business and costs « nuclear-news

A nuclear cost chain reaction – explosively expensive

So, the construction of nuclear is stalling and the costs are rising. Contrast that with renewable energy, where installations are surging, and most of the technologies are coming down in price as they mature and reach scale....

Nuclear power’s real chain reaction: spiralling costs, The Guardian (UK) Damian Carrington, 22 July 11, Time is money, they say, and the new nuclear power plant being built byEDF at Flamanville in France is now at least four years behind time and €2.7bn over budget. EDF blamed the delay on two fatal construction accidents and dealing with safety analyses prompted by the Fukushima disaster. Continue reading →

July 22, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, France | 1 Comment

More delays, more cost blowouts for France’s “new generation” nuclear plant

The reactor has already faced repeated delays and run billions of euros over budget…….

France delays new generation nuclear plant, News Tribune, July 21, 2011 – Tacoma, WA, PARIS — France’s electricity giant announced Wednesday it is delaying its new generation nuclear reactor for two years after a pair of deadly accidents and safety reviews prompted by the disaster at Japan’s Fukushima Dai-ichi plant. Continue reading →

July 21, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, France | Leave a comment

Pakistan wants to join the nuclear power cartel

Pakistan wants to join Nuclear Suppliers Group, The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2011., By Zia Khan, ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has offered to join four nuclear export control regimes, including the Nuclear Suppliers Group, if the international community recognises it as a nuclear weapons state, but remains unwilling to sign the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

At a meeting in Islamabad on Thursday, the country’s top political and military leadership said Pakistan wished to be part of global non-proliferation efforts but only if it was accepted as a nuclear weapons state…..

Foreign Office spokeswoman Tehmina Janjua later told The Express Tribune that Pakistan was willing to join four ‘technology cartels’ that control the international trade of nuclear and missile technologies: the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR), the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), the Australia and the Wassenaar groups.

The MTCR and the NSG deal with the international trade of missile and nuclear technologies while the Australia and the Wassenaar groups manage trade in conventional small weapons and various materials used in the manufacturing of arms respectively.

Janjua said Pakistan’s ‘principled’ position on Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) was the same. About NPT, she added that Islamabad considered it as a ‘discriminatory’ arrangement and will not sign the CTBT unless the United States and India do the same….http://tribune.com.pk/story/210107/pakistan-wants-to-join-nuclear-suppliers-group/

July 15, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Pakistan | 1 Comment

Rossing uranium mine workers on strike for fairer pay

“It is the second largest employer after Namdeb. Rössing already made a loss last year, so this is big stuff.”

Rössing workers defy court order, Namibian 15 July 11, By: DENVER KISTING, YESTERDAY afternoon, Rössing Uranium employees ignored an order by Judge President Petrus Damaseb, who had ruled that their three-day strike was illegal and they must return to work immediately.

This means that by this morning, the accumulated loss for the uranium giant as a result of the strike amounted to approximately N$22,5 million. In court papers filed at the High Court in Windhoek yesterday, the company’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mpho Mothoa, said Rössing has lost approximately N$2,5 million per shift. It has three shifts per day. Continue reading →

July 15, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | employment, Namibia, Uranium | Leave a comment

The end of nuclear, an economic boon for Germany

a shift to a renewable energy powered economy comes with costs. However, this price tag is modest in comparison to the heavy burden that nuclear brings. Over the last 40 years, the German nuclear industry has been pampered with more than 200 billion Euros in subsidies. In comparison, renewable energy technologies have been incentivized by about 4.8 billion Euros in 2010. By replacing fossil fuel imports and avoiding health costs, renewables already pay off today.

Auf Wiedersehen! Germany’s goodbye to nuclear power will accelerate the transition towards a low-carbon economy, THE HILL, By Arne Jungjohann: Director for the Environment Program of the Heinrich Böll Foundation-07/08/11 ……….A decade ago, Germany started transitioning towards a low carbon economy. The share of renewable power has tripled. Wind farms, solar modules, biogas, and hydro power provide 18 percent of Germany’s power supply. Today, renewables are a reliable and indispensable pillar of Germany’s power supply that keep trains running and factories humming. The sector is fast growing and provides 370,000 good-paying jobs – much more than the 22,000 jobs in Germany’s lignite coal industry. Many of these jobs are within traditional industries, such as steel workers, farmers and the ceramic and glass industries. Continue reading →

July 8, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Germany | Leave a comment

Nuclear Suppliers Group restricting sales of atomic technology

Export Group Could Restrict Key Atomic Tech Sales. Global Security Network June 20, 2011 The 46-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group has acted to prohibit its members from furnishing nuclear fuel enrichment and reprocessing systems to countries outside the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the Deccan Chronicle reported on Monday (see GSN, May 27).

The initiative prompted apprehension from India, which in 2008 received a waiver allowing it to import sensitive material and technology even as a nuclear-armed state that has not joined the treaty……http://www.globalsecuritynewswire.org/gsn/nw_20110620_7198.php

June 21, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, business and costs | Leave a comment

Another nuclear crisis would wipe out investment in uranium

While currently abandonment of nuclear power remains an option limited to affluent countries, one more cataclysm may nail the coffin lid of the nuclear power industry shut for good…., as another nuclear debacle in the U.S. following in the wake 1979’s Three Mile Island accident will undoubtedly prove too much, even for Madison Ave.’s PR spin doctors. No NPPS have been built in the U.S. since Three Mile Island and should bad things happen at Ft. Calhoun, where the Missouri’s water’s are still rising, the global market for uranium fuel for NPPs worldwide is going to crater, beginning with the U.S.

Kazakhstan’s Uranium Industry Could Lose Its Luster, By. John Daily, OilPrice.com, 18 June 11-– What a difference a year and a tsunami make!

Western investors have been salivating over the post-Soviet space’s energy riches since the 1991 collapse of communism. While focusing on the Caspian’s hydrocarbon reserves other mineralogical riches awaited development as well, none more so than Kazakhstan’s vast uranium deposits. Continue reading →

June 19, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Kazakhstan, Uranium | Leave a comment

The devil, as usual, is in the details. For instance, the cost of a nuclear reactor per unit of electrical generating capacity declines with increasing size……There are economies of scale associated with security, too ….Nuclear power advocates have long promised far more than they can deliver, ignoring essential hurdles such as cost, safety, and performance. Decades of experience, however, have proven those promises to be hollow and hazardous. The notion that “small is beautiful” for nuclear reactors is not just fanciful; it is whistling past the graveyard of the “nuclear renaissance” that never was

The problems with small nuclear reactors, THE HILL, By Dr. Arjun Makhijani – 06/15/11 “…… the enthusiasts of small reactors are back, promoting “small modular reactors” (SMRs) which, they say, can solve the central economic problem of large reactors that each cost so much and take so long to build that it becomes a “bet the farm” risk. But this is hype and hope more than substance. Unfortunately, Congress and the administration are buying into it. Continue reading →

June 16, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, technology, USA | Leave a comment

Only lawyers see growth, as nuclear industry faces wind-down in Europe

.In such an environment, the only nuclear energy growth field currently is lawyers’ fees.

Nuclear Twilight in Europe

OilPrice.com by John Daly , 15 June 2011

It is becoming evident to many that the March nuclear catastrophe at Japan’s six reactor Daichi Fukushima complex has dealt a huge, possibly fatal, blow to the nuclear industry’s hopes of a revival.

Continue reading →

June 16, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, EUROPE | Leave a comment

For first time,U.S. utilities name nuclear wastes as their top worry

While respondents of the annual survey have cited nuclear waste disposal and storage as a concern in the past, respondents ranked it as a top concern for the first time this year,

US Utilities Concerned About Water, Nuclear Waste Disposal – Study WSJ, DOW JONES NEWSWIRES,-By Cassandra Sweet, * JUNE 13, 2011 U.S. utilities are increasingly concerned about adequate water supply and nuclear waste disposal and storage, Continue reading →

June 14, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs | Leave a comment

India’s unrealistic nuclear power plans

Nuclear trade with India risks boosting arms race – The West Australian,Scott Ludlam,13 June 11 “……I have spent time in India studying the nuclear industry, which is famous for its unrealistic projections of future civil nuclear prospects. Continue reading →

June 14, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, India | Leave a comment

Economist urges Saudi Arabia to wards solar energy,not nuclear

“Spending this amount on solar energy projects will be relatively safer compared with nuclear energy, which is a time bomb that could explode at any time, as with what occurred in Japan.”.

Region urged to embrace renewable energy projects Japan’s Fukushima plant disaster should serve as a warning to Middle East countries bent on spending billions of dollars on nuclear plants Gulf News By Orlando Crowcroft, Business News Editor June 13, 2011 “……..Speaking just months after the explosion at Japan’s Fukushima plant in April, Abdul Gani Bin Melaibari, coordinator of scientific collaboration at the King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, said that Saudi Arabia intended to build a total of 16 nuclear reactors by the end of 2030. At a cost of some $300 billion..

….. Critics point out that the investment in nuclear power comes at a time when other countries are shying away from nuclear energy, due to risks demonstrated all to clearly at Fukushima. For the kind of money that Saudi Arabia is willing to invest, there are far safer forms of renewable energy avaliable. Economic analyst Omar Al Jutraifani suggests that rather than spend billions of dollars on advancing nuclear energy — with all the risks that it involves — why not spend the money on other forms of renewable energy? ”

I think that the level of risks in such projects will be very high in all criteria,” he said. “Spending this amount on solar energy projects will be relatively safer compared with nuclear energy, which is a time bomb that could explode at any time, as with what occurred in Japan.”….. gulfnews : Region urged to embrace renewable energy projects

June 13, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, MIDDLE EAST | Leave a comment

Power transmission companies benefit from Germany’s nuclear shutdown

Dealtalk: German nuclear exit a boon for Siemens, ABB, By Marilyn Gerlach, FRANKFURT | Jun 10, 2011 (Reuters) – Germany’s nuclear exit and power shortages in China may help boost demand for switchgears and transformers, benefiting European power transmission suppliers such as Siemens and ABB.

Germany’s parliament began debating its new energy bill on Thursday, clearing the way for the shutdown of 17 nuclear reactors from 2015. Analysts say the nuclear capacity gap could be replaced mostly by renewables, which are volatile sources of energy and so trigger a need to invest in grid transmission infrastructure. ….http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/10/us-germany-siemens-idUSTRE7592YQ20110610

June 11, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Germany | Leave a comment

Japanese will need to conserve electricity as unofficial nuclear shut-downs increase

A spokesman for Kansai Electric, which supplies electricity to Osaka, Japan’s second-largest city after Tokyo, said Wednesday that it may have to ask its customers to save electricity this summer if many of the nuclear power reactors that supply electricity to the company remain idle, and if temperatures are high.

Japan Expects Power Shortages Amid Growing, Unofficial Nuclear Shutdown, WSJ 11 June 11By MARI IWATA, TOKYO—Japan’s electricity shortages may be intensified over the coming months by a wide-scale unofficial shutdown of nuclear power plants across the country. Continue reading →

June 11, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Japan | Leave a comment

Doom and gloom in the uranium industry

Paladin reacts to share price drop, SMH, June 10, 2011 Uranium miner Paladin Energy Ltd has sought to dampen market rumours about the company’s financing arrangements, a potential capital raising and a potential sale by Newmont Mining of its 6.71 per cent stake in Paladin.

Paladin issued a statement on Friday to clarify its position, after the company’s shares came under “considerable selling pressure” for two days……http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-business/paladin-reacts-to-share-price-drop-20110610-1fvoe.html

EYE ON EQUITIES

Analyst urges caution as First Uranium dips to all-time lows, DARCY KEITH Globe and Mail Update Jun. 09, Shares in First Uranium Corp. (FIU-T0.56-0.02-3.45%) remain snuggled close to all-time lows after getting smacked Wednesday in response to weaker than expected fourth-quarter results. A resurgence in negative sentiment toward uranium producers after the Japanese nuclear crisis hasn’t helped matters.

Raymond James Ltd. analyst Bart Jaworski thinks investors may be wise backing away from the stock for the time being…..http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/investment-ideas/features/eye-on-equities/analyst-urges-caution-as-first-uranium-dips-to-all-time-lows/article2053830/