force the utility to absorb losses because of construction mishaps, but it stops short of recommending that regulators reject any spending now…….
Former Commissioner Robert Baker, who has represented a consumer watchdog group critical of the utility’s spending, said regulators should object to spending now, not wait years into the future. Baker said he believes the preliminary agreement might delay a major review until 2020.
“The new commission in 2020 that looks at this is not going to have the institutional memory, have gone through the entire process up to that time,” he said. “They’re not going to want to second guess what happened seven years ago or eight years ago.” http://www.thenewstribune.com/2013/08/11/2725340/state-defers-showdown-on-ga-nuclear.html
America desperate to sell off nuclear technology to India?
Unfortunate that Indo-US nuclear trade has stalled, says Washington NDTV by Pallava Bagla | August 09, 2013 Washington: The Indo-US civilian nuclear deal was billed as the corner stone of the burgeoning strategic partnership between the countries. However, five years later, the deal has not gone according to the script, and the US says the nuclear commerce has not benefitted the Americans who did most of the global diplomatic heavy lifting.
India’s people-friendly nuclear liability regime has reportedly irked the US.
“The nuclear issue is complex. US is not frustrated but India’s nuclear liability law is a concern and it is unfortunate that nuclear trade has not commenced,” said Richard Stratford, director of nuclear energy, safety and security at the US state department….. http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/unfortunate-that-indo-us-nuclear-trade-has-stalled-says-washington-403342
EDF, largest nuclear company in the world, turns from nuclear to renewable power
Nuclear Power Company Turns To Renewables http://www.energymatters.com.au/index.php?main_page=news_article&article_id=3877 7 Aug 13 The world’s biggest operator of nuclear plants is exiting the nuclear power sector in the USA; turning instead to renewable energy.
According to Reuters, French utility EDF recently struck an agreement partner Exelon with regard to EDF’s exit from their Constellation Energy Nuclear Group (CENG) joint venture, which operates five nuclear power stations totalling 3.9 gigawatts capacity.
EDF’s US operations will now focus on developing renewables-based generation, primarily solar power and wind energy, through EDF Renewable Energy. The company currently has a portfolio of over 5 gigawatts of projects and 2.3 gigawatts of installed capacity.
In July, EDF Renewable Energy also announced it had entered into a Membership Interest Purchase Agreement with Lincoln Renewable Energy to acquire the first phase of the Hereford Wind Project in Texas.
The nuclear power industry has fallen on very tough times in the USA; primarily due to cheap gas and wind power.
Perception of nuclear energy also took a major hit after the Fukushima nuclear crisis, which worried many Americans. Approximately 18 million people live within a 30 kilometre radius of a nuclear power plant in the USA – an area the same size as the initial Fukushima evacuation zone.
The Fukushima disaster continues to generate crises on a regular basis. A new emergency has recently been declared; triggered by radioactive groundwater breaching a barrier built to contain it.
Contaminated water could rise to the surface within three weeks and if it should do so, the flow could be “extremely fast“.
TEPCO, operator of the Fukushima facility, says it has been slow to deal with the subterranean water leaks as it was focused on cooling the damaged reactors that posed greater risks.
Faith in TEPCO’s abilities to address the situation is fragile and the company’s apologies are being received coolly by the people of Japan – and more nasty surprises are certainly possible during the massively expensive cleanup.
Nearly 1000 Fukushima workers have increased risk of getting leukaemia
9,640 Fukushima plant workers reach radiation level for leukemia compensation http://ajw.asahi.com/article/0311disaster/fukushima/AJ201308050104 August 05, 2013 By MIKI AOKI/ Staff Writer Nearly 10,000 people who worked at the stricken Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant are eligible for workers’ compensation if they develop leukemia, but few are aware of this and other cancer redress programs. Continue reading
Florida residents to pay more for abandoned nuclear power plants
Fla. regulators OK Duke nuclear rate hike News Observer, : August 5, 2013 By GARY FINEOUT — Associated Press TALLAHASEE, FLA. — Duke Energy’s nearly 2 million customers in Florida will keep paying for the utility giant’s now-shuttered and abandoned nuclear power plants for the next several years.
And on Monday, that cost went up higher. State utility regulators voted to let Duke Energy Florida raise rates 89 cents a month for the average customer to pay for its Crystal River Plant, in Citrus County.
The charge, which would take effect in January 2014, would last up to seven years. It would be in addition to a separate charge customers have been paying to build a nuclear power plant in Levy County in north Florida.
Last week the Charlotte, N.C.-based company announced it was scuttling its plans to build the $24.7 billion plant, citing changes in the energy market and regulatory hurdles at the state and federal level.
The company announced in February that it was closing the Crystal River nuclear plant, located near the Gulf of Mexico. Workers cracked a concrete containment building during an attempt to upgrade the plant in 2009. An attempt to fix the problem in 2011 resulted in more cracks.
State Rep. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, blasted the decision to let Duke — formerly known as Progress Energy — collect even more money for the Crystal River plant.
“Every customer of Duke Progress Energy should be absolutely outraged,” Fasano said…….
Expenses normally cannot be passed on to customers until power plants go into service, but the Legislature made an exception for nuclear reactors in the 2006 law. It was designed to encourage the expansion of nuclear energy. That law was changed this past year…… http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/05/3084374/fla-regulators-ok-duke-nuclear.html
No sign of recovery in plummeting uranium market
No rebound for uranium seen as Japan idle plants Prices have sunk to the lowest in more than 7 years amid a glut of the radioactive metal and speculation Japan will delay restarting its nuclear reactors. MineWeb, Ben Sharples (Bloomberg) , 02 Aug 2013 (BLOOMBERG) Uranium prices are showing little sign of recovery after sinking to the lowest in more than seven years amid a glut of the radioactive metal and speculation Japan will delay restarting its nuclear reactors.
Prices may average $42.82 a pound this year, according to Morgan Stanley, while Bank of America Corp. is predicting $43.80. BMO Capital Markets, which cut its price estimate by 10 percent in July, forecasts $43 a pound. Uranium has averaged $40.94 so far in 2013 after sliding to $34.50 last month, the lowest since November 2005.
While Japanese power producers, including Tokyo Electric Power Co., are seeking to restart reactors as soon as possible as the cost of other fuels escalates, operations may not resume until next year, according to Deutsche Bank AG. That’s threatening to delay a rebound in demand for uranium, hurting miners such as Australia’s Paladin Energy Ltd. as supplies outstrip demand. There is about 60 million pounds of surplus uranium around the world, according to Cantor Fitzgerald LP.
“The process for restarts is clearly going to take some time,” said Jonathan Hinze, a senior vice president at Roswell, Georgia-based Ux, which provides research on the nuclear industry. “Japanese utilities are unlikely to require any new fuel until 2014 at the earliest. There is a realization that the uranium demand from Japan is unlikely to dramatically change anytime soon, especially this year.”
Price Weakness
Uranium for immediate delivery has dropped as much as 21 percent this year, extending a 17 percent decline in 2012, according to data from Ux. Prices slumped 12 percent in July, the biggest monthly loss since March 2011. They climbed as high as $152 in June 2007…
Economics of nuclear power rapidly getting worse
US natgas boom sucks nuclear power into downdraft , 4 Aug 2013 By: Javier E. David CNBC.com One of the biggest contributors to the ongoing decline of the U.S. nuclear industry is booming natural gas development, according to a new study.
In a study published in March, the Institute for Energy and Environment identified cost overruns, slowing demand and plunging natgas prices—which this week fell to a five month low—as key forces behind nuclear’s decline.
Cheap and abundant natural gas is eating away at nuclear energy’s traditional role in generating electricity in a way that has made the sector’s prospects increasingly precarious, according to the institute and others. Even as the U.S. renews its push for climate change policies that could give nuclear a new lease on life, some observers are doubtful much can be done to arrest the sector’s spiral……..
Hill said the long-term prospects of the nuclear industry are uncertain at best, especially in a sector operating in the shadow of Japan’s 2011 nuclear disaster. “The economics and the environment are driving development and the use of shale oll and gas to provide power,” she said.
Furthermore, “the economics of nuclear plants are very difficult to maintain, and very costly to do so,” she said. Hill pointed to issues that have for years dogged Yucca Mountain’s nuclear facility in Las Vegas, Nevada, the site of vociferous environmental opposition……………. the landscape remains dotted with failing projects, with four reactors having been retired this year alone.
Just a few years ago, there were prospects for a nuclear revival, said Blank Rome’s Hill. However, the resurgence of oil and gas production is changing all that.
“Some of it is definitely safety-related, such as [Japan’s] Fukushima, but the primary driver has been the advent of shale gas in the last few years,” Hill said. “I think we’re just seeing the beginning of what’s happening with shale development.”
Dimming future for nuclear industry in Florida
A utility pulls plug on Florida nuclear plans — but it’s not FPL Miami Herald, BY CURTIS MORGAN, 3 Aug 13, CMORGAN@MIAMIHERALD.COM The future of the nuclear energy industry in Florida appears to be dimming.
Duke Energy Corp. on Thursday announced it had indefinitely postponed plans to build two new reactors in sparsely populated Levy County on the Gulf Coast, citing federal licensing delays and economic concerns.
Those are topped by spiraling construction costs and uncertainty over whether Florida regulators and lawmakers will continue supporting controversial “cost-recovery’’ policies allowing utilities to bill
customers in advance for plants with multibillion-dollar price tags.
The decision by the nation’s largest utility is the latest sign of cooling enthusiasm for nuclear power nationwide. Continue reading
Africa, a future nuclear insurance “gravy train”
Posted by nuclear-news.net
Date 5 August 2013
by Arclight2011part2
On Nuclear-news.net we have covered many stories concerning Africa and the Nuclear aspirations of this dark continent. I say dark because at night it is the only continent not lit up by street lighting and advertisements.
From the corporations point of view this is a new continent to develop using western choices of energy that that includes nuclear power options.
The IAEA is even going to approve a nuclear reactor in Ghana, that is one of the few earthquake zones in NW Africa (information on link)
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/07/04/ghana-lines-up-for-nuclear-cash-hand-outs/
And here is an example of how the Nuclear/mining industries have contaminated large areas of Africa and in these articles ;
But nuclear materials are already proliferate over Africa in the form of food irradiation processes, medical and industrial uses to name but a few. And many wonder of the security implications of this.
Of course the nuclear industry is bigger than just the technology.
There are Insurance, financial services, military and security corporations connected to having nuclear power and a lot of money can be made by these organisations.
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/05/09/the-naked-truth-about-nuclear-accident-insurance/
https://nuclear-news.net/2010/09/30/how-tax-payer-money-funds-the-nuclear-industrys-expansion/
The IAEA has been helping to develop nuclear technology in Africa and sets the ground for these corporations to step in. The IAEA works with the big nuclear powers in a bid to solve the waste crisis with the MOX fuel system.
Selling hundreds of reactors to light up the African night, running off the waste products of the domestic, medical and military uses of nuclear materials from the west. Even as western energy companies such as EDF are being forced to invest in wind and solar energy due to financial and environmental concerns;
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/08/02/nuclear-company-switching-to-renewable-energy-in-usa/
https://nuclear-news.net/2010/12/27/off-grid-small-scale-solar-energy-in-huts-in-africa/
The Insurance companies do well on these deals as there is a cap on the amount that needs to be paid out to victims of the nuclear fuel cycle. To give an example of this payment system at work, the British Nuclear Test Veterans got around £6,000-$12,000 per head for their radiation induced damages (including genetic damage to future off spring) Link to the BNTV report to be found here ;
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/07/22/british-nuclear-test-veterans-silenced/
The affected Japanese from Fukushima expect to receive under £3000 or-$6000 per head in a country that is more expensive to live in than th UK and has higher cost implications for future health problems.
However the children and pregnant women will get under £5000 or $10,000 as they are likely to develop thyroid problems including cancer and have miscarriages etc.
It is interesting to note the similarity in the payments to those victims affected in the UK and Japan. I have seen no quotes for Miyagi prefecture so far though;
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/06/04/compensation-for-fukushima-evacuees-radiation-anxiety/
In fact, the Insurance liability caps system are not welcome everywhere and it is a point of contention that the insurance companies want to limit the costs to them, so that the nuclear financial and insurance “gravy train” is not interrupted.
Here is an example of dissension against the western corporate nuclear insurance/finance industry;
1 This Month
of the week– Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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