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…..
South Carolina’s nuclear power to get ever more costly
“The cost trends clearly suggest that nuclear reactor construction is not only more costly than the alternatives today, but will be a great deal more costly than many more alternatives in the future,”
Report: Gov’t incentives favor nuclear over renewable energy in SC The State, South Carolina, 15, 2013 By SAMMY FRETWELL — COLUMBIA, SC — As SCE&G and other utilities work to complete atomic power plants, the law that made construction possible gives power companies less incentive to use solar, wind and other forms of alternative energy.
That’s one conclusion in a broad study that criticizes the way South Carolina, Georgia and Florida have helped utilities afford the multi-billion dollar costs of building nuclear power plants.
The report, released Thursday through the Vermont’ Law School, said ratepayers in the three Southern states are being soaked for the high costs of building atomic reactors. It recommends that the nuclear reactor projects be cancelled to save money in the long run because the projects are still years from completion and will cost billions more than originally projected. SCE&G is spending $10 billion on two new reactors at Jenkinsville because of a special financing method allowed by the state Legislature six years ago. Already, the company has incurred more than $280 million in extra costs building the plants, the report said. The plants are expected to become operational in 2017 and 2018.
Historically, utilities have had to show that power plants are up and running properly before they could recover the costs for construction, Vermont researchers said. Now, laws adopted in South Carolina, Georgia and Florida have allowed utilities to charge ratepayers for nuclear power plants before the reactors are built. Continue reading
Misleading information masks true level of radiation received by Fukushima workers
63 workers exposed to higher radiation than logged in their records,
March 02, 2013, THE ASAHI SHIMBUN by Toshio Tada and Jun Sato
Dozens of workers at the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant
were exposed to radiation levels higher than those registered in their
personal records, according to a health ministry investigation. Continue reading
For economic reasons, USA’s nuclear power may simply disappear
current market forces challenge the economic viability of existing nuclear power plants, with new reactors representing an extremely unattractive investment prospect.US May Face Inevitable Nuclear Power Exit Science Daily, Mar. 1, 2013 — In a 2012 report, the Obama administration announced that it was “jumpstarting” the nuclear industry. Because of the industry’s long history of permitting problems, cost overruns, and construction delays, financial markets have been wary of backing new nuclear construction for decades.
The supposed “nuclear renaissance” ballyhooed in the first decade of this century never materialized. And then came Fukushima, a disaster that pushed countries around the world to ask: Should nuclear power be part of the energy future? In the third and final issue in a series focused on nuclear exits, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, published by SAGE, turns its attention to the United States and looks at whether the country’s business-as-usual approach may yet lead to a nuclear phase-out for economic reasons. Continue reading
In dismal uranium market, Rio Tinto cuts back, slashes jobs
Namibia’s Roessing uranium mine to slash jobs Global Post, 1 Mar 13, The Roessing uranium mine in Namibia, a unit of British mining giant Rio Tinto, said Friday it plans to cut 17 percent of its workforce due to slowing demand for nuclear fuel…. As with many other uranium producers, Roessing is buckling under low metal prices and reduced demand, the company’s managing director Chris Salisbury told reporters.
“Since the Japanese tsunami in 2011, uranium demand has remained depressed and the uranium price has fallen by more than 36 percent,” he said.
Japan shut down its nuclear power plants after the tsunami destroyed the Fukushima nuclear plant, and a number of other countries including Germany have also signalled they plan to reduce or phase out their facilities.
“With the utility sector in Japan essentially shutdown, there is little prospect of a turnaround in the near term,” he added.
At the same time electricity and water costs have gone up…. Roessing Uranium Limited is owned 68.6 percent by British mining giant Rio Tinto and is one of two operating uranium mines in Namibia. .http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/afp/130301/namibia-s-roessing-uranium-mine-slash-jobs
Vogtle new nuclear plant, delayed, and running over budget
Utility: New nuclear plant in Ga. over budget
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/feb/28/us-nuclear-plant-georgia/#ixzz2MJuEFTt6
The Associated Press , Feb. 28, 2013 A utility says a
first-of-its-kind nuclear plant under construction in eastern Georgia
will go over budget.
Atlanta-based Southern Co. said Thursday that finishing Plant Vogtle
(VOH’-gohl) will now cost an estimated $6.85 billion, up from $6.11
billion.
The firm also moved back the completion dates for the massive project.
While the two reactors at the plant were supposed to start producing
power in April 2016 and April 2017, those dates have now shifted to
late 2017 and late 2018.
Utility officials say completing the nuclear plant remains cheaper
than the alternatives.
Georgia’s Public Service Commission must ultimately decide whether to
approve the new budget.
Plant Vogtle is one of three U.S. nuclear plants under construction.
The nuclear industry has struggled historically to meet construction
budgets.
Financial realities lead to scrapping of costly Los Alamos expansion plan
U.S. NUCLEAR LAB READY TO SHELVE COSTLY FACILITY PLAN NextGov 22 Feb 13, The Los Alamos National Laboratory is proposing to shelve plans to build an expensive new plutonium research facility and instead permanently parcel out work to an array of smaller buildings, the institution’s director said on Thursday.
“I’m concerned that in the current fiscal crisis, it may no longer be practical to plan and build very large-scale nuclear facilities,” Charles McMillan, who heads the New Mexico research site, said at a three-day conference on nuclear deterrence in Arlington, Va. “A new path forward is needed.”
A study team at Los Alamos has suggested scrapping plans to construct a $6 billion Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement plant in favor of replacing the nuclear facility’s intended functions with a more attainable constellation of structures, he said. Continue reading
1 This Month
PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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