The fallacy of assuming that weapons manufacture creates jobs
America’s War Games How the Obama administration is redefining the US military’s strategic priorities with far-reaching consequences, Aljazeera, 27 April 13 “……. William Hartung, from the Center for International Policy says that Pentagon contractors have “for years used the jobs argument to revive weapons systems that have been cancelled. To push for things that even the Pentagon itself has not wanted.” For months, a study has been circulating in Washington, underwritten by the Aerospace Industries Association, a major defence industry trade group. It claims that a million jobs would be lost as a result of sequestration cuts to defence spending.
Hartung, who has analysed the study, says it exaggerates the potential job loss number by a factor of three, and that many of those jobs will be replaced. He points out that spending on education, health care, and infrastructure “can create 1.5 to 2 times as many jobs. So the economy would be much better off spending on things other than the Pentagon.”
Several recent reports examining ways to cut Pentagon spending call for changes in the US nuclear weapons posture. They claim that it would produce hundreds of billions of dollars of savings in coming decades, and the Obama administration is reportedly considering nuclear weapons cuts. But they will be difficult to achieve.
“People are still mired in Cold War thinking and they feel like the more nuclear weapons we have the better,” Hartung says. “And in addition to that the nuclear weapons industry has some of the biggest strongest companies in the military industrial complex.”
Lockheed Martin builds submarines, launches ballistic missiles, and runs the nuclear weapons laboratories; General Dynamics builds nuclear subs; and Northrop Grumman, Boeing and Lockheed Martin are all hoping to build the next nuclear bomber……http://www.aljazeera.com/programmes/peopleandpower/2013/04/2013424113558268754.html
Nuclear energy now looks like a dud for South Africa
Study pours cold water on South Africa’s nuclear build plan BUSNESS DAY LIVE, BY CAROL PATON, 19 APRIL 2013, NEW National Planning Commission (NPC) modelling of South Africa’s energy demands says nuclear power should be delayed by years, and an immediate commissioning of 
new gas-generation capacity should take place to avoid rolling blackouts in the near future.
The remodelling commissioned by the NPC signals the start in earnest of what will be a highly contested policy debate: whether South Africa needs and can afford nuclear power or not, and by when.
The implication of the modelling is that no new nuclear power would be required before at least 2029, but more likely as far away as 2040 if demand grows as expected. Continue reading
Ontario’s high electricity bills due to nuclear costs, not renewables
Mad about your hydro bill? Blame nuclear and gas plants 
http://www.thestar.com/business/personal_finance/2013/04/18/mad_about_your_hydro_bill_blame_nuclear_and_gas_plants.html
That’s the conclusion of a study done for the Independent Electricity System Operator (IESO), which runs Ontario’s power market.
Renewable power has frequently been the whipping boy for hydro price increases, because of the highly visible prices it commands. It’s also a political flashpoint: the provincial Progressive Conservatives have presented a bill in the Legislature that would gut the renewable energy policies adopted by the Liberals.
But a study by Navigant Consulting Ltd. shows that payments to nuclear and gas-fired generators are responsible for two-thirds of the “global adjustment” charge, which is the biggest part of the “electricity” line in your hydro bill. Continue reading
Virginia gets an agency to promote nuclear power
Nuclear authority generates controversy Rapp News By Stephen Nielsen Capital News Service, 18 April 13 RICHMOND – Virginia is creating a new agency to support development of nuclear power – a move that has upset environmentalists and open-government advocates, because the entity won’t have to comply with the state’s Freedom of Information Act and other laws….. In January, Garrett introduced House Bill 1790, which sought to create the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium Authority. Sen. Jeffrey McWaters, R-Virginia Beach, sponsored companion legislation – Senate Bill 1138 – in his chamber. Both bills were passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by Gov. Bob McDonnell…..
By Jan. 1, the authority will create the Virginia Nuclear Energy Consortium. By law, the consortium will seek to make Virginia “a leader in nuclear energy” Continue reading
Nuclear power completely uncompetitive on costs
Jerry Taylor: For Now, Nuclear Can’t Compete. Jerry Taylor, WSJ, 17 April 13 Nuclear power simply cannot compete with gas-fired power. And absent some major technological breakthrough, it’s unlikely to do so in the future.
This is not a matter of opinion. This is a matter of economic fact. Even with all of the production tax credits, loan guarantees and a battery of other direct and indirect subsidies, nuclear power remains the most expensive source of conventional electricity on the grid once capital costs are plugged into the equation. That’s why no one has ordered a new nuclear power plant in decades. That’s why nuclear power plants are being retired today in the face of cheap natural gas for as far as the eye can see. Continue reading
Astronomic costs if France had a nuclear accident: report kept secret
French Nuclear Disaster Scenario Was So Bad The Government Kept It Secret http://au.businessinsider.com/potential-cost-of-a-nuclear-accident-so-high-its-a-secret-2013-3 WOLF RICHTER15 MARCH 2013 Catastrophic nuclear accidents, like Chernobyl in 1986 or Fukushima No. 1 in 2011, are, we’re incessantly told, very rare, and their probability of occurring infinitesimal.
But when they do occur, they get costly. So costly that the French government, when it came up with cost estimates for an accident in France, kept them secret.
But now the report was leaked to the French magazine, Le Journal de Dimanche. Turns out, the upper end of the cost spectrum of an accident at the nuclear power plant at Dampierre, in the Department of Loiret in north-central France, amounted to over three times the country’s GDP. Continue reading
UK greatly underestimated nuclear decommissioning costs
Public Accounts Committee – Thirty-Seventh Report HM Treasury: Whole of Government Accounts 2010-11 HM Treasury: Whole of Government Accounts 2010-11 – Public Accounts Committee Contents
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmpubacc/867/86706.htm
11 April 2013 “…… The C&AG’s report on the 2010-11 WGA shows the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s estimated cost of civil nuclear decommissioning increased by around £16 billion to £53 billion between 2007 and 2011. We asked the Treasury how the WGA would be used to influence any decision made in relation to future investments in the nuclear sector. The Treasury acknowledged that not considering these costs when the power stations were built had been a mistake, and considered that the critical issue was to factor in these costs in future, so that the taxpayer would not be burdened with unexpected additional costs of £60 billion.[ http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/Claverton/message/10673
Bill Gates now promoting renewables (? not nuclear)
Bill Gates Provides Boost To Renewable Energy Storage Company Aquion Energy April 3, 2013 Clean Technica Nicholas Brown
Bill Gates, the well known co-founder of Microsoft, has decided to provide a financial boost to renewable energy storage research and development (R&D). He is one member of a group of high-profile investors who are investing $35 million into Aquion energy.
The company is creating a water-based battery system intended to be cheap and environmentally friendly. Aquion’s energy storage technology is reportedly being developed for large- and small-scale energy storage projects, and the company is delivering pre-production energy storage units throughout this year, with the intention to ramp up production at a high-volume manufacturing plant in Pennsylvania by the end of 2013. http://cleantechnica.com/2013/04/03/bill-gates-provides-boost-to-renewable-energy-storage/#XErorPJRkTq1fT8b.99
Iran’s nuclear program, more for pride than for economics
Iran’s nuclear program entails huge costs, few benefits: report Yaghoo News By Yeganeh Torbati 3 April 13 DUBAI (Reuters) – Iran will pursue its nuclear quest although it has reaped few gains from a totem of national pride that has cost it well over $100 billion in lost oil revenue and foreign investment alone, two think-tanks said on Wednesday. Continue reading
British uranium group insists ! Japan must restart nuclear reactors
Uranium firm warns Japan it must return to nuclear power
The Times, Tim Webb
March 29 2013
A uranium enrichment group, part owned by the British Government, has warned that Japan’s decision to shut nuclear power stations will reduce demand for its services. (subscribers only) http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/business/industries/utilities/article3725842.ece?CMP=OTH-gnws-standard-2013_03_28couldnt resist adding these links 🙂 for further reading!
UK and Canada try to revive UK nuclear! Privatising nuclear fuel production!
….Bidders are lining up for for Urenco’s privatisation, which could put £4bn in the UK chancellor’s coffers….
…The newspaper said that Areva was holding talks with private equity firms including Apax and CVC, regarding a possible joint offer for Urenco, and that Morgan Stanley had been appointed to handle the sale, with a float also a possibility….
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/03/18/43219/
Russian protests against Areva and Urenco’s nuclear waste dumping
Areva and its counterpart Urenco, headquartered in Britain, have sent close to 140,000 tonnes of nuclear waste to Russia in the past 15 years.
DEPLETED URANIUM IN RUSSIA Protests as French uranium arrives in Russia Javno 2 Feb 2010 A cargo loaded with depleted uranium from France docked in Saint Petersburg, as Russian activists protested at the nuclear waste exports.
UK to sell out of nuclear power company URENCO
Nuclear sale set to net billions for UK The Government is holding a “beauty parade” for bankers to advise it over a potential sale of the UK’s multi billion-pound stake in nuclear power giant Urenco. Telegraph UK, By Emma Rowley, Rowena Mason, and Helia Ebrahimi 15 Jul 2012
The move marks a step towards a deal that could net British taxpayers
as much as £3bn, according to estimates that value the entire company
at £8bn-£10bn.
https://nuclear-news.net/2012/07/16/uk-to-sell-out-of-nuclear-power-company-urenco/
UK – Areva, Toshiba eye nuclear fuel producer Urenco – sources
“…A financial markets source close to the discussions said that private equity houses KKR (KKR.N) and CVC were also interested in striking a deal for Urenco…”
By Karolin Schaps and Christoph Steitz
LONDON/BERLIN | Mon Jan 21, 2013 6:37pm GMT
(Reuters) – France‘s Areva (AREVA.PA) and Japan’s Toshiba Corp (6502.T) are considering bids for nuclear fuel producer Urenco, but British, German and Dutch authorities disagree over what to do with the ultra-secret firm, industry sources said.
Britain is keen to sell its 33 percent stake, and German utilities RWE (RWEG.DE) and E.ON (EONGn.DE) are talking to potential buyers over their combined 33 percent, but the Dutch government is not considering a sale.
https://nuclear-news.net/2013/01/22/uk-areva-toshiba-eye-nuclear-fuel-producer-urenco-sources/
Investors trying to boost price shares? soon to sell maybe?? 🙂 – Arclight2011
Tohoku Electric Power Company scraps plan for new nuclear power plant
TOKYO, Japan, March 28, 2013 (ENS) – The Japanese utility that supplies 
electricity to seven prefectures on Japan’s main island of Honshu today officially withdrew its plan to build a new nuclear power plant near the site of the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster.
Tohoku Electric Power Company said Thursday that it will cancel the construction of the Namie-Odaka plant in view of strong local opposition.
Nuclear lobby getting jittery?
Half-Hearted Nuclear Energy Cannot Continue, Leaders be “All In” Energy Collective, Rod Adams, 31 Mar“…..leaders need to be “all in”; they cannot engage in a half-hearted attempt to make nuclear somewhat competitive by following all of the existing rules and making only marginal changes in heat source and heat engine designs that work well when the fuel is coal, oil, or natural gas. They also need to make friends with others who have made the same basic technical choice and not engage in destructive competition against other nuclear energy entrepreneurs who do not have much market share to take anyway….
The leaders must also recognize the political aspects of the technology and be unafraid to take advantage of skillful marketing that takes direct aim at the long line of dark grey suits that represent the established energy industry. ….
Focused leaders who have a deep understanding of nuclear technology, politics and human nature need to be willing to throw hammers that may result in some blowback. They must keep pressing forward to develop the energy supply products that their customers want – even if they don’t yet know it….
[again quoting Helm[ ” a revealing commentary on solar energy as a scam that is making a certain type of investor rich] . -.. http://theenergycollective.com/rodadams/203536/dieter-helm-nuclear-saga-cannot-go-leaders-must-push-happy-ending
Wind Energy races ahead, as nuclear production falls in USA
BAD NEWS FOR HOMER SIMPSON HTTP://QZ.COM/68344/US-RENEWABLE-ENERGY-PRODUCTION-NOW-TOPS-NUCLEAR-POWER/ US renewable energy production now tops nuclear power By Todd Woody — March 28, 2013US president Barack Obama has pursued an energy policy he describes as “all of the above,” a bit of Bill Clinton-style triangulation that seeks to boost production from carbon-intensive oil and gas drilling while promoting clean technologies like solar and wind.
So how’s he doing?
New data released yesterday from the US Energy Information Administration offers a snapshot of the energy landscape in Obama’s first term. Energy production from natural gas grew 16% while coal-fired power fell more than 4%, thanks to a glut of cheap natural gas from the fracking boom. It’s a trend likely to continue as shale gas reserves are tapped and new emissions regulations effectively bar the construction of new coal-fired power plants.
Renewable energy production jumped nearly 24% but remains only 11% of the US’ total energy production. But the trend lines tell the story: Wind energy, for instance, grew 89% while electricity production from nuclear power plants fell 4%.
And this factoid should warm the hearts of anti-nuke activists: The US now gets more energy from renewable sources—wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, and biomass—than it does from nuclear power plants.
While there are new nuclear projects winding their way through the regulatory process, don’t expect a nuke boom. Multibillion-dollar price tags, waste disposal issues and growing water shortages are likely to limit nuclear power’s contribution to the nation’s energy mix in the coming decades.
Mr. Burns just might want to start looking for another job, perhaps as a wind farm magnate.
Vermont Yankee nuclear plant not financially viable?
“Entergy’s financial problems must not become nuclear safety problems,” Tim Judson, president of Citizens’ Awareness Network and one of the petition’s authors, said in a public statement. “Unfortunately, that may already be happening, and the NRC must act now. Entergy is in this business to make a profit, and the pressure on the company to cut costs, delay maintenance, and drive these plants to the edge is just too great.”…..
The NRC’s inquiry into Vermont Yankee’s finances comes one month after the Swiss financial services firm UBS Securities downgraded Entergy’s stock from “neutral” to “sell.”
UBS released a report earlier this year that suggested Entergy could improve its financial outlook if it closed Vermont Yankee.
Entergy document cites drastic fall in value of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, raising questions about its viability VT Digger, by Andrew Stein | March 21, 2013 Thursday marked the one-year anniversary that Vermont Yankee’s initial 40-year operating license expired, and the aging nuclear plant finds itself on rough financial footing.
In a November 2012 filing with U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Entergy Corp. informed investors that in March of last year the company estimated that the fair value of its Vermont Yankee plant had dropped to $162 million — three times less than the carrying value of $517.5 million.
The fair value is “based on the price that Entergy would expect to receive in a hypothetical sale of the Vermont Yankee plant,” the filing says. The cash flow projections “depend on pending legal and state regulatory matters, as well as projections of future revenues and expenses.”
The news of Vermont Yankee’s devaluation was brought to light almost a year later. Continue reading
Fukushima casts a continuing gloom over uranium market
Ongoing problems at the disaster-stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant aren’t helping Japanese citizens’ perception of the safety of nuclear power. A recent power outage Monday left four fuel storage pools without fresh cooling water…..
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
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