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Calvert Cliffs nuclear project a dead cat

 a new one [nuclear plant] would cost many billions with big financing costs. The French would like the state of Maryland or somebody else to guarantee the purchase of electricity from Calvert Cliffs 3, but that’s not going to happen.

Exec: Exelon deal won’t revive Calvert Cliffs project, Baltimore Sun, by Jay Hancock, APRIL 29, 2011, Exelon’s announced purchase of Constellation Energy prompted speculation that the dormant project to build a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs on Maryland’s Chesapeake shore would be revived. Continue reading →

May 2, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Fukushima a disaster for the uranium industry

Today , in Fn Arena   Greg Peel reports that the Uranium Market is Becalmed. USA’s  Energy department is continuing to sell its uranium   the spot price continues to fall.

Uranium Prices Plummet in the Wake of Nuclear Explosions, Insane Planet May 1, 2011 By N. Solomon,   The Japan disaster has spelt a concomitant disaster to uranium prices as both spot prices as well as shares of uranium-mining companies crash. Uranium prices have suffered due to the explosions that happened in Japan and the attendant problems which are obvious to everyone, many countries in the world which had nuclear agendas especially as a means of power generation are either developing cold feet or planning to scrap the project is completely–and justifiably so.

As it stands, it is believed among investors that many countries are going to react to the radiation leaks that followed explosions at the Japanese Fukushima plant by enforcing tighter restrictions even if they do not take the alternative of completely abandoning the project. Either way, uranium prices will be forced down.

May 2, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Uranium | Leave a comment

New nukes not viable for Exelon, old nukes a “cash cow”

“They can buy them much more cheaply than they can build them,” …….[Exelon]  is also expected to seek 20-year operating license renewals on the remaining reactors that have not yet been cleared for the license extension

Why Older Nuclear Power Plants Remain ‘Cash Cows’ Despite Fukushima, NEW York Times, By PETER BEHR , April 29, 2011  There are no new nuclear plants in the foreseeable future for Exelon Corp., the largest U.S. reactor operator. Old plants, though, are a different story Continue reading →

April 30, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

How USA’s nuclear industry stalled, despite government propping it up

Should such [Fukushima level] fallout occur from a U.S. reactor, ……. liability would rest with the victims and the taxpayers
Will the Nuclear Power Industry Melt Down?, Washington Spectator, by Harvey Wasserman , 29 April 11 “……..No reactor ordered in this country since 1974 has been completed. In that year, Richard Nixon promised 1,000 atomic reactors licensed to operate by the year 2000. Today there are 104.

There are many reasons those 896 reactors went missing. Number one is the fact that the No Nukes movement stopped the industry from gouging from the government the trillion or more dollars it would have taken to build that fleet. Continue reading →

April 30, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, politics, USA | Leave a comment

USA unprepared for power losses from nuclear plants

 Nuclear chief questions emergency power at plants. 28 April 11 By Tennille Tracy, WASHINGTON -(MarketWatch)– The U.S. nuclear chief questioned Thursday whether U.S. nuclear plants are prepared to deal with major losses of power that last several hours or even days.

In a meeting of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC Chairman Gregory Jaczko said existing standards for emergency power might not be “reasonable” given the damage that major catastrophes can cause at nuclear facilities…… In the wake of the Fukushima disaster, nuclear experts have raised questions about the adequacy of emergency power supplies at U.S. facilities. They have taken particular issue with nuclear plants that rely on batteries because the batteries have limited lifespans…… http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nuclear-chief-questions-emergency-power-at-plants-2011-04-28

April 29, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

USA politicians pledge tax-payer funds, but nuclear industry still failing

Even supporters of the technology doubt that new projects will surface any time soon to replace those that have been all but abandoned…If the builders default, as happened on some nuclear construction projects in the 1980s, the taxpayer liabilities could run into the billions of dollars……

Despite Bipartisan Support, Nuclear Projects Falter, New York Times, By MATTHEW L. WALD, April 28, 2011,    WASHINGTON — In an effort to encourage nuclear power, Congress voted in 2005 to authorize $17.5 billion in loan guarantees for new reactors. Now, six years later, with the industry stalled by poor market conditions and the Fukushima disaster, nearly half of the fund remains unclaimed. And yet Congress, at the request of the Obama administration, is preparing to add $36 billion in nuclear loan guarantees to next year’s budget. Continue reading →

April 29, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Centennial Project – uranium mining’s poor prospects

(USA) Powertech pauses uranium mine Company: Nuke disaster hurt industry, Centennial Project, Coloradoan.com , Apr. 27, 2011“…..The March 11 Tohoku earthquake in Japan and nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant that followed sent uranium prices plummeting….. “This is about as bad a story as you can imagine for the U.S. nuclear power industry,” said Charles Mason, True Chair of energy economics in the economics and finance department at the University of Wyoming, who is writing a book about uranium exploration and its impacts. “It certainly is bad news.”

Once it became clear the quake would lead to prolonged nuclear disaster, nuclear industry forecasters started to predict unhappy consequences for uranium prices….. Powertech’s current financial state could cast even more doubt on the future of the Centennial Project, according to the filing. Powertech said in its report that to maintain “a portion” of its interest in the Centennial Project, the company is required to make “significant” option payments in June.

April 29, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Japan makes convenient new rules on “acceptable” nuclear radiation

it has the effect of legalizing illness and deaths from nuclear radiation, or at least the state’s responsibility for them…..the state’s concern appears to be less the health of employees and more the cost of caring for nuclear victims.

Dying for TEPCO? Fukushima’s Nuclear Contract Workers, The Asia Pacific Journal , Paul Jobin 28 April 11“……On March 14th, the Ministry of Health and Labor raised the maximum dose for workers to 250 mSv a year, where previously it was set at 100 mSv over 5 years (either 20 mSv a year for five years or 50 mSv for 2 years, which is in itself a strange interpretation of the recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection’s guideline stipulating a maximum of 20 mSv a year. Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, employment, health, Japan | Leave a comment

Fukushima’s contract workers exposed to radiation

What is clear is that the contract laborers are routinely exposed to the highest level of radiation….the whole system is opaque, thus complicating the procedure for workers who need to apply for occupational hazards compensation.

Dying for TEPCO? Fukushima’s Nuclear Contract Workers, The Asia Pacific Journal , Paul Jobin, 28 April 11, Liquidators recruited by ads In the titanic struggle to bring to closure the dangerous situation at Fukushima Nuclear Plant No1, there are many signs that TEPCO is facing great difficulties in finding workers. At present, there are nearly 700 people at the site. As in ordinary times, workers rotate so as to limit the cumulative dose of radiation inherent in maintenance and cleanup work at the nuclear site. But this time, the risks are greater, and the method of recruitment unusual. Continue reading →

April 28, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, employment, health, Japan | Leave a comment

University of Chicago Doubts Future of Nuclear Power in U.S.

Safer Nuclear Reactors Impeded By Marketplace, Expert Says,  Forbes, by Jeff McMahon, Apr. 22 2011 University of Chicago Panel Doubts Future of Nuclear Power in U.S.

Safer nuclear reactors have been available for years, but the energy market prefers less expensive conventional designs, a nuclear energy expert from Argonne National Laboratory said Thursday.……http://blogs.forbes.com/jeffmcmahon/2011/04/22/safer-nuclear-reactors-impeded-by-marketplace-expert-says/

April 25, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Desperate marketing tactics of Nuclear Suppliers Group

Trying desperately to keep itself alive at whatever cost and whatever risk to present and future human and other life on the planet, the nuclear industry has retreated into its laager mentality with technology gimmicks ranging from thorium and other non-uranium fuelled reactors, fusion reactors, and fast breeder reactors. Although no commercial – that is non subsidized and large scale – versions of these quick fixes exist, the high tech sheen on these claimed alternatives is enough to beguile some weak minded, uninformed and gullible persons. Nuclear power should be given another try, they say !

The Nuclear Power Mercantilist Myth :: The Market Oracle :: By Andrew McKillop, 19 April 11,“…The now 46-nation NSG-Nuclear Suppliers Group is mainly OECD membership but also includes Argentina, Brazil, China, Kazakhstan, South Africa, Turkey and Ukraine, as well as some other small non-OECD countries but specifically does not include India. This traces to the 1975 founding of the NSG, in the wake of India’s 1974 test explosion of an atom bomb, and the alarmed but confused attempt by leaderships of the old nuclear nations to lock down nuclear technology but also promote nuclear power. The permanent and basic linkage between nuclear weapons, and nuclear power had been made clear for all to see by the Indian test, but business had to go on as usual. Continue reading →

April 19, 2011 Posted by | 2 WORLD, marketing | Leave a comment

US Nuclear Regulators as US Nuclear Marketing Men

the cables — from 2006 to early 2010 — show that the NRC’s role in promoting its regulatory model around the world can easily turn it into an advocate for U.S. nuclear technology, whether its officials realize it or not…..

U.S. nuclear regulator a policeman or salesman? (Reuters), 18 April 11,  – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission exists to police, not promote, the domestic nuclear industry — but diplomatic cables show that it is sometimes used as a sales tool to help push American technology to foreign governments. Continue reading →

April 18, 2011 Posted by | marketing, USA | Leave a comment

Grim health outlook for Fukushima nuclear cleanup workers

Children born to liquidator families were seriously affected with birth defects and thyroid diseases, including cancer, and loss of intellect. As for other children, based upon the work of multiple researchers, it is estimated that in the heavily contaminated areas of Belarus, only 20 percent of children are considered healthy,

Is the Fukushima nuclear plant breakdown worse than Chernobyl? | San Francisco Bay View, by Janette D. Sherman, M.D., 16 April 11“………Key to understanding effects is the difference between external and internal radiation. While external radiation, as from x-rays, neutron, gamma and cosmic rays, can harm and kill, internal radiation – alpha and beta particles – when absorbed by ingestion and inhalation release damaging energy in direct contact with tissue and cells. Continue reading →

April 16, 2011 Posted by | - Fukushima 2011, employment, health, Japan | Leave a comment

Hanover International Trade Fair heralds the post nuclear economy

“This is a market that keeps expanding,”…“Growth is in renewables.”

German Firms Move Toward Postnuclear Economy  NYTimes.com By JUDY DEMPSEYApril 14, 2011 HANOVER, Germany — Josef Mehrer, a family-owned German company established more than 120 years ago, has survived by adapting with the times….In the early 1990s, the company placed a bet on the renewable energy sector Continue reading →

April 15, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, EUROPE | Leave a comment

Giant Siemens company may be the first to dump nuclear projects

The second thoughts at Siemens show how swiftly the accident at the tsunami-stricken Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan has upended the nuclear-energy revival that the company and its rivals had expected

Siemens Rethinks Nuclear Ambitions – WSJ.com* APRIL 15, 2011  By VANESSA FUHRMANS German engineering giant Siemens AG is considering whether to abandon its goal of becoming a major player in the atomic-power industry, according to people familiar with the matter, as Japan’s nuclear crisis continues to unfold. Continue reading →

April 15, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Germany | Leave a comment

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