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BNP Paribas banking group to fund a dangerous obsolete nuclear reactor

This reactor fails to meet international safety standards, in addition its outdated, decades old technology would never be permitted in France itself. It is a dangerous nuclear project that should not go ahead – yet BNP Paribas wants to finance it. This money would come partially from customers’ savings – which make up 45% of the banking group’s global revenue.

Why isn’t BNP Paribas ‘sharing’ its nuclear projects on Facebook?  Greenpeace International,  by Laura K. – November 4, 2010 Two weeks ago we revealed banking group BNP Paribas, the world’s leading investor in the nuclear industry, is planning to fund an obsolete, dangerous nuclear reactor in Brazil – Angra 3. Continue reading →

November 6, 2010 Posted by | 2 WORLD, business and costs | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Trouble in selling a troubled nuclear reactor

Anyone Want to Help Build a Reactor?, NYTimes.com, By MATTHEW L. WALD, November 1, 2010, A partnership between Constellation Energy and Electricité de France to build a new reactor in Maryland has broken up, with Constellation concluding that the economics are unfavorable because of electricity market conditions and the terms demanded by the Energy Department for a loan guarantee.
But Electricité de France wants to go forward and has bought out Constellation’s share of the joint venture, Unistar Nuclear. The problem is that American law requires that the plant have an American partner as a majority owner. Whom could the company recruit?….

Another possiblity for EDF would be to seek a change in the law, to allow foreign ownership of a nuclear reactor. (That rule dates from the cold war days.) But on Friday, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Gregory Jaczko, was noncommittal when asked what he thought of this idea.

The commission’s job, he said, is to enforce the law, and “I’m not aware of any proposals in Congress” for changes…….. Anyone Want to Help Build a Reactor? – NYTimes.com

November 6, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Nuclear power plants just not getting built in USA, despite govt loans

President Obama even proposed another $36 billion in federal loan guarantees for the industry in February of this year.

Yet last year, only one application was filed. And none at all this year…

Obstacles to Nuclear Construction in the United States, by Tony D’Altorio, Investment U Research  November 2, 2010 Electricite de France or EDF ADR (PINK: ECIFY) just got dumped by Constellation Energy (NYSE: CEG). And that could spell some big changes to its plans. Continue reading →

November 3, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Singapore delaying nuclear power indefinitely, as solar gets cheaper

you won’t see a nuclear power plant in or around Singapore for at least something in the order of 10 to 20 years or even longer than that…Another option being explored by Singapore is solar power, which has become more cost effective over the years.

Nuclear power plant in S’pore not likely for next 10-20 years expert – Channel NewsAsia, By Joanne Chan  : 02 November 2010 , SINGAPORE : Singapore is unlikely to have a nuclear power plant for at least the next 10 to 20 years, said one advisor to the local energy sector. Continue reading →

November 3, 2010 Posted by | ASIA, business and costs | , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Nuclear industry stalled as now uneconomic

Seven reactor projects around the country have been deferred in the last few months…..Other companies have looked at the economics of building nuclear reactors and decided to wait. In September, Exelon, the largest nuclear operator in the United States, stepped back from a plan to build a twin-unit reactor plant in Texas…..

Economy puts brakes on nuclear reactor plans The Blade ~ Toledo Ohio October 31, 2010 A third reactor for this Maryland site is stalled by an impasse over funding.  — Just a few years ago, the economic prognosis for new nuclear reactors looked bright. The prospect of growing electricity demand…..and government loan guarantees prompted companies to tell the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that they wanted to build 28 reactors. Continue reading →

November 1, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Uranium mining is damaging to tourism industry

a few years of mining operations are not worth ruining the reputations of Kainuu and Lapland as travel destinations.

Greens Want Uranium Mining Ban YLE Uutiset | yle.fi, 31 Oct 10, The Green League’s party council is calling for a ban on uranium mining in Finland. According to the Greens, uranium mining operations have got into the country “through the back door” and they are ruining the country’s reputation as a travel destination, especially in the north. Continue reading →

November 1, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, Finland, Uranium | , , , | Leave a comment

Company’s share plunge due to ‘worthless’ nuclear power investments

its investment in UniStar Nuclear Energy was worthless, given the deteriorating nuclear energy market……….

Constellation Energy swings to 3rd-qtr loss as nuclear investments’ value plunges,  Canadian Business Online, October 29, 2010, BALTIMORE (AP) – Constellation Energy Group Inc. said Friday it swung to a third-quarter loss as it absorbed more than $1 billion in charges related to the drop in value of its nuclear joint ventures Continue reading →

October 29, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , | Leave a comment

France’s EDF faced with ‘sluggish’ nuclear revival in USA

before it can proceed with building and operating new plants, unlikely before 2012, the French state-controlled utility will have to line up a new partner with the endurance necessary for an increasingly sluggish U.S. nuclear renaissance…..

EDF’s Expensive U.S. Divorce – WSJ.co, 27 Oct 10, By MATTHEW CURTIN Paying to get out of a marriage that isn’t working isn’t unusual. But in the U.S. nuclear industry, where foreign operators require local partners to build and operate new plants, going it alone isn’t a long-term option. Continue reading →

October 29, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, France | , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

South Carolina residents to pay up in advance, for nuclear power station build?

customers should not be billed upfront for project expenditures that have not actually been incurred.

SCE&G seeks to recoup up to $200MM for nuclear expansion project, Penn Energy, October 26, 2010    By Dorothy Davis South Carolina Electric & Gas Company (SCE&G) plans to return to state regulators to request up to $200 million from customers in the form of gradual rate increases for expenses related to its nuclear expansion project in Fairfield County. Continue reading →

October 26, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , | Leave a comment

U.S. ambassador sheds doubt on Bulgaria’s nuclear plant

Bulgaria: US Ambassador Questions Feasibility of Belene Nuclear Plant – Novinite.com – Sofia News Agency, 24 Oct 10, US Ambassador James Warlick has expressed misgivings about the feasibility of Bulgaria’s planned second nuclear plant at Belene.”There are two questions that Bulgaria must ask itself – if the Belene NPP is an economically feasible project, and, second, if it provides Bulgaria and the entire region with energy security. I am not sure that there are answers to these questions. We are talking about billions of leva here, and the decisions that will be made with respect to Belene will affect Bulgaria’s energy system for decades to come,” Warlick said on the Bulgarian National Radio Sunday……Bulgaria: US Ambassador Questions Feasibility of Belene Nuclear Plant – Novinite.com – Sofia News Agency

October 25, 2010 Posted by | Bulgaria, business and costs | , , , , , | Leave a comment

Strikes, maintenance – closures of France’s nuclear plants

France buys electricity as its nuclear plants are hit by strike Vancouver Sun, By Henry Samuel, The Daily Telegraph October 21, 2010 France was forced to start importing electricity Thursday as unions announced that strikes would spread into the next two weeks.The unions said production had been cut at four nuclear power plants because of a 10-day rolling strike, while at least 12 of France’s 58 reactors are closed for maintenance……………………France buys electricity as its nuclear plants are hit by strike

October 22, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, France | , , , , | Leave a comment

In UK’s liberalised competitive market, nuclear power has no chance

Now the landscape is infinitely harsher. Britain has a liberalised, highly competitive energy market, and ministers are swearing blue that no nuclear subsidies will be provided. No nuclear power station has yet successfully been built, anywhere in the world, in such circumstances.

Will Chris Huhne succeed where Mrs Thatcher failed? I wouldn’t bet on it – Telegraph UK, By Geoffrey Lean October 19th, 2010 “…….the new announcement by the formerly anti-nuclear Chris Huhne takes me back some thirty years to the time when Mrs Thatcher’s government unveiled its atomic ambitions, the last serious British attempt to expand the country’s use of the technology. Continue reading →

October 22, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, UK | Leave a comment

Nuclear renaissance bubble losing its puff

the simple reality is that a nuclear renaissance in the U.S. will be impossible if new reactors remain too expensive to build and natural gas remains “dirt cheap” while renewable energy costs continue to decline and consumer demand remains on a downward spiral……

underestimated costs, ignored risks, political ballyhoo and prodigious but inadequate subsidies — now make clear that we are dealing not with a renaissance but with a bubble. The main remaining question is just how much taxpayer money will go into keeping it inflated.”

Reactor under microscope  South Maryland News, Constellation, officials working to keep CC3 project going, Oct. 20, 2010, By MEGHAN RUSSELL“.………..even if EDF agreed to take the project under its wing, many skeptics, like the Nuclear Information and Resource Service, doubt the conditions are right for a “nuclear renaissance” and believe Calvert Cliffs 3 was doomed from the start. Continue reading →

October 20, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , , | Leave a comment

American families unwilling to cop the financial risk exposure of nuclear power

The struggle for a nuclear renaissance has been and remains a struggle over allocation of economic risk. U.S. power markets allocate that risk to investors and lenders, who will not put up the money for new nuclear…… southeastern states decided to allocate that risk to their customers, some of whom have begun to rebel. Congress is being asked to allocate it to taxpayers. However, with each new reactor requiring the allocation of close to $100 in risk exposure to every family in America, this is proving a tough sell.

Honey, I Shrunk the Renaissance: Nuclear Revival, Climate Change and Reality, CleanEnergy Footprints, by Peter Bradford, 15 Oct 10, “……Did the nuclear renaissance jump, or was it pushed? In truth, the nuclear renaissance has always consisted of the number of plants that government was willing to build. This is true not only in the United States but also in every other country now building new nuclear units.  Continue reading →

October 16, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, USA | , , , , | Leave a comment

Yet more delays in reviving Point Lepreau nuclear reactor

Point Lepreau delayed until fall 2012. CBC News – New Brunswick , 14 Oct 10, The $1.4-billion Point Lepreau refurbishment project is now delayed until the fall of 2012, NB Power said Thursday.The refurbishment of Atlantic Canada’s only nuclear reactor is now three years behind schedule……..The project was supposed to be completed in September 2009……. CBC News – New Brunswick – Point Lepreau delayed until fall 2012

October 15, 2010 Posted by | business and costs, Canada | , , , , | Leave a comment

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