Analysis of the nuclear industry’s future
In his analysis, Abbott explores the consequences of building, operating, and decommissioning 15,000 reactors on the Earth, looking at factors such as the amount of land required, radioactive waste, accident rate, risk of proliferation into weapons, uranium abundance and extraction, and the exotic metals used to build the reactors themselves.
Why nuclear power will never supply the world’s energy needs,(PhysOrg.com) 12 May 11, –”….In an analysis to be published in a future issue of the Proceedings of the IEEE, Derek Abbott, Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Adelaide in Australia, has concluded that nuclear power cannot be globally scaled to supply the world’s energy needs for numerous reasons. The results suggest that we’re likely better off investing in other energy solutions that are truly scalable. Continue reading
Nuclear renaissance not viable, say experts, even from Exelon!
Power complexes that combine increasingly plentiful and cheap natural gas with renewable sources like wind and solar power are now seen as a financially viable, safer and cleaner alternative.
Why The Days Of Rampant Nuclear Power Growth Are Over, Business Insider, Merrill Goozner, The Fiscal Times | May 9, 2011 “……..Experts say the heavy subsidies needed to build new nuclear plants and the increased costs from tougher safety standards are a nonstarter given the nation’s fiscal crisis. As a result, nuclear is a less competitive option for producing electricity than a mix of cheap natural gas, wind and even solar power, which is rapidly declining in cost. Although prospects for a revival seemed bright only a few years ago, the steep price tag, coupled with the festering problem of disposing of spent nuclear fuel, creates a hostile environment for investing in nuclear power. Continue reading
Northern Japan: bank problems as business clients fear radiation
“This is such a tragedy for the people of Fukushima, particularly our youth,” said Toyo System’s Shoji, who has two children. “Radioactive contamination has literally jeopardized the seeds and soil of our future growth.”
Nuclear Fear Snags Loan Push by Fukushima Banks as Clients Flee Radiation, Bloomberg, By Shigeru Sato and Shingo Kawamoto – May 11, 2011 “……Daito and larger rivals in the prefecture, Toho Bank Ltd. (8346) and Fukushima Bank Ltd., are three of the worst five performers on Japan’s 83-member Topix Banks Index (TPNBNK) since the March 11 quake and tsunami. They are struggling to keep customers and prevent loans from souring…… Continue reading
Tepco shares plunge, – Fukushima compensation more than $100 billion?
Tepco wants government help for compensation payments BBC News 10 May 11 ……Total compensation claims are yet to be known, but analysts say they may be more than $100bn (£61bn). Engineers are still struggling to contain damage at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in northeastern Japan.
The government of Prime Minister Naoto Kan is now under pressure to review Japan’s energy policy, which has been heavily dependent on nuclear power.
…… Shares in Tepco have plunged since the 11 March quake and subsequent tsunami.
Japanese media has reported that Tepco may have to raise electricity prices in order to help pay for payments….. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13330263
Duke – Progress Energy a powerful nuclear lobbying merger
At Progress Energy’s final annual meeting, it’s all in for nuclear power, Tampa Bay.com By Robert Trigaux, May 10, 2011 “…….it’s the latest tale of the bigger devouring the big. In 2000, Progress Energy gobbled up St. Petersburg’s Florida Power, arguing utilities must get larger to compete. We hear a similar message in Duke’s $13 billion-plus purchase of Progress Energy.……..A merged Duke-Progress Energy will lobby aggressively for such pro-nuclear aid as cheaper government loans and energy incentives.
It will seek the power to charge more consumers up front for the expense of building nuclear plants.
Florida lawmakers already allow utilities with nuclear ambitions to charge customers in advance.
Leery of Japan’s predicament, North Carolina legislators recently rebuffed Duke and Progress Energy for seeking similar powers in their home state…. http://www.tampabay.com/news/business/energy/at-progress-energys-final-annual-meeting-its-all-in-for-nuclear-power/1168665
US Japan nuclear marketing scheme, with secret plans for Mongolian waste dump
Negotiations on building the facilities were kept secret as it was feared that if the plans came to light at the negotiation stage, then China and Russia — countries through which the fuel could pass — might interfere and protests could erupt from Mongolian residents.
Japan, U.S. negotiating construction of nuclear waste facility in Mongolia, Mainichi Daily News 10 May 11 ULAN BATOR, Mongolia –“…….the marketing of nuclear plants is big business — a single reactor sells for hundreds of billions of yen. The Japanese government regards the overseas sale of nuclear power plants as a pillar of the nations’ growth strategy. It has already tied a deal with Vietnam and is in negotiations with India and Turkey. However, Russia and other countries have gone a step ahead by marketing their reactors and the collection of spent nuclear fuel together as a set, which has put Japan and the U.S. on the back foot. Continue reading
Insurmountable problem of nuclear power’s financial risks
the insurance industry and financial markets still have not altered their long held position that nuclear power poses unacceptable financial risk.
‘Smart money’ reflects nuclear power risks Burlington Free Press David R. Abbott, 8 may 11, Is nuclear power safe? Not surprisingly, the owner of Vermont Yankee is spending heavily in an effort to convince us that it is. Perhaps, instead, we should follow the smart, disinterested money in attempting to answer that essential question because, in the case of the nuclear power industry, an unacceptable financial risk is, at the same time, an unacceptable safety risk.
The smart money here is represented by the insurance industry and the financial markets. Continue reading
Nuclear industry worldwide enjoys the “mother of all subsidies”
Twenty-five years after the disaster at Chernobyl’s reactor number 4, the global community is struggling to find 2.2 billion dollars to build a permanent shelter to replace the collapsing cement and steel sarcophagus hastily built after the accident.
That 2.2 billion dollars does not include the costs of dismantling the radioactive material nor the costs of building a safe storage facility for the spent and damaged nuclear fuel from the plant. This material will be dangerously radioactive for thousands of years.
The Nuclear Cost Shell Game, By Stephen Leahy, UXBRIDGE, Canada, May 6, 2011 (IPS) – The nuclear energy industry only exists thanks to what insurance experts call the “mother of all subsidies”, and the public is largely unaware that every nuclear power plant in the world has a strict cap on how much the industry might have to pay out in case of an accident.In Canada, this liability cap is an astonishingly low 75 million dollars. In India, it is 110 million dollars and in Britain 220 million dollars. If there is an accident, governments – i.e. the public – are on the hook for all costs exceeding those caps. Continue reading
Projections of costs for nuclear plants leave out full fuel cycle and risks
When comparing energy choices, nuclear versus solar for instance, the full life cycle costs are rarely used. Nor are the financial risks taken into account,
The Nuclear Cost Shell Game, By Stephen Leahy, UXBRIDGE, Canada, May 6, 2011 (IPS)“…….Experts estimate the U.S. nuclear industry’s liability cap of 10 billion dollars amounts to “an indirect subsidy of about 33 million dollars per plant per year over the lifetime of a nuclear plant,” according to a study published in Energy Policy in April.
If that 33 million dollars-per-plant-per-year indirect subsidy was instead used for loan guarantees for solar panel manufacturing plants, the U.S. would gain 5.3 trillion dollars worth of additional electricity over a 100-year time span, the study reported.”Wind might be even better than solar under this scenario,” said co- author Joshua Pearce, a mechanical and materials engineer at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.
“We’re wasting money on nuclear energy. It makes no economic sense,” Pearce told IPS. Continue reading
Fukushima nuclear accident could cost tax-payer $trillions
“In America, ….. the necessary insurance for nuclear operators is capped at just $375 million by law,
Ultimate costs from nuclear accidents can be difficult to predict, but many estimates place total damages, including economic loss, in the trillions.……
a severe accident at just one of Southern Company’s existing Plant Vogtle reactors in Georgia could cause up to 39,000 immediate injuries and cost over $70 billion (in 1982 dollar and Census figures).
Japan Nuclear Disaster Update, CleanEnergy Footprints May 5“…….Despite all of the concern over health, radiation and environmental hazards raised by this disaster, Tepco shockingly does not have disaster insurance. Speculations are that the company will be nationalized and that the Japanese government, which likely means taxpayers, will assume the burden of Tepco’s massive liabilities. Continue reading
Grave financial risk for Japanese government if TEPCO insolvent
unlimited liability could push TEPCO into insolvency and force the government to take a majority stake in the company
Japan’s Nuclear Rescue Plan: The Unintended Consequence of Unlimited Liability, BNet, By Kirsten Korosec | May 3, 2011, The Japanese government — once bosom buddies with Tokyo Electric Power — wants the company to face unlimited liability for damages from itstroubled Fukushima nuclear power plant. Continue reading
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
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.
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
How USA’s nuclear industry stalled, despite government propping it up
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
1 This Month
19 November – Webinar – The Reality of Reprocessing
Time: 11:00 AM Pacific Time (US & Canada) / 2:00 PM Eastern / 7:00 PM UK / 8:00 PM CET
Register for the Zoom Event Here
Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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