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Iowa Utilities Board warns on nuclear power cost burden on ratepayers

IUB staff raises red flags about nuclear power plant legislation, Bettendorf.com, January 25, 2012   The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) staff has raised several warning flags about legislation sought by MidAmerican Energy to shift the risk of building a new nuclear power plant to utility ratepayers.

In a memo sent to the IUB and state legislators in December, the IUB staff warns that “some of these (bill) provisions could create incentives for the company to engage in behavior that could be contrary to the public interest in certain situations.”

To illustrate what might happen, the staff report gives this possible scenario: Continue reading →

January 26, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Cameco uranium company talks big, but future is doubtful

Uranium miners still waiting on that rebound, TIM KILADZE, Globe and Mail , January 24, 2012 When stocks of uranium miners plummeted after last March’s traumatizing Japanese earthquake, some people expected a rebound once the market’s initial shocks and fears subsided.

They’re still waiting.

Close to a year after the earthquake, shares of Cameco Corp. (CCO-T23.54-0.25-1.05%) are still down 40 per cent and smaller rivals are faring just as badly, with Denison Mines (DML-T1.89-0.12-5.97%) down about 50 per cent. The death knell apparently came when Germany declared a retreat from nuclear energy.

Are these miners doomed for good? Depends on who you ask. Investors are clearly too scared to go near the industry, considering the stocks have moved very little since their initial free fall. (Check out a stock chart for the past year.
Quite scary.) But the companies themselves keep saying that everyone has it wrong.

Cameco chief financial officer Grant Isaac repeated this view when he sat down at CIBC World Market’s Whistler conference last week….. there’s still a major problem. Even if Cameco is bullish over the next decade, its consumers, particularly utilities, like to secure long-term supply contracts, and Cameco can’t talk long-term contracts when they would have to lock-in at today’s prices.

So for now, Cameco is touting plans to increase production. Mr. Isaac said Cameco is sitting on 1 billion pounds of reserves and resources, and the firm wants to bump production from 2 per cent of this a year to 4 per cent.

On this front, investors are cautious. Much of this growth centres on developing the second shaft of Cameco’s Cigar Lake project in northern Saskatchewan, and it’s been plagued with problems…..
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/streetwise/uranium-miners-still-waiting-on-that-rebound/article2313513/

January 25, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Canada, Uranium | Leave a comment

Solar and wind energy investment by Warren Buffett

Buffett’s MidAmerican Starts Renewable-Energy Business, Fox Business By Cassandra Sweet  January 24, 2012 The MidAmerican Energy unit of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (BRKA, BRKB) said Tuesday it has started a new company to oversee a growing stable of solar, wind and other renewable-energy projects.
MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., of Des Moines, said it has placed solar and wind farms, geothermal power plants and its interest in a small hydroelectric project into a new company called MidAmerican Renewables LLC.

MidAmerican’s president and chief executive, Greg Abel, said the company expects U.S. demand for renewable energy to continue growing and that the company wants “to be a leader in this area.”

On Monday, MidAmerican said it plans to buy an 81-megawatt wind farm in Illinois from Invenergy Wind LLC as part of the company’s growing wholesale renewable-energy business. ……. MidAmerican Renewables said it is considering acquiring more renewable-energy projects that would generate electricity for the wholesale power market to meet growing demand for clean energy.
“We’ll be looking for opportunities to grow this business,” said Tina Potthoff, a spokeswoman for MidAmerican. “We think there’s a growing desire by utilities and other companies to green up their business.”
http://www.foxbusiness.com/news/2012/01/24/buffetts-midamerican-starts-renewable-energy-business/#ixzz1kVVVLdW0

January 25, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Netherlands nuclear plan shelved

 Utilty Shelves Nuclear Plans In The Netherlands –...– Move highlights tough climate for nuclear energy programs… WSJ, By Maarten van Tartwijk, JANUARY 23, 2012  AMSTERDAM (Dow Jones)–In the latest example of waning appetite for atomic power in Europe, Dutch utility Delta NV said Monday it has shelved its plan to build a second nuclear plant in the
Netherlands….

.. The move comes against a backdrop of waning appetite for new nuclear power programs. Last year’s disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan has prompted many European governments to review their atomic power policies on renewed safety concerns. Germany even decided to fully exit nuclear power, and offset the lost electricity with a
massive buildup of renewable energy….

January 24, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, EUROPE | Leave a comment

The nuclear boondoggle – plans for consumers to pay upfront for nuclear power build

Regulators: Nuclear plan could cost Iowa residents  By MIKE GLOVER, Chicago Tribune, January 23, 2012, DES MOINES, Iowa—   A proposal to shift the expense of building a nuclear power plant from the utility to consumers by billing them in advance for construction costs isn’t in the public interest, Iowa regulators said.

The proposal, which didn’t clear the Legislature last year but could be considered again this session, would let MidAmerican Energy begin billing customers for the plant’s $1 billion or more construction long before it begins providing power.

An analysis by the Iowa Utilities Board summarized in a Dec. 23 internal memo and provided Monday to The Associated Press warned that the plan placed all the risk on consumers, who would pay to research the project before MidAmerican even committed to construction.

“The company would be guaranteed a profit on all spending up to this point,” it said. “This could create a stronger incentive to walk away form a plant than complete it.” ….

The analysis warns the plan would turn traditional utility regulation on its ear.  “This provision would exempt proposed nuclear plants from the existing requirement that a public utility that proposes a new plant must show that it has considered feasible sources of long-term supply and the proposed plant is reasonable when compared to those alternatives,” it said.

It also says the proposed changes could affect more than just nuclear power in Iowa.

“While the current bill restricts those changes to nuclear power, staff believes some provisions may go beyond leveling the playing field and could give a nuclear power plant unintended advantages over alternative sources of electric power,” it said.

Sonia Ashe, of the Iowa Public Interest Research Group, said the analysis merely underscores worries that consumers have had all along.

“The notion that Iowa ratepayers should foot the bill and shoulder the risk for new nuclear plants is pure folly,” Ashe said. “Let’s hope the Iowa Utilities Board staff analysis opens lawmakers eyes to the real risks they’d be passing on to their constituents and puts the final nail in the coffin of this nuclear boondoggle.” …. http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-ap-ia-iowanuclear-analy,0,5049950.story

January 24, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Uranium mining threatens long term jobs in Virginia

New coalition urges a delay in uranium mining in Virginia, Washington Post, By ,  18 Jan A new coalition that wants to delay  — maybe indefinitely — mininguranium in Southside Virginia is taking a different tact: They aren’t talking about safety as much as the potential effect on jobs.

The Virginia Coalition and the Alliance for Progress in Southern Virginia urged the General Assembly Wednesday not to lift the state’s ban this year because it could harm their employees and the ability to attract employees and companies to the region. They were joined by a half-dozen Southside lawmakers including Sens. Frank Ruff (R-Clarksville) and Bill Stanley (R-Moneta) and Dels Danny Marshall (R-Danville), Don Merricks (R-Martinsville), James Edmunds (R-Charlotte) and Tommy Wright (R-Amelia). Continue reading →

January 19, 2012 Posted by | employment, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear fuel plant unable to get loan guarantee

‘Crunch time’ at troubled nuclear fuel plant Washington Post By Steven Mufson,   January 13 U.S. Enrichment Corp., which produces fuel for nuclear power plants, is having its own sort of meltdown.

Disillusioned investors have wiped out 95 percent of the company’s market value since 2007. Standard & Poor’s has saddled it with a dismal CCC-plus credit rating. Continue reading →

January 14, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Florida residents up for $millions for nuclear plants?

Progress Energy rate-payers are already on the hook for part of the $2.5 billion in repairs for the existing Crystal River nuclear plant. The plant has been offline with various problems since September 2009 and is not expected to be operating again before 2014. The utility wants customers to pay about $670 toward the repairs and insists that scrapping the plant would cost rate-payers more than fixing it.

Nuclear plant opponents in Fla. voice concerns Washington Examiner, By: MITCH STACY | 01/12/12  Opponents of two proposed nuclear power reactors in west-central Florida told a Nuclear Regulatory Commission panel on Thursday that the units will upset the delicate balance of the rural area’s water system and present a health risk……. The hearing before a
three-judge panel of the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board — the judicial arm of the NRC — addressed a legal challenge to Progress Energy’s application to license the plants. The NRC is expected to complete an environmental impact statement this spring and a formal trial on the challenge could happen as early as October. Continue reading →

January 13, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Big investment in wind farms USA

Global Deal: BP, Sempra Energy to Invest $1 Billion in U.S. Wind Farms WSJ, JANUARY 11, 2012, By Cassandra Sweet of Dow Jones Newswires BP PLC and Sempra Energy said Tuesday that together they will invest more than $1 billion in two wind farms under development in Pennsylvania and Kansas. Continue reading →

January 12, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, renewable, USA | Leave a comment

An “under-performing investment” – Cameco uranium company

Cameco (CCJ) Downgraded by Zacks Investment Research to “Underperform”, Localised USA, Jan 10th, 2012 Cameco (NYSE: CCJ) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Zacks Investment Research from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Cameco Corporation (Cameco) is a Canada-based company. The Company and its subsidiaries are primarily engaged in the exploration for and the development, mining, refining, conversion and fabrication of uranium for sale as fuel for generating electricity in nuclear power reactors in Canada and other countries. Cameco has three reportable segments: uranium, fuel services and electricity.

The company has a 31.6% interest in Bruce Power L.P. (BPLP). Cameco’s uranium joint venture interests are comprised of McArthur River, Rabbit Lake, Cree Extension Millenium, Moon Lake, Dawn Lake, Read Lake and Virgin River. Cameco’s projects include Kintyre Uranium Exploration Project (Kintyre) and GoviEx Uranium (GoviEx). Kintyre project is located in the East Pilbara region of Western Australia. Cameco holds 12% interest in GoviEx. Its wholly owned subsidiary is Global Laser Enrichment LLC (GLE).

January 11, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Canada, Uranium | Leave a comment

India borrowing from France, to buy France’s nuclear reactors

Interesting to watch the developments in India, as the people’s  Koodankulam anti nuclear protest continues. The Russian engineers have now left the site, as work cannot proceed, due to the public opposition.

The Indian nuclear corporation cannot afford its planned new nuclear plants at Jaitapur and Koodankulam, which they are buying from France and Russia respectively.  But hey! – that’s no problem, because they are going to borrow the money from France and Russia.   Seems like the Indian government is working on behalf of foreign companies, not the Indian people.    Nuclear Power Corp Looks Overseas for Loans     .http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204257504577149981322117366.html

The Indian government is also learning from France’s nuclear company, AREVA, on how to manipulate public opinion. With jolly jingles and other cheery messages, they hope to convince the community that nuclear power is just fine. At left above, a  sample of AREVA’s message to children, in its Australian brochure. – Christina Macpherson

NPCIL launches campaign to clear KNPP concerns,Zee News, January 09, 2012,  Chennai: Amid the standoff over the controversial Koodankulam Nuclear Power Plant, the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited has launched an intense media campaign to allay safety fears of the people in and around the project site.

“NPCIL has produced 60-second long advertisements to be telecast on TV channels. These will carry messages on cancer and on some issues raised by fishermen,” an official said here today.

In the advertisements, renowned oncologist Dr V Shanta of Cancer Institute, Chennai, marine life experts Murugesan and Sugumaran will clear doubts that locals and fishermen might have (about nuclear
power), they said. The campaign would be telecast on Tamil TV channels, apparently targeting the local population who have been up in arms against the Indo-Russian collaborative project since September last.

NPCIL officials had already aired 60-second long jingles on private radio channels in Tirunelveli district. The commissioning of the plant, earlier slated in December 2011, has been delayed after protests by locals on grounds of safety.
http://zeenews.india.com/news/tamil-nadu/npcil-launches-campaign-to-clear-knpp-concerns_751574.html

January 10, 2012 Posted by | India, marketing | Leave a comment

Japan: taxpayers to take on nuclear costs, companies to keep profits?

Fukushima exposes contradictions / Nuclear crisis prompts govt to rethink private companies’ operation of N-plants Hiroshi Ikematsu / Yomiuri Shimbun, 7 Jan 12
The government’s moves to overhaul the state’s nuclear policy were prompted by serious contradictions discovered in that policy, as a result of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.

Although the Law on Compensation for Nuclear Damage stipulates that electric companies have unlimited liability in the case of accidents, the government had no choice but to support Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s efforts to pay compensation for damage caused by the Fukushima crisis. Therefore, the government plans to overhaul the law, including a review of utilities’ unlimited liability.

If it does so, however, entrusting utility companies with the operation of cost-efficient nuclear power plants, the companies may just siphon off profits and push the risk of accidents onto the
state…….    http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T120106005620.htm

January 7, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Japan | Leave a comment

Uranium mining in Africa on a downward spiral

The signals of a troubled uranium sector are manifest. On Tuesday Areva wrote down the performance of its African mines, including Trekkopje and suspended further development.

Fukushima still haunts uranium producers, The Southern Times, South Africa, 30 Dec 11 International prices of uranium, the major feedstock in nuclear reactors, have remained flat; averaging US$53 per pound as the market struggles to shrug off the effects of Japan’s nuclear crisis earlier this year.

Market analysts are warning that shrinking order books, a flat spot price and production cutbacks – largely attributable to the Fukushima disaster – will haunt uranium producers well into 2012.

A sluggish US economy and sovereign debt problems in advanced economies will continue to severely impact the uranium spot price. Global uranium stocks have significantly underperformed during 2011 and analysts attribute this to the diminishing appetite for nuclear energy after the horror of Fukushima.  Continue reading →

January 6, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, South Africa, Uranium | Leave a comment

France turning against nuclear energy, as its costs soar

to fulfill its safety recommendations will cost over $13 billion, no small sum considering French operators were already planning to spend $52 billion over the next three decades to consolidate or upgrade existing infrastructure. As always when adversity hits business in the pocketbook, the final cost will be passed all the way down to the French consumer’s monthly electricity bill—

 62% of French respondents supporting a gradual phasing out of nuclear power—over 20 to 30 years—and 15% calling for a rapid halt. 

The Fukushima Effect: France Starts to Turn Against Its Much Vaunted Nuclear Industry TIME, By BRUCE CRUMLEY | January 4, 2012 “……..The recent French introspection about the merits of nuclear power is posing some serious questions about the nation’s energy independence, industrial future, and role as one of the world’s biggest business proponents of civil nuclear technology.

The newest development in France’s post-Fukushima mulling came Tuesday, when the country’s independent watchdog agency delivered a government-commissioned audit of the nation’s 58 nuclear power plants, calling for significant safety upgrades. Continue reading →

January 5, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, France | Leave a comment

Iran developing nuclear fuel rods and plates

First nuclear fuel rod tested in Iran TEHRAN, Tehran Times 1 Jan 12  – Scientists and researchers at the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran have successfully tested the first domestically produced nuclear fuel rod containing natural uranium, Iranian news agencies reported on Sunday.

According to the reports, the first nuclear fuel rod was loaded into the core of the Tehran research reactor as part of an experiment to test its performance in operation.

Now Iran should convert fuel rods into fuel plates to power the Tehran research reactor, which produces radioisotopes for cancer treatment.

Iran has constructed an advanced plant at the Isfahan nuclear facility for manufacturing nuclear fuel plates. With the construction of the plant, Iran is now among the few countries that can manufacture both nuclear fuel rods and plates. The nuclear plant for converting enriched nuclear fuel into fuel rods was inaugurated in Isfahan in early spring 2009. ….
http://tehrantimes.com/politics/94128-first-nuclear-fuel-rod-tested-in-iran

January 2, 2012 Posted by | business and costs, Iran | Leave a comment

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