U.S. uses COP27 to market nuclear power to Romania, offering over $3 billion funding
Romania Secures $3 Bn US Funding For Nuclear Power
https://www.barrons.com/news/romania-secures-3-bn-us-funding-for-nuclear-power-01668020107 By AFP – Agence France Presse, November 9, 2022,
Romania announced Wednesday that the United States will provide funding worth more than $3 billion for the construction of two new nuclear reactors in the eastern European country, which is expected to commence early next year.
The funding will be granted by the Washington-based Export-Import Bank (EXIM), an export credit agency, enabling Romania to cover “about a third of the amount necessary for the construction of two reactors” at the Cernavoda plant, Romanian Prime Minister Nicolae Ciuca said.
The rest of the needed funding will come from other financing, Ciuca added, without giving further details.
Cernavoda is Romania’s only nuclear power plant, which has been operational since the 1990s. Two reactors with a total a capacity of 1,400 MW, it covers approximately one fifth of the country’s electricity needs.
Ciuca hailed the deal signed during the UN climate summit COP27 in Egypt as “an important step” towards the country’s “energy independence” amid global energy uncertainty aggravated by the war in Ukraine.
The construction of two additional nuclear reactors at Cernavoda is slated to start “in March/April 2023” and is expected to be completed in 2030, he added.
EXIM finances exports of US goods and services, but it was not immediately clear which US firm or firms would construct the reactors.
Six European companies — GDF Suez, Iberdrola, CEZ, RWE, Enel and ArcelorMittal — had initially committed to the project in 2008, before pulling out one after another due to uncertainties surrounding the future of the plant.
Bucharest also broke a financing agreement with the China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) group in 2020, against a backdrop of growing mistrust of Chinese investments in Europe.
France electricity prices surge past €1,000/MWh as more nuclear reactors close for winter
Wholesale electricity prices in France for the middle of winter surged
above €1,000/MWh ($A1,540/MWh) after the operator of the world’s biggest
nuclear fleet revealed more problems, and more outages at its reactors.
The surge in prices for January delivery came after the utility EdF reduced its
forecast output for the fourth time this year, on this occasion due to
extended outages at four reactors and maintenance delays at others caused
by the waves of strikes that have affected the nation this autumn. It also
dramatically reversed weeks of falling spot and futures prices as gas
stocks improved and the weather remained wild.
But as analysts noted in the height of summer, nuclear problems pose just as big a threat to the EU grid
as the gas problems.
Renew Economy 8th Nov 2022
U.S. company Westinghouse wants to build a fleet of nuclear reactors in Europe, starting with Poland.
The Council of Ministers has formally approved the decision that the first
nuclear power plant in Poland will use three Westinghouse AP1000 reactors –
with the US company calling it an “historic day” as it looks to build a
fleet of the reactors in central Europe.
World Nuclear News 3rd Nov 2022
French nuclear corporation EDF – facing huge debts, but cosily enmeshed with UK government
But what about the future? EDF is predicted to stack up 100 billion Euros (£87.8 billion) in debt this year and the French government already pumped €3 billion (£2.6 billion) into the company in Spring.
But as you’ll see below, no matter how bad things are there’s always room to give the CEO a pay rise.
In 2020, CEO Lévy was listed as the 9th highest-paid CEO in the utility sector worldwide taking home a salary of €450,000 (£389,500) and €3,660 (£3,150) in benefits.
EDF has been getting cosier and cosier with the government.
And the cosiness isn’t set to end anytime soon, EDF stands in good stead under Liz Truss. The new PM nominated former EDF lobbyist Michael Stott as Downing Street’s new business liaison. Stott, who is also an ex-Tory press officer, is expected to lead the government’s new-build nuclear programme.
EDF: WHEN THE STATE GOES FULL CAPITALIST. https://newint.org/features/2022/10/31/edf-when-state-goes-full-capitalist 31 October 2022
What happens when a state energy company goes multinational? In the second installment of its Heat the Rich series on Britain’s big six energy giants, Corporate Watch puts the spotlight on EDF Energy.
EDF is the fifth biggest energy supplier in the UK currently controlling over 10% of the market. The French multinational is best known for “leading the UK’s nuclear renaissance” operating all eight of the UK’s nuclear power stations.
It’s owned by Electricity of France S.A. (Électricité de France, EDF). A multinational energy producer and supplier primarily (and soon to be solely) owned by the French government. It is one of the world’s top five utility companies.
Created in 1946 by the French government, EDF was set up with the intention of rebuilding France’s power grid following World War Two. Now, 70 years on, EDF has branched out a lot further than France, cashing in on energy users from the USA to India. The group is now made up of 144 subsidiaries.
Despite its name, EDF isn’t just in the energy business. EDF is also involved in the data software, vehicle traceability, investment, and real estate sectors, to name just a few.
EDF uses strategic partnership deals to build its brand, for example, the company is a ‘premium partner’ (and official energy supplier) for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris in 2024.
HOW MANY UK ENERGY CUSTOMERS DOES EDF HAVE?
Electricity (excluding pre-payment): 3 million
Gas (excluding pre-payment): 2.1 million
WHO OWNS IT?
EDF Energy (UK) Ltd is ultimately owned by EDF SA, a French company which is majority owned (84%) by the French government and listed on Euronext, the French stock exchange.
In July 2022, the French government announced it would buy out the outstanding 16% of EDF’s shares, reversing the partial privatization of the company in 2005. But it hit a brick wall when investors threatened to sue the government for losses. The French state started finalising their buyout of 100% shares in EDF in September. But at what price? The other shareholders are demanding a fortune, with the government set to pay a total of 9.7 billion euros (£8.7 billion) of French taxpayers’ money. It’s worth noting that the shareholders set to cash in from this nationalization are investment giants Blackrock and Vanguard Group.
IS EDF SUFFERING AS A RESULT OF THE COST OF LIVING CRISIS?
On the face of it, it does seem like EDF profits have nose-dived in recent years. According to EDF Energy (UK) Ltd’s 2021 accounts, EDF operated a €4.8 billion (£4.2 billion) loss compared to €268 million (£239 million) in 2020. No dividends were paid by EDF Energy (UK) Ltd. in 2021 nor in 2020. However, another UK subsidiary, EDF Energy Holdings Ltd did pay dividends of £1 million in 2021, and £60 million in 2020.
Despite these losses, at the end of 2021 EDF Energy (UK) Ltd still had net assets of €17.9 billion (£16 billion).
Regardless of the UK subsidiary’s accounts, the EDF Group achieved all its financial targets in 2021. Group sales for the year amounted to £8,720m, an increase of 8%. The Group reaped profits of €360 million (£324 million) in 2021, a total reverse in performance from 2020 when the Group made a loss of €2.6 billion (£2.3 billion).
But what about the future? EDF is predicted to stack up 100 billion Euros (£87.8 billion) in debt this year and the French government already pumped €3 billion (£2.6 billion) into the company in Spring. But as you’ll see below, no matter how bad things are there’s always room to give the CEO a pay rise.
WHO RUNS EDF?
Jean-Bernard Lévy, the current CEO of the Group, is due to leave six months early after a fallout at the top between Lévy and French president, Emmanuel Macron, over nuclear energy. Lévy is – however – unlikely to be out of a job after EDF. He was formerly CEO of weapons company Thales, and media company Vivendi, and even did a stint as a technical adviser to a government ministry. In 2020, Lévy was listed as the 9th highest-paid CEO in the utility sector worldwide taking home a salary of €450,000 (£389,500) and €3,660 (£3,150) in benefits.
Moreover, Lévy’s probable successor, Luc Remont, cherrypicked by Macron (whose appointment is just waiting for parliamentary approval), will start on on a lucrative footing after the French Government announced that it would like to increase the new EDF CEO’s salary to attract more candidates. The company CEO’s salary is currently capped at €450,000 (£389,500). Whilst no figure has been publicly stated, the EDF Group is known to pay high salaries. In 2013 it was revealed that former UK CEO, Vincent de Rivaz, received a pay package of £1 million annually in remuneration.
Simone Rossi has been at EDF since 2004, Rossi switched roles from Head of the International Division to UK CEO in 2017. But Rossi’s influence goes far beyond the British Isles. As a member of the Executive Committee, Rossi is at the very top of the EDF Group. At first it appears Rossi accepted a big pay cut, with a 2017 payment package capped at just over £100,000. A modest salary in comparison to his predecessor, de Rivaz, who was on £1 million a year. But it is highly probable that Rossi’s remuneration is now identical to de Rivaz at £1 million, as the highest-paid director in EDF Energy Holdings Ltd.
EDF
It’s not just customers at the receiving end of EDF’s profit-led strategy. Kashmir Singh, a Prospect trade union organizer, has been fighting against workplace racism and discrimination for half a century. Singh was presented with a 50-year long-service award in 2021 by Simone Rossi. But Singh’s union released a statement explaining how, during his career, he had been subject to two grievance and disciplinary proceedings for daring to raise EDF’s failure to hire and promote staff from Asian or Black Ethnic (ABLE) backgrounds.
SUBSIDIARIES IN TAX HAVENS
EDF Energy (UK) Ltd owns EDF Energy Holdings Ltd, the top holding company for EDF’s UK subsidiaries. Whilst EDF Energy (UK)’s accounts from 2021 detail tax payments of €905m (£780m) of corporation tax in 2021, some of its subsidiaries are registered in notorious tax havens including a holdings company registered in Hong Kong and an insurance company in Guernsey.
Over the last two decades, EDF has funded the Conservative party to the tune of £38,499.
Most recently, last October EDF Energy Renewables Ltd donated £4,999 to the Conservative Tees Valley Mayor, Ben Houchen. And like clockwork, by March 2022, EDF announced its plan to construct a new hydrogen production centre near the former Redcar steelworks in Teeside. The centre is called Tees Green Hydrogen.
EDF also made two £6,000 in donations to the Labour Party in October 2003 and September 2005. The timing of these donations coincided with Labour PM Tony Blair’s announcement in November 2005 that the government was looking into new nuclear for the UK’s future energy supplies. This set the ball rolling for EDF’s £18 billion government contract for the construction of Hinkley Point C power station.
Over the last decade, EDF has been getting cosier and cosier with the government. The company has had at least five independent opportunities to promote its agenda in meetings with UK prime ministers, once with David Cameron and four times with Boris Johnson. Company representatives even had an intimate one-to-one with Johnson in January 2022 to chat about the UK’s nuclear energy supply, which EDF holds the monopoly over.
Since 2012, company representatives have also attended at least 151 meetings with government ministers, including 24 solo meetings with the former Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Kwasi Kwarteng, who is now the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the person in charge of UK economic policy.
And the cosiness isn’t set to end anytime soon, EDF stands in good stead under Liz Truss. The new PM nominated former EDF lobbyist Michael Stott as Downing Street’s new business liaison. Stott, who is also an ex-Tory press officer, is expected to lead the government’s new-build nuclear programme.
Failure of the “nuclear renaissance” leaves Britain with super-costly closures of reactors, and electricity shortage
UK facing electricity supply woes after nuclear power stations shut, MPs told
Larger and smaller reactors carry risks, island nation failed to keep pace with nuclear fleet closure
Lindsay Clark, 1 Nov 2022 , Electricity shortages appear inevitable for the UK due to the decommissioning of the nation’s aging estate of nuclear power stations, according to evidence submitted by industry to politicians.
…….. Writing to the Commons Science and Technology Committee, Manchester University’s Dalton Nuclear Policy Group said: “Sadly, it is now much too late to avoid a negative impact on the UK’s electricity supply due to the closure of our nuclear fleet. All eleven of Britain’s Magnox plants have been shut down for many years – the last being the Wylfa plant on Anglesey which ceased operation on New Year’s Eve 2015.
It added: “The fleet of Advanced Gas-cooled Reactors (AGRs) operated by [French energy firm] EDF is also now seeing closures.”
In February, the UK government was warned taxpayers would have to make up a multibillion-pound shortfall to decommission nuclear power stations unless a history of overspending is reversed. EDF Energy runs seven AGR stations in the UK, part of eight second-generation reactors set to be decommissioned which provide 16 percent of the nation’s electricity. The AGR stations are scheduled to stop producing electricity by 2028.
Last year the government injected £5.1 billion ($5.8 billion) into the Nuclear Liabilities Fund – now valued at £14.8 billion ($17 billion) – which it set up in 1996 to meet the costs of decommissioning AGR and Pressurized Water Reactor stations. But EDF’s latest cost estimate to decommission the stations in March last year was £23.5bn ($27 billion). Public spending watchdog the National Audit Office has warned more money will be needed unless the government and EDF avoid overspending.
But as well as overspending, decommissioning also presents a problem for electricity supply.
“It is unlikely that there will be any significant extension to these projected dates, although there may be scope for some slight delays in closure. Once the AGRs are all closed, the UK will only have one reactor from the current nuclear fleet still operational – the pressurised water reactor at Sizewell B,” Dalton Nuclear Policy Group said.
……. “it is due to the failure since 2008 – with the exception of the long-delayed Hinkley Point C – of all proposals for a nuclear renaissance in the UK to move from plans to reality,” the group said.
In May, EDF admitted to another year’s delay and £3 billion ($3.5 billion) extra cost in Hinkely Point C – the UK’s first nuclear power station to be built in 20 years. The revised operating date for the site in Somerset is now June 2027 and total costs are estimated to be in the range of £25 billion to £26 billion ($29 billion).
EDF said it would have no cost impact on British consumers or taxpayers. The power station had been due online by 2017 at a cost of around £20 billion ($22 billion)………………….. The Science and Technology Committee is set to hear oral evidence for its inquiry on Delivering Nuclear Power during hearings this week.
The Register 1st Nov 2022
https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/01/electricity_shortages_uk/
Nice work if you can get it: £750 a day for leading Lincolnshire’s nuclear dump bid
A typical employee working full-time in the East Lindsay Council area can
expect to be paid just over £90 per day, according to the latest
government survey of earnings. With the 2022 Annual Survey of Hours and
Earnings reporting that median earnings in the district are just £462.50
per week, many local workers will be envious upon hearing that the Interim
Chair of the Theddlethorpe GDF Community Partnership continues to be paid
£750 per day for his work leading the bid to bring an unwanted nuclear
waste dump to the Lincolnshire coast. The revelation was contained in a
response from Nuclear Waste Services (NWS) to a recent Freedom of
Information Act request about the ongoing renumeration of Mr Jon Collins
made by the Nuclear Free Local Authorities (NFLA).
NFLA 2nd Nov 2022
Sizewell C nuclear station to be funded 20% by French taxpayers, and 20% by British taxpayers.
French government officials have officially approved the involvement of
state-owned company EDF in the development of Britain’s Sizewell C nuclear
power plant, Boris Johnson’s last flagship program as Prime Minister. I can
reveal. In his last keynote address as Prime Minister, Mr Johnson had urged
his successors to “go nuclear and go big and go with Sizewell C”.
While questions remain about how the project will be funded, with I After
previously revealing how it has approached investors in the UAE, Australia
and Saudi Arabia for financial backing, the UK has now secured the full
backing of French officials – a big step forward for the plant. The UK is
expected to plan a 20 per cent stake in Sizewell C, with EDF taking a
further 20 per cent – leaving 60 per cent of the project dependent on
investors.
UK Daily News 28th Oct 2022
French nuclear power group EDF to have a bigger loss than previously expected
French nuclear power group EDF is expecting a hit of around 32 billion
euro ($32.18 billion) to its full-year core earnings from lower nuclear
production, a bigger loss than previously forecast and its sixth profit
warning this year.
The French government, which already owns 84% of EDF, is
in the process of fully re-nationalising the company, the debt-laden
operator of Europe’s largest fleet of nuclear power plants.
Reuters 27th Oct 2022
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/french-utility-giant-edfs-history-2022-07-08/
USA’s Westingouse likely to build and fund 49% of Poland’s first nuclear power station
Poland is likely to choose the United States engineering firm Westinghouse
Electric to build its first nuclear power plant and provide 49% equity
financing for the project. State-owned Korea Hydro Nuclear Power (KHNP) may
also be involved in a separate and parallel private nuclear project, Polish
Deputy Prime Minister Jacek Sasin said earlier this week. Warsaw has also
been talking to France’s state-owned EdF utility which has built and
operates the country’s nuclear power plants. After years of shelved plans
to build a civil nuclear capacity in Poland from scratch, the energy crunch
caused by the war in Ukraine, lower gas supplies from Russia and lack of
immediate renewable substitutes, have kicked the issue back up the
political agenda.
Deutsche Welle 28th Oct 2022
https://www.dw.com/en/us-south-korean-firms-to-operate-nuclear-plants-in-poland/a-63576093
Scotland ‘could fund England’s nuclear plants after independence’ under “regulated asset base” (RAB) model
the RAB model was favoured by the Tory government because “the fact is the market has fled nuclear”.
“The market has fled nuclear because of the risk and liability. The only way of getting nuclear through is with vast public subsidy, and this is a way of disguising that public subsidy.
the RAB model had been tried before in the US – under the name Early Cost Recovery – “and failed miserably”.
And that public money would come at the very start of construction. They would be paying right from the word go, so this is essentially free money. Even with that there really doesn’t seem to be much interest from the market.”
SCOTTISH bill payers could still be funding nuclear projects south of the Border through additional fees on their energy bills even after independence, one expert has said.
It comes as the UK Government looks to award the first contracts for new nuclear stations in England, which will be funded through the “regulated asset base” (RAB) model.
This RAB model will see electricity suppliers pay a levy to “relevant licensee nuclear companies”, with the costs passed on to consumers in the form of additional fees on top of their energy bills. Under conservative UK Government estimates, this could mean Scottish households’ energy bills rising by around £100 a year.
Dr Paul Dorfman, the chair of the non-profit Nuclear Consulting Group and associate fellow at the University of Sussex’s Science Policy Research Unit, told The National that the RAB model was favoured by the Tory government because “the fact is the market has fled nuclear”.
“RAB is absolutely, unequivocally all about trying to incentivise the market,” he said, “and it is doing it with public money.”
Dorfman went on: “And that public money would come at the very start of construction. They would be paying right from the word go, so this is essentially free money. Even with that there really doesn’t seem to be much interest from the market.”
The nuclear expert, who will give evidence on the topic to a Westminster committee next week, said the RAB model had been tried before in the US – under the name Early Cost Recovery – “and failed miserably”.
He said: “It can work for projects which you know will come in on time, but nuclear has huge liabilities and huge over-runs, and that’s precisely why it doesn’t work. RAB doesn’t work for projects with high liability and high risk.
“The market has fled nuclear because of the risk and liability. The only way of getting nuclear through is with vast public subsidy, and this is a way of disguising that public subsidy.
Dorfman warned that once the UK Government started sinking billions of pounds into efforts to begin construction of eight new nuclear stations by 2030, it would “become a fait accompli”.
He said that even after 17 years – the amount of time he estimates it will take from a contract being awarded to a nuclear plant being finished – “the UK public, and the Scots public, who may no longer be part of the UK, will still be liable for that”.
Dorfman said the first RAB nuclear contracts looked set to be awarded in 2023, estimating that would mean a completion date of the first nuclear plants around 2040.
“That’s too late for our climate,” he said. “It’s far too late for the current energy crisis. The point is of course, why do this when last year solar and wind made up three-quarters of all total new electricity generation capacity installed worldwide?”
“
The Nuclear Consulting Group chair further cautioned that no one knows for certain what the RAB funding arrangements will be.
Craig Dalzell, the head of policy and research at Common Weal, a think tank which has recently produced a report on the RAB funding model, said the “ongoing liability” for new nuclear projects in England should “not be outsourced to Scotland post-independence”.
Dalzell told The National: “The idea that Scottish energy users could be paying for the UK’s nuclear RAB schemes even after independence will surely be something that should be resisted. The Scottish Government should do everything it can to extract guarantees from the UK Government that this will not be the case and that the ongoing liability for these plants will not be outsourced to Scotland post-independence.
“At the very least, any payments for these plants should be taken into account when the time comes for independence negotiations and I would expect these charges to be offset against other debts or added to an equivalent payment from the remaining UK to Scotland to compensate for their mismanagement of energy policy.”
The UK Government’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy declined to comment, saying only that its policy has not changed despite a new Secretary of State, Grant Shapps, taking control.
You can read Dr Dorfman’s written evidence on nuclear power to the House of Commons’ Science and Technology Committee here.
About 100 Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant employees, including senior managers, agree to collaborate with Russian occupiers
Ukrainska Pravda ANASTASIIA ZHARYKOVA – FRIDAY, 28 OCTOBER 2022,
Out of the 6,700 Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) employees who continue working at the plant since its occupation by Russian forces, about 100 workers have signed contracts with Rosatom [Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation] under pressure from the Russians. Several senior managers are among those who had agreed to work for Russia, too…………………. more https://news.yahoo.com/100-zaporizhzhia-nuclear-power-plant-145214038.html
Russia is funding its war on Ukraine by selling $billions of uranium to Europe’s nuclear industry- no sanctions on that!
The Russian nuclear industry has once again managed to avoid inclusion in the latest round of EU sanctions – the eighth in a row to skirt this vital issue in an apparent acknowledgment that Europe’s dependence on Russian nuclear fuel cannot easily be reversed.
Since the start of the war in February, the media has been so focused on Russian fossil fuels, particularly natural gas, that it has avoided any discussion of Europe’s nuclear dependence on Russia completely. However, the topic can no longer be safely ignored. The Kremlin has already earned several hundred billion dollars so far this year by selling fossil fuels to Europe, a financial cushion that has allowed Moscow to fund its horrific war in Ukraine.
While Europe is less reliant on Russia supplying its atomic energy sector than it is its fossil fuel sector, the dependence of the European atomic energy industry on Russian nuclear fuel is as surprising as it is alarming. Much work has gone into weaning Europe off Russian fossil fuels, with time being of the essence as Brussels seeks to curtail Moscow’s lucrative revenue streams as quickly and as comprehensively as possible. However, its nuclear industry has not yet been the focus of any such efforts.
Moscow Times 22nd Oct 2022
https://www.themoscowtimes.com/2022/10/22/europe-should-sanction-russias-nuclear-industry-now-a79089
Rooppur nuclear power plant: Cost may rise for multiple factors
Daily Star Rejaul Karim Byron, Tue Oct 25, 2022 ,
Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant Project may see a cost rise due to slow progress in power grid upgrade, possible changes in the loan repayment method amid the Russia-Ukraine war and the devaluation of the taka.
The Tk 113,092-crore plant has two units with a power generation capacity of 1,200 megawatts each. Of the amount, Tk 91,040 crore ($11.38 billion) will be provided by Russia as loan, according to an agreement.
Project officials said the first unit will be ready for commercial operation in December 2023 and the second one in July 2024.
The plant, however, may face delay in going into commercial operation as the Infrastructure Development for Power Evacuation Facility, scheduled to be completed by December next year, has seen only 27 percent financial progress and 45 percent physical progress in nearly five years till September this year.
Talking to reporters at the plant site recently, Shawkat Akbar, project director of Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant, said they would not be able run the plant until the power grid upgrade is done under the infrastructure development facility.
“Once we use nuclear fuel in the plant, we can’t stop production,” he pointed out.
Work of the infrastructure development facility under the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB) began in April 2018 at a cost of Tk 10,981 crore with Tk 8,219 crore funding from the Indian Line of Credit…………………………………………………….. more https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/rooppur-nuclear-power-plant-cost-may-rise-multiple-factors-3151171
American companies might make fuel for small nuclear reactors, except that there seems to be no market for them.
Russia’s Uranium Dominance Threatens America’s Next-Gen Nuclear Plans, By Tsvetana Paraskova – Oct 23, 2022, 10:00 AM CDT
- The United States has ambitious plans for its nuclear power industry.
- Russia’s stranglehold on the uranium market threatens to delay progress in nextgen nuclear power projects.
- U.S. companies are scrambling to develop the domestic uranium supply chain needed to fuel nuclear power ambitions.
……………………..
there is one major hurdle to the construction of most advanced reactors under development in the United States—the uranium type of fuel on which those reactors are designed to run is currently sold commercially by only one company in the world. And that company is a subsidiary of Russia’s ROSATOM, the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation.
The federal government and U.S. companies developing advanced nuclear reactors—including Bill Gates’ TerraPower—recognize the urgent need to eliminate reliance on a Russian state corporation for nuclear fuel for America’s next-generation nuclear reactors.
The association Uranium Producers of America noted during a Senate committee hearing after the Russian invasion of Ukraine that “almost none of the fuel needed to power America’s nuclear fleet today comes from domestic producers, while U.S. nuclear utilities purchase nearly half of the of the uranium they consume from state-owned entities (SEO) in Russia, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.”
“We estimate that there is more than $1 billion in annual U.S. dollar purchases of nuclear fuel flowing to ROSATOM,” said Scott Melbye, president of the association and Executive Vice President at Uranium Energy Corp.
ROSATOM is not under Western sanctions after the Russian invasion of Ukraine because of the Russian state firm’s importance in the supply chain of the global nuclear power industry. But the U.S. firms developing the next generation of more efficient, cheaper, and more environmentally friendly nuclear reactors don’t want to do business with Russia anymore.
Hence, the need for a commercially viable and stable domestic supply chain of the fuel for those advanced reactors—HALEU, or high assay low enriched uranium. ……………………………………….
the U.S. government faces the “chicken and egg” dilemma in HALEU supply, Matt Bowen, Research Scholar at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA, and Paul M. Dabbar, Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the same center, wrote in a paper in May this year/
“Existing enrichment companies, such as Urenco, Orano, GLE, and Centrus, could make HALEU, but these companies would likely be hesitant to invest too much in building HALEU infrastructure and completing NRC licensing without being confident there will in fact be a profitable market for the product,” they say.
What is Regulatory Asset Base and how will it affect future energy charges for Scots?
THE UK Government is set on using a Regulatory Asset Base (RAB) model to fund
nuclear projects south of the Border. This will directly result in Scots
paying more on their energy bills. Here, former Scottish Office chief
statistician Jim Cuthbert explains what an RAB model is, and the problems
behind it. There are two main problems.
First, the construction phase of
nuclear projects is extremely long. Further, nuclear construction is
notoriously beset by technical difficulties. Midway through a nuclear
construction project, it will be extremely difficult for the regulator to
resist pressure for the RAB base to be inflated to overcome any technical
problems or uncertainties.
Secondly, the operating life of nuclear projects
is again very long, with the UK Government’s current working assumption
being about 60 years. This means that any surplus which is built into the
stream of future RAB payments will be available to be capitalised over this
long period – which will greatly increase the potential windfall profits
to be extracted by the original equity investors.
The National 23rd Oct 2022
https://www.thenational.scot/politics/23071054.rab-will-affect-future-energy-charges-scots/
1 This Month
Protect Sazan Island from the Trump family! https://secure.avaaz.org/campaign/en/protect_sazan_island_from_the_trump_family_loc/?bqFCVab&v=174511&cl=22707147157&_checksum=5e9dde668860e8231c33699735e16a1fbf22ab2cb01da50c999fe8732b9775ef&utm_source=email&utm_medium=blast_email&utm_campaign=174511
25 June- THE PUKE ON NUKES
Thursday, June 25, 2026
7pm Central Time (8pm ET, 6pm MT, 5pm PT) UTC – 5
From NRC & DOE Deregulation to Techno-Fascist Billionaires Going Nuclear, Plus a Few Songs from Atomic Cabaret REGISTER
26 June – Radiation Trainwreck at the NRC / Join the Protect Better Campaign – https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/4ZlZ5_qLSHGiLSCg8FF6Bg#/registration
Cuba Is Not a Failed State – It Is a Besieged State
PETITION: “Global Appeal to Endorse Palestinian Right of Return of Refugees”
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
-
Archives
- June 2026 (162)
- May 2026 (306)
- April 2026 (356)
- March 2026 (251)
- February 2026 (268)
- January 2026 (308)
- December 2025 (358)
- November 2025 (359)
- October 2025 (376)
- September 2025 (257)
- August 2025 (319)
- July 2025 (230)
-
Categories
- 1
- 1 NUCLEAR ISSUES
- business and costs
- climate change
- culture and arts
- ENERGY
- environment
- health
- history
- indigenous issues
- Legal
- marketing of nuclear
- media
- opposition to nuclear
- PERSONAL STORIES
- politics
- politics international
- Religion and ethics
- safety
- secrets,lies and civil liberties
- spinbuster
- technology
- Uranium
- wastes
- weapons and war
- Women
- 2 WORLD
- ACTION
- AFRICA
- Atrocities
- AUSTRALIA
- Christina's notes
- Christina's themes
- culture and arts
- Events
- Fuk 2022
- Fuk 2023
- Fukushima 2017
- Fukushima 2018
- fukushima 2019
- Fukushima 2020
- Fukushima 2021
- general
- global warming
- Humour (God we need it)
- Nuclear
- RARE EARTHS
- Reference
- resources – print
- Resources -audiovicual
- Weekly Newsletter
- World
- World Nuclear
- YouTube
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
nuclear-news 