business and costs « nuclear-news

San Onofre nuclear plant – back in function – NEVER? or years away

Edison Chairman Ted Craver left open the possibility that the generators might eventually be scrapped.

Craver said it’s not clear if the plant will ever return to full power. He added, “It appears complete replacement of the steam generators would take some years.”

Bills for replacement power, repairs at troubled San Onofre, Calif., nuke plant reach $317M WP, By Associated Press,November 1 LOS ANGELES — Costs tied to the long-running shutdown at the San Onofre nuclear power plant in California have hit $317 million, and
it’s not clear if the ailing plant will return to full power, according to documents released Thursday. Continue reading →

November 2, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Forecast for uranium market – still sinkng

Nuclear bearishness sinks claws into uranium price, demand forecasts Dundee Capital Markets drops its near term uranium price forecasts : Kip Keen , 01 Nov 2012 (MINEWEB) – With post-Fukushima anti-nuclear sentiment continuing to weigh, Dundee Capital Markets cut its near-term uranium price forecast.

“A cloud still hangs over the uranium sector as we approach the second anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi disaster,” Dundee’s David Talbot wrote in a recent note to clients. “The impact has been felt on the spot market, with prices now dipping below post-Fukushima lows of US$49.00/lb U3O8, to a range of around $42 to $43 per pound ).” In cutting forecasts Talbot focused heavily on dour near term demand for uranium and issues of public perception for nuclear power, particularly in developed nations following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan last year. Dundee dropped its spot uranium forecast in the near term to $49 per pound from $60 a pound and its term (contract) price to $61 from $65 a pound…..
Dundee’s change in outlook came a day after Cameco, a leading uranium producer, put a damper on its long term production outlook, cutting back growth plans from 40 million pounds uranium to 36 million pounds uranium in production a year by 2018(covered in these pages by Dorothy Kosich here)..

November 2, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs, Uranium | Leave a comment

Germany’s nuclear phaseout – financial benefits to farmers, investors, and small business

the nuclear shutdown and an accompanying move toward renewable energy are already
yielding measurable economic and environmental benefits, with one top expert calling the German phase-out a probable game-changer for the nuclear industry worldwide.

the nuclear phase-out and accompanying shift to renewable energy have brought financial benefits to farmers, investors, and small business;

Bulletin: German nuclear exit delivers economic, environmental
benefits http://www.ecnmag.com/news/2012/11/bulletin-german-nuclear-exit-delivers-economic-environmental-benefits, 11/01/2012 Following the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in 2011, the German government took the nation’s eight oldest reactors offline immediately and passed legislation that will close the last nuclear power plant by 2022.

This nuclear phase-out had overwhelming political support in Germany. Continue reading →

November 2, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Germany, renewable | Leave a comment

Uranium market uncertainty causes Cameco to cut its expansion plans

Expected nuclear construction cuts, prompts Cameco project paring Recent developments in the nuclear industry, specifically in Japan, have caused more uncertainty over the growth rate of nuclear power globally, prompting Cameco to adjust its production forecasts. Mineweb Dorothy Kosich , 01 Nov 2012 Ongoing market uncertainty in the near term has prompted mega-uranium miner Cameco to seriously tighten its project portfolio and drop four million pounds of future targeted uranium production….. In its analysis, Cameco noted that recent developments in the nuclear industry, primarily in Japan, have caused more uncertainty in the growth rate of nuclear power globally…… Cameco’s uranium production volumes remained flat for the third quarter of the year at 5.3 million pounds. However, the company also recorded a 29% decrease in sales.

Production for the first nine months of this year were also lower at 15.4 million pounds, down from 15.8 million pounds for the same period of 2011. The lower output as attributed to lower production at Smith Ranch-Highland and Inkai.

Uranium revenues also dropped 5% during the first three quarters of this year, due to a 5% decrease in sales volumes. “Our $US realized prices were lower than the first nine months of 2011 mainly due to lower prices under market-related contracts being offset by a more favorable exchange rate,” said the company….. FINANCIALS

For the first nine months of this year, Cameco reported adjusted net earnings of $210 million or 53-cents per share, down from adjusted net earnings of $259 million or 66-cents per share. The change was due to lower earnings from the uranium business based on lower sales volumes, lower realized prices and higher costs; a $30 million contract termination change, as well as higher exploration and administration costs.

November 2, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Uranium | Leave a comment

Hitachi, desperate for nuclear sales, will own Britain’s nuclear power enterprise!

Masaharu Hanyu, head of Hitachi’s nuclear division, hinted that the Japanese conglomerate had little choice but to win business abroad.

Hitachi enters Britain’s nuclear sector TOKYO, Oct. 31 (UPI) –– Japan’s Hitachi Ltd. will build up to six new nuclear reactors in the United Kingdom as part of its agreement to acquire Horizon Nuclear Power from German energy companies RWE and
E.ON.

The $1.1 billion deal announced this week propels Hitachi into the “new and uncomfortable” role as the owner of an entire atomic-power enterprise instead of just a contract reactor builder, says a report in the Financial Times.

Domestically, in the wake of the March 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan aims to phase out nuclear power by 2040. Continue reading →

November 1, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, marketing, UK | Leave a comment

Japan’s nuclear companies desperate to sell nukes overseas

Hitachi shifts focus of nuclear business overseas, Asahi Shimbun October 27, 2012 By TOMOYA FUJITA Hitachi Ltd. is set to acquire Britain’s Horizon Nuclear Power, underscoring the company’s shift of focus to the nuclear plant sector overseas.

The move comes as no surprise as Japan’s other nuclear plant manufacturers are also struggling after last year’s disaster put a potentially permanent halt to domestic construction of new facilities. Continue reading →

October 29, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, marketing | Leave a comment

Nuclear power obstacle in Japan: new evacuation plans

under the new radiation forecast, many more local governments will have to compile disaster management plans for areas that could require evacuation.

Radiation forecast creates hurdle in resuming nuclear plant operations UPDATE: Forecast predicts wider evacuations needed if nuclear disaster repeated October 25, 2012 THE ASAHI SHIMBUN Municipalities are demanding a greater say in whether utilities can restart their reactors after the new industry watchdog placed more communities in the danger zone of possible nuclear accidents. Continue reading →

October 26, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Japan, politics, safety | Leave a comment

Will ratepayers foot the big bill for restarting San Onofre nuclear power plant?

California Regulators Examining Troubled Nuclear Plant’s Costs Fox Business, October 25, 2012 California regulators said Thursday they would decide whether utility customers should pay to fix and restart the troubled San Onofre nuclear power plant in a ruling likely to determine the plant’s future.
The nuclear plant, located on the Pacific Coast between Los Angeles and San Diego, has been shut since Jan. 31, when a pipe ruptured and released radioactive steam…

.. The company plans to restart part of the plant for a limited period, but needs approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission before it can proceed. The NRC has said a decision on that plan, filed earlier this month, will likely take several months.
Asked whether the company might delay its plans for the plant pending the CPUC’s decision on whether customers would foot the bill, a SoCal Edison spokeswoman declined to comment….. http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/10/25/california-regulators-examining-troubled-nuclear-plant-costs/#ixzz2AR7GkP3a

October 26, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Canada | Leave a comment

Price Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act – a whopper government subsidy

It is worth noting that Exelon, as an owner and operator of more nuclear power plants than any other American company, benefits to a considerable degree from what is potentially one of the largest government subsidies of energy production in world history, the Price Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act.

Nuclear Company Blasts Wind Industry Tax Incentive KCET, by Chris Clarke
on October 23, 2012 The largest operator of nuclear power plants in the United States has blasted the Wind Production Tax Credit in a commissioned study…… Continue reading →

October 25, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, politics, Reference, USA | Leave a comment

While India’s nuclear dream languishes, solar energy up and running quickly

The latest news is that Reliance is building Asia’s largest solar power plant in Jaisalmer district of Rajasthan. “The 250 MW plant being built with Areva of France would be ready by late 2014. The entire project would be ready by 2014”

Cheap nuclear energy is an illusion The Pioneer: Kumar Chellappan, 25 Oct 12 Nuclear energy is expensive and unsustainable, and takes more than a decade to be fully operational. It is also high on risks. Moreover, the 20 nuclear reactors spread across the country generate hardly 60 per cent of the total installed nuclear power

Hidden subsidies have helped the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Continue reading →

October 25, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, India | Leave a comment

China slowing down its nuclear power program

China to approve only a few new reactors by 2015 By David Stanway BEIJING Oct 24, 2012 (Reuters) – China will approve a small number of new nuclear reactors before 2015 to be built only in coastal regions, the government said on Wednesday, as it unveiled a raft of measures to spur private investments in energy. Continue reading →

October 25, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, China | Leave a comment

Another utility company pulls out of uneconomic nuclear power project

Utilities are pulling out of nuclear projects across Europe as uncertainty over energy prices makes them too risky. EON’s withdrawal from Finland follows its decision in September 2011, along with SSE Plc and RWE AG (RWE), to give up building nuclear plants in the
U.K

EON Withdraws From Finnish Nuclear Project on Price Slide, Bloomberg By Torsten Fagerholm – Oct 24, 2012 EON AG, Germany’s biggest utility, plans to withdraw from the Fennovoima Oy nuclear reactor in Finland after European energy prices declined, threatening the viability of the project. Continue reading →

October 25, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Finland | Leave a comment

Economics are the downfall of the nuclear industry

The industry’s renewed glimpse of its mortality comes as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission is working on the question of whether the existing plants can get a second 20-year extension, to age 80. But license extension may not be the problem. Wider economic circumstances may be instead.

Aging and Expensive, Reactors Face Mothballs NYT, Matthew Wald , 23 Oct 12 THE conventional wisdom about nuclear reactors is that they are expensive to build but cheap to run.

But electricity on the wholesale market is so inexpensive, its price depressed by cheap natural gas , that some reactors may not have enough revenue to justify needed capital expenditures. Experts say that as a result, the nuclear industry may be nearing its first round of retirements since the mid-1990s. Continue reading →

October 24, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

The world’s nuclear industry continues to decline

World Nuclear Industry Status Report maps nuclear power’s global decline http://www.beyondnuclear.org/home/2012/10/22/world-nuclear-industry-status-report-maps-nuclear-powers-glo.html A new World Nuclear Industry Status Report 2012, authored by Mycle Schneider with Antony Froggatt and Julie Hazemann, maps the continuing global decline of nuclear power. The report shows that nuclear’s future rests not on new construction, but that “Plant life extension seems the most likely survival strategy of the nuclear industry at this point” – a good reason to continue to block reactor license extensions. The report noted that: “Only seven reactors started up, while 19 were shut down in 2011.” By July 2012, “only two were started up, just compensating for two that were shut down so far this year”. Other highlights:

China is spending five times more on renewables than nuclear post-Fukushima with no new nuclear construction since 3/11; nine reactors have been listed as “under construction” for more than 20 years; four countries – Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and Taiwan – will phase out nuclear power and five more to date – Egypt, Italy, Jordan, Kuwait and Thailand – have abandoned plans to develop, or re-develop nuclear power; new builds have been canceled in Brazil, France, India and the US; certification of new reactor technologies has been delayed numerous times; in the US, of the 28 license applications received, 16 were subsequently delayed and eight were suspended indefinitely or officially canceled; of the 59 units under construction in the world, at least 18 are experiencing multi-year delays, while the remaining 41 projects were started within the past five years or have not yet reached project start-up dates.

October 23, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs, Reference | Leave a comment

Permanent shutdown for USA nuclear power plant

The shutdown would be the first of any reactor in the country since the late 1990s

Dominion says Kewaunee nuclear plant will shut down for good By Thomas Journal Sentinel 22 Oct 12, Dominion Resources Inc. will shut down the Kewaunee Power Station by the middle of next year, the company announced Monday, saying it was unable to find a buyer for the nuclear plant east of Green Bay.

The Kewaunee reactor is one of three operating reactors in the state, with the other two located five miles away at Point Beach Nuclear Plant.

The Virginia-based company said the low price of natural gas, which sets prices for the wholesale power market, was a key factor in the decision. The company’s agreements to sell power to two Wisconsin utilities expire next year. Continue reading →

October 23, 2012 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

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