United Nations: ‘Too late’ for world if no climate deal in Paris, French president Francois Hollande says http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-09-29/too-late-for-world-if-no-climate-deal-made-in-paris-france-says/6812138 Reaching a successful climate deal in Paris at the end of the year is the last chance to save the planet, France’s president Francois Hollande has warned.
Without “this decision in Paris … it will be too late for the world,” Mr Hollande said in his address to the UN General Assembly in New York.
The UN-led conference in Paris, which starts at the end of November, aims to seal a wide-ranging agreement to limit the worst effects of climate change.
Key points:
Despite the warning, Mr Hollande sounded a note of optimism after China and the United States signed a “joint vision” ahead of the Paris summit, and China committed to a domestic cap-and-trade carbon exchange.
“We have moved forward over recent months,” Mr Hollande said.
“Very strong declarations were made by those countries who are most responsible for global warming … the United States and China, which undertook commitments towards changing the situation.”
He also pledged that France would increase its financial commitment on climate from 3 billion to 5 billion euros ($4.8 billion to $8 billion) between now and 2020.
A week of climate events in New York ahead of the annual UN summit brought out new promises from governments and the private sector to slash greenhouse gas emissions blamed for global warming.
The United Nations offers one of the last opportunities for high-level talks before the Paris conference opens on November 30.
Still possible to contain climate change: experts Continue reading
while the scientist applauded the pope’s overall message on the environment, he said Francis had undermined his own cause by failing to acknowledge the need for birth control and reproductive choice
Pope’s climate push is ‘raving nonsense’ without population control, says top US scientist, Suzanne Goldenberg, Guardian , 24 Sept 15
Scientists applauded Pope Francis’s overall message on climate but criticised his failure to acknowledge the need for birth control.
Paul Ehrlich writes in Nature Climate Change that Francis is wrong to fight climate change without also addressing the strain from population growth on resources One of America’s leading scientists has dismissed as “raving nonsense” the pope’s call for action on climate change – so long as the leader of the world’s 1 billion Catholics rejects the need for population control.
In a commentary in the journal Nature Climate Change, Paul Ehrlich, a senior fellow at the Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, argues that Pope Francis is simply wrong in trying to fight climate change without also addressing the additional strain on global resources from population rise. “That’s raving nonsense,” Ehrlich told the Guardian. “He is right on some things but he is just dead wrong on that.”
The critique in “Society and the Pope’s encyclical”, part of a special package from scientists on the encyclical, marked a rare note of dissent from scientists and campaigners. Many hope that the pope will drive home his call to action on poverty and the environment in his speech to Congress on Thursday.
Ehrlich, in his Nature Climate Change commentary, accuses Francis of a dangerous flaw in his indictment of consumerism and its effects on the poor and the environment. The pope had fallen for the usual clerical “obsession” with contraception and abortion – when he could have instead broken new ground on the Catholic church’s approaches to women’s reproductive rights and family planning.
The broadside exposes some of the difficulties of embracing a figure such as the pope – for those on the left as well as the right.
Conservative allies of the pope, on issues such as same-sex marriage and abortion, have balked at his denunciation of capitalism and call to action on climate change.
Those thrilled by the pope’s intervention on climate change – and Ehrlich counts himself among them – were troubled by Francis’s refusal to countenance the need to limit population, the scientist said. “It is crystal clear. No one concerned with the state of the planet and the state of the global economy can avoid dealing with population. It is the elephant in the room,” he said.
Ehrlich became a household name in the US nearly 50 years ago for warning of a global catastrophe because of population growth – a scenario he later conceded did not entirely materialise.
But while the scientist applauded the pope’s overall message on the environment, he said Francis had undermined his own cause by failing to acknowledge the need for birth control and reproductive choice……….http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/24/popes-climate-stance-is-nonsense-rejects-population-control-says-top-us-scientist
Nuclear ≠ the solution! https://www.thunderclap.it/projects/31410-nuclear-the-solution
by Don’t Nuke the Climate
“Tell EDF: nuclear can’t save the climate: too dirty, too dangerous, too expensive, too slow #exposeEDF #EDFMenteurhttp://thndr.it/1iazwcm”
Thousands of people will join the climate negotiations, the COP 21, in Paris this year to discuss a new agreement. Under the expiring Kyoto Protocol, nuclear energy is rightly excluded from the possible solutions available to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Yet the nuclear industry, in collaboration with certain nations, is lobbying for their dangerous and polluting technology to be seen as a climate-friendly option. This would obstruct real progress in protecting the climate.
An example of these lobbyists is EDF, world’s biggest electricity generator. Which is running many nuclear and coal plants all over the world and all French nuclear power plants. They are shamelessly using the context of climate negotiations to promote its nuclear electricity as climate-friendly and carbon-free… And EDF is also one of the big sponsors of the COP 21!
EDF’s argument is misleading: the nuclear industry does emit greenhouse gas, particularly during uranium mining! Nuclear power manifests a wide range of human rights violations, from the rights to life and health, to disproportionate impacts on indigenous peoples, women, children, and future generations. No matter what else EDF claims.
Join us in exposing EDF. Tweet or share in English, German, French, or any language (copy paste this in the text field):
The French petition will be online before the 26th of September.
Emissions from melting permafrost could cost $43 trillion, Science Daily September 21, Source: University of Cambridge
In a letter published today (21 September) in the journal Nature Climate Change, the researchers have for the first time modelled the economic impact caused by melting permafrost in the Arctic to the end of the twenty-second century, on top of the damage already predicted by climate and economic models.
The Arctic is warming at a rate which is twice the global average, due to anthropogenic, or human-caused, greenhouse gas emissions. If emissions continue to rise at their current rates, Arctic warming will lead to the widespread thawing of permafrost and the release of hundreds of billions of tonnes of methane and CO2 — about 1,700 gigatonnes of carbon are held in permafrost soils in the form of frozen organic matter.
Rising emissions will result in both economic and non-economic impacts, as well as a higher chance of catastrophic events, such as the melting of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, increased flooding and extreme weather. Economic impacts directly affect a country’s gross domestic product (GDP), such as the loss of agricultural output and the additional cost of air conditioning, while non-economic impacts include effects on human health and ecosystems.
The researchers’ models predict $43 trillion in economic damage could be caused by the release of these greenhouse gases, an amount equivalent to more than half the current annual output of the global economy. This brings the total predicted impact of climate change by 2200 to $369 trillion, up from $326 trillion — an increase of 13 percent……..http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/09/150921112731.htm
New Climate Institute report: The Global Climate Leadership Review 2015: What the Paris negotiations mean for Australia and our economy September 18, 2015. The Global Climate Leadership Review 2015: What the Paris negotiations mean for Australia and our economy summarises global climate developments in the lead up to the Paris climate negotiations in late 2015. It explores what success in Paris would look like and also the impact of the agreement on the global and Australian economies.
The report is accompanied by a short video animation addressing the same issues.
The report is also part of the broader project, Focus on Paris & Beyond, that The Climate Institute has conducted throughout 2015. Reports, factsheets, infographics and other content can be accessed here on the project page.
Download the 5-page report at: http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/articles/publications/global-climate-leadership-review-2015.html
(And check out other recent Climate Institute reports and projects, media releases and briefs and multimedia available at:http://www.climateinstitute.org.au/)
US and Australian taxpayers pay billions a year to fund coal – report, http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/sep/16/us-australian-taxpayers-pay-billions-fund-coal
Ending US subsidies would lead to cuts in coal use equivalent to shutting up to 32 coal-fired power stations, according to the report. Damian Carrington, 16 Sept 15
Ending subsidies, that amount to almost a quarter of the sale price in some cases, would hugely reduce carbon emissions, new research reveals
Coal subsidies are costing US and Australian taxpayers billions of dollars a year, according to a new report.
The research examined the subsidies given to coal production in the US’s largest coal field, the Powder River Basin, and found they totalled $2.9bn (£1.9bn) a year. This equates to $8 per tonne, almost 25% of the sale price.
Ending the subsidies would lead to cuts in coal use equivalent to shutting up to 32 coal-fired power stations, the researchers found, leading to a large reduction in carbon emissions.
The report also analysed Australia’s exporting of coal for power stations in Asia and found these came to $1.3bn a year, or $4 a tonne. Ending these subsidies would cut demand by up to 7%, a smaller impact than in the US because coal users could buy supplies from other countries.
“The fossil fuel industry has gamed energy market consumers, with numerous subsidies evident over the long term,” said Tim Buckley, at the Institute forEnergy Economics and Financial Analysis, who worked on the report. “Any discussion of cost competitiveness of renewable energy and energy efficiency needs to take into account the decades of extensive subsidies evident for the coal industry and that, in many cases, remain in place today.”
Luke Sussams, senior researcher at Carbon Tracker Initiative, also part of the research team, said: “Policy makers concerned about climate change and a level playing field in energy markets should look to take coordinated action to remove the distortions to production these subsidies create.”
The subsidies given to coal companies included tax breaks, cheap leases, government-funded infrastructure including railways and ports and allowing inadequate funding of clean-up operation after mining ends.
The G20 nations pledged to end fossil fuel subsidies in 2009, but little action has been taken. However, falling oil and coal prices in the last year have seen some countries starting to reduce subsidies.
A recent study by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) took into account not just direct subsidies but also the cost to nations of the damage caused by air pollution and global warming. It estimated coal, oil and gas were being subsidised by $5.3trn a year, more than the total health spending of all the world’s governments. Much of the cost is due to the illness and death caused by air pollution.
“Eliminating coal subsidies in the Powder River Basin and throughout the world, is an obvious, no-regrets climate strategy,” said Doug Koplow, of Earth Track and another member of the research team.
The new report, called Assessing Thermal Coal Production Subsidies, was produced by the Carbon Tracker Initiative, Energy Transition Advisors, the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis and Earth Track.
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) connects state lawmakers with corporateHow Charles Koch Prevents Clean Energy Businesses From Succeeding, TruthOut 02 September 2015 By Matthew Kasper, Republic Report | News Analysis Last week, President Obama correctly singled out the Koch brothers – Charles and David – and the Koch-funded network for standing in the way of America’s clean energy Continue reading
Earth’s climate system ‘at turning point’ http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2015/09/14/global-temps-rise-restart-soon Experts warn big changes are under way in the earth’s climate.Source: AAPExperts said big changes were under way in the earth’s climate system, with a natural phenomenon known as El Nino combining with the impact of greenhouse gases to push global temperatures to record highs.
But other changes in the Atlantic Ocean over the coming decades could make relatively cooler and possibly drier summers in the UK and northern Europe more likely.
Globally, the Earth’s climate system was at a “turning point”, with a number of major changes happening at once, the Met Office’s Professor Adam Scaife said.
In the run-up to key United Nations talks in Paris, at which it is hoped a new international agreement to tackle climate change can be agreed, “the signal is very clear” that global warming is happening.
The world has witnessed a slowdown or “pause” in rising temperatures in recent years, which sceptics pointed to as contradicting evidence of ongoing climate change.
The new report from the Met Office, which has been peer-reviewed by the University of Reading’s Professor Rowan Sutton, suggests the world is warming again.
Prof Scaife said experts could not be sure it was the end of the slowdown.
However, rates of warming averaged over decades were likely to reach the high levels seen at the end of the 20th century, when the world was warming rapidly, within two years.
The years 2014, 2015 and 2016 are all likely to be at or near record levels, in part due to the influence of the El Nino phenomenon of surface warming in the Pacific Ocean.
Scientists are very confident there is now a major El Nino under way, which is set to peak this winter, on the scale of an El Nino event in 1998 which helped drive global temperatures to record highs.
But Prof Scaife said natural variations such as El Nino were just the “icing on the cake” on top of human activity which is putting greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and driving climate change.
Tony Abbott faces down Pacific island nations’ calls for tougher action on climate change
ABC Radio AM By Eric Tlozek in Port Moresby, 11 Sept 15 Prime Minister Tony Abbott has held his Government’s line on climate change despite pleas from low-lying Pacific island nations for a stronger stance on emissions and temperature rises.
Both Mr Abbott and New Zealand prime minister John Key refused to go further than their existing commitments on global warming at the Pacific Islands Forum in Port Moresby.
Some Pacific island leaders say they are disappointed in the leaders for putting economic growth ahead of the survival of communities in small Pacific nations.
“Australia and New Zealand have made no additional commitments when it comes to climate change,” Mr Abbott told reporters after the meeting last night……….
Japan’s torrential downpour overwhelmed Fukushima’s drainage pumps sending hundreds of tonnes of contaminated water flowing into the Pacific! Japanese flooding update, The Big Wobble , 10 Sept 15
Rainfall reached 600 millimetres in the area around Joso, with weather officials expecting at least 200mm more in parts of eastern Japan, including Fukushima, the site of the nuclear reactor crippled in 2011, before the downpour stops on Friday.
Report Says Floods May Pose Threat To Radiation Under Fukushima
The torrential downpour has exacerbated a contaminated water problem at the Fukushima nuclear plant as it overwhelmed the site’s drainage pumps, sending hundreds of tonnes of contaminated water flowing into the ocean, a spokesman for operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said.
The continuous torrent of rain water is complicating the already difficult situation in Fukushima where, according to an operator of the Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), the drainage pumps are not able to evacuate all the water that is pouring into the plant, becoming contaminated and damaging the ‘surrounding environment.
Since 2011, the Tempco has been in charge of storing tons of radioactive water used to cool the reactors at the plant, destroyed by the tsunami……..TEPCO is storing huge volumes of water used to cool reactors that were sent into meltdown when a tsunami hit Japan in 2011……..
ABC: “Epic flooding in Japan threatening Fukushima… Serious concerns about nuclear power plant in flood zone” — Hundreds of tons of contaminated water have already flowed into ocean — Torrential downpours overwhelm site — Worst rains to hit area in past 50 years (VIDEO)http://enenews.com/abc-epic-flooding-japan-threatening-fukushima-serious-concerns-about-nuclear-power-plant-flood-zone-hundreds-tons-contaminated-water-flowed-ocean-torrential-downpours-overwhelm-site-video
Mainichi: Typhoon causes injuries, cancelled trains and flights, radioactive water leak… [TEPCO] announced on Sept. 9 that rainwater contaminated with radioactive materials had leaked from the plant’s drainage system into the ocean. The heavy rains brought on by Typhoon Etau exceeded the capacity of a transfer pump… This is the seventh time of possible or confirmed leaks of radiation-contaminated water since the utility began transferring the water from canal to canal in April… TEPCO says it does not know how much contaminated water leaked into the ocean, and is currently analyzing the concentration of the radioactive matter in the leaked water.
ABC News transcript: Epic flooding in Japan threatening the Fukushima plant… Serious concern this morning about a nuclear power plant in the flood zone… Torrential downpours [are] raising concerns about the Fukushima power plant… Reports that these heavy rains may overwhelm the site’s drainage pumps.
Reuters: A spokesman for operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) told the Guardian hundreds of tonnes of contaminated water have flowed into the ocean from the Fukushima nuclear plant… Rainfall reached 500 mm around Joso, NHK said, with weather officials expecting at least 200 mm more in parts of eastern Japan, including Fukushima, the site of the nuclear reactor crippled in 2011, before the downpour stops on Friday.
AFP: Japan flags grave danger from floods and water tainted by Fukushima nuke plant radiation— Tens of thousands of people were ordered to evacuate across Japan today as heavy rain pounded the country, sending radiation-tainted waters into the ocean at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant… The torrential downpour has also exacerbated a contaminated water problem at the Fukushima nuclear plant as it overwhelmed the site’s drainage pumps, a spokesman for operator Tokyo Electric Power said.
Weather Channel: JMA issued landslide warnings parts of Miyagi and Fukushima prefectures, including areas near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that suffered a catastrophic meltdown after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. According to the Mainichi Shimbun, a national newspaper, the heavy rain caused contaminated water from the site to run off into the Pacific Ocean for several hours early Wednesday.
UPI: More radioactive water has leaked out from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant… The heavy rain has caused additional leaks at the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, where the site’s drainage pumps were overwhelmed — causing radioactive water to leak into the Pacific Ocean.
Telegraph: The huge rains also exacerbated a contaminated water problem at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant as it overwhelmed the site’s drainage pumps, sending radiation-tainted water into the ocean.
Guardian: The heavy rain, which is expected to spread north on Friday, has also caused additional leaks of radioactive water at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant… The meteorological agency warned that heavy rain would continue in the northeast, including Fukushima prefecture, until early Friday morning.
Bloomberg: The storm caused contaminated water from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant to leak into the ocean… Contaminated water at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi facility leaked into the Pacific Ocean at about 12:30 a.m. on Wednesday, company spokesman Tatsuhiro Yamagishi said by phone, adding that company is still investigating the leak.
ABC Australia: Fukushima tainted water flows into ocean… weather officials [are] expecting at least 200mm more in parts of eastern Japan, including Fukushima, the site of the nuclear reactor crippled in 2011, before the downpour stops on Friday. The torrential downpour has exacerbated a contaminated water problem at the Fukushima nuclear plant as it overwhelmed the site’s drainage pumps, sending hundreds of tonnes of contaminated water flowing into the ocean, a spokesman for operator Tokyo Electric Power (TEPCO) said.
ABC News: In addition to the clear danger facing residents, Japanese authorities are particularly concerned about the flooding, given its proximity to one of the country’s biggest nuclear power plants, Fukushima — damaged by the 2011 earthquake and subsequent tsunami… “The torrential downpour is threatening safety at the Fukushima nuclear plant, closed since the 2011 disaster, as it has overwhelmed drainage pumps at the site’s contaminated water treatment facility,” a Japanese government official told ABC News.
NPR: Floodwaters also “overwhelmed the drainage pumps at the Fukushima nuclear plant,” Japan Times reports, citing a Tokyo Electric Power Co. spokesman who said the flooding sent “hundreds of tons of contaminated water” into the ocean.
Prensa Latina, Sep 10, 2015: Typhoon Etau Causes Leak of Radioactive Water in Fukushima — Typhoon Etau originated leaks of radioactive water from the Fukushima plant in Japan… Leaks occurred in dams located around the tanks storing liquid used to cool the reactors. With this leak, there have been seven detected since last April when a pumping system was implemented to prevent radioactive waste emanating from the reactor to flow in a place away from the plant.
EFE: Contaminated water from Fukushima leaks into sea due to typhoon Etau — The Fukushima plant… has been found to be leaking contaminated water into the sea following heavy rainfall in the region caused by typhoon Etau, a spokesperson of Fukushima’s operator confirmed to EFE Thursday… The leaks have been caused in the embankments around the tanks where highly radioactive water is stored after they are used to cool the reactors…
USA Today: Tens of thousands of people are ordered to flee homes across Japan as heavy rain pounded the country, sending radiation-tainted waters into the ocean at the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.
Kyodo: Heavy rains whose severity was described as occurring once in 50 years were observed in… Fukushima Prefecture.
CNN: Fukushima prefecture, which was devastated by the 2011 tsunami, saw more than 30 centimeters (1 foot) of rain in 48 hours — the heaviest downpour there in 50 years, NHK said.
Australia’s inaction on climate change set to dominate Pacific Island talks, Guardian, 6 Sept 15 Australia and New Zealand are expected to face strong criticism from Pacific Island leaders disappointed the nations are not doing more to combat climate change.
The issue will likely dominate this week’s Pacific Islands Forum leaders summit in Port Moresby, ahead of the United Nations climate change conference in Paris later in the year.
Pacific leaders want the world to work on restricting the global warming temperature rise to 1.5C, fearing a 2C target will risk the survival of many tiny islands.
Natural disaster recovery will be fresh on their minds. The summit starts on Monday, six months after Cyclone Pam, which flattened much of Vanuatu and caused heavy flooding on Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Marshall Islands.
Host nation Papua New Guinea is grappling with the opposite problem – what could be its worst drought in 20 years and a potential food crisis.
The prime minister, Peter O’Neill, has said El Niño conditions have been exacerbated by the effects of climate change.
The Solomon Islands and Vanuatu are also experiencing a dry spell………
The Pacific Island Forum runs from 7-11 September. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/sep/06/australias-inaction-on-climate-change-set-to-dominate-pacific-island-talks
Massive wildfires transform Siberian paradise into disaster area Mashable, Andrew Freeman 25 Aug 15 Dozens of large wildfires are burning out of control around Lake Baikal in Siberia, which is the world’s largest freshwater lake by volume and the deepest lake, at more than 5,300 feet deep. The Lake Baikal area is a popular recreational area during the summer, with campgrounds and cottages surrounding the shoreline.
Because of the composition of the soil in this part of the world, these fires are spewing unusually high amounts of carbon into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to global warming.
The region has seen drier and milder than average weather this year, and a combination of natural and manmade fires have led to a cataclysmic scene, with thick smoke seen from space and orange-tinted skies on the ground.
In July, the Lake Baikal area was one of the most unusually mild areas on Earth, according to NASA data as well as information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
Fires have been burning off and on in this area since April, when farmers traditionally burn dried grass to help fertilize the soil. However, this year, many agricultural fires in this region got out of control, killing at least two dozen people and destroying several villages.
The smoke even made it across the Pacific Ocean, making for red sunsets in the Pacific Northwest, which is now suffering through it’s own wildfire calamity………http://mashable.com/2015/08/24/massive-fires-are-surrounding-the-worlds-deepest-lake-in-siberia/
Youth Sue Obama Administration For Allowing Climate Change, Violating Constitutional Rights
“We have a moral obligation to leave a healthy planet for future generations.” Huffington Post, 08/12/2015
Twenty-one young people from around the country filed a lawsuit against the Obama administration on Tuesday accusing the federal government of violating their rights by contributing to climate change through the promotion of fossil fuels.
The plaintiffs, who range in age from 8 to 19, filed their complaint in U.S. District Court in Oregon. The complaint lists numerous defendants, including President Barack Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry, the Department of Energy, the Department of the Interior, the Department of Transportation, the Department of Agriculture, the Department of Defense and the Environmental Protection Agency.
“Defendants have for decades ignored their own plans for stopping the dangerous destabilization of our nation’s climate system,” the plaintiffs said in their complaint, which was filed with the help of the Oregon-based nonprofit Our Children’s Trust. “Defendants have known of the unusually dangerous risk of harm to human life, liberty, and property that would be caused by continued fossil fuel use and increase [carbon dioxide] emissions.”
While setting new policies to reduce carbon emissions, the Obama administration has often touted an “all of the above” approach to energy policy that includes oil, natural gas, coal and renewable energy, the complaint continues. By continuing to promote the development and use of fossil fuels, the federal government violated their constitutional rights, the young plaintiffs allege.
“What we are providing is an opportunity for them to participate in the civic democratic process and go to the branch of government that can most protect their rights,” said Julia Olson, the lead counsel on the case………
In early August, Obama called climate change “one of the key challenges of our lifetime.”
“We’re the first generation to feel the effects of climate change and the last generation that can do something about it,” the president told an audience at an event in the White House’s East Room, where he unveiled new regulations on emissions from power plants.
But in the eyes of Olson and the plaintiffs, that’s not enough. They are asking for a court orderto force Obama to immediately implement a national plan to decrease atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide to 350 parts per million — a level many scientists agree is thehighest safe concentration permissible — by the end of this century. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has already hit 400 parts per million.
“It’s really important that the court step in and do their jobs when there’s such intense violation of constitutional rights happening,” Olson said.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/youth-obama-climate-change-lawsuit_55cbc451e4b064d5910a7183
Rising seawater temperatures force Pilgrim to reduce power, Cape Cod Times, 11 Aug 15, Rising temperatures in bay force reduction in power
To cool its reactors, Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station draws up to 500 million gallons of saltwater a day from Cape Cod Bay through an inlet created by two breakwaters. Merrily Cassidy/Cape Cod Times File By Christine Legere clegere@capecodonline.com
PLYMOUTH — The owner of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station had been planning to ask for a license adjustment that would allow the plant to draw warmer water from Cape Cod Bay than is currently allowed.But the request was not made soon enough.Pilgrim operators were forced to begin preparation for a shutdown late Sunday afternoon, when the temperature of the seawater used to cool the reactor edged above the 75-degree limit set by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission…….
Millstone Nuclear Power Plant in Connecticut, which draws water from Long Island Sound, was the first in the Northeast to shut down because of rising water temperatures, which have become an issue in this region within the past five years. The plant has since secured a maximum intake temperature of 80 degrees on its operating license.“Pilgrim is still looking to increase the maximum saltwater temperature to a higher value, but the supporting analysis is not yet complete,” Lauren Burm, spokeswoman for Entergy Corp., the plant’s owner-operator, said.Last week’s hot spell likely contributed to the rise in the bay’s water temperature, but a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the plant’s discharge of hot water into the bay also may have been a contributing factor.
“The ballpark estimate on water discharge temperatures at Pilgrim (Sunday) would be about 95 degrees Fahrenheit,” Neil Sheehan said in an email.Under its license, water discharged from the plant may be no hotter than 102 degrees, a level set by the Environmental Protection Agency as part of a water discharge permit…….
Pilgrim draws up to 500 million gallons of saltwater daily from Cape Cod Bay through an inlet created by two breakwaters. The water is circulated through the plant’s condenser via a network of thousands of tubes, cooling down the steam from the reactor and returning it to its water form, Sheehan said.“The higher water temperature affects the efficiency of the heat removal,” Sheehan said.http://www.capecodtimes.com/article/20150811/NEWS/150819916
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25 June- THE PUKE ON NUKES
Thursday, June 25, 2026
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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”
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