Europe, weaning off fossil fuels from Russia, but still dependent on Russia for nuclear fuel
France has been accused of helping to fund Vladimir Putin’s war effort
by continuing to import nuclear fuel from Russia. Greenpeace on Friday
called it “scandalous” that uranium was still being bought by European
companies to be used in nuclear power stations across the continent.
The campaigning charity this week filmed the arrival of dozens of drums of
uranium, both raw and enriched, from Russia at the northern French port of
Dunkirk. Imports of nuclear fuel from Russia remain legal in Europe as
Brussels has not been able to ban them in eight rounds of sanctions
packages.
While Europe has been weaning itself off Russian fossil fuels
since the start of the invasion of Ukraine, its nuclear sector is still
heavily dependent on Russia and imports more than €200 million worth of
uranium every year.
Telegraph 2nd Dec 2022
Warning of power cuts for France, as nuclear reactors are working at half capacity
France could face the risk of power cuts this winter when electricity
supply may not be enough to meet demand, Xavier Piechaczyk, the head of
grid operator RTE, said on Thursday, citing the price to pay for slow
renewables and a nuclear energy infrastructure working at half capacity.
There is a risk of red-alert days this winter, but it would mostly depend
on the weather, Piechaczyk told Franceinfo radio today, noting that power
cuts are not necessarily “inevitable”. Due to lower nuclear generation
availability, France will import electricity this winter from most of its
neighbors, including Benelux, the manager added.
Oil Price 1st Dec 2022
TIDAL power extinguishes the arguments for new nuclear plants in Suffolk
Ian Blackford rubbishes case for Sizewell C on Question Time, The National, By Hamish Morrison 18 Nov 22
The SNP Westminster leader told the BBC Question Time audience in Suffolk – where the new Sizewell C nuclear plant will be built – he was “delighted” to assist them in objecting to the project.
It came on the same day the Chancellor confirmed the £30 billion project was going ahead as he announced the first £700 million contracts would be signed within weeks.
Citing a Royal Society report from 2021 which found the UK is capable of generating 11GW of tidal power by 2050 – 50% greater than current nuclear capacity, Blackford said: “We can produce safe, green energy, we don’t need nuclear.”
Blackford said the potential amount of energy that could be generated through tidal power – which generates electricity with waves in the sea – would be enough to meet the basic amount of demand for the UK.
And the technology, which uses underwater turbines to generate electricity, has the potential to support far more jobs in the country than does nuclear, Blackford added.
He said: “Between now and 2050, we could increase fivefold our green energy output in Scotland…………………………..
“Look at the Royal Society report, we don’t need nuclear because you can get the baseload from tidal.
“And if I can assist those that are objecting to Sizewell here [Suffolk], then I’d be delighted to do so. It’s expensive, it is a white elephant, we can produce safe, green energy we don’t need nuclear.” https://www.thenational.scot/news/23135460.ian-blackford-rubbishes-case-sizewell-c-question-time/
As Europe Quits Russian Gas, Half of France’s Nuclear Plants Are Off-Line
France’s state-backed nuclear operator is scrambling to overcome a monthslong crisis to get as many reactors as possible restarted before winter sets in.
New York Times, By Liz Alderman. Reporting from Paris, Nov. 16, 2022
An army of engineers has fanned out through nuclear power plants across France in recent months, inspecting reactors for signs of wear and tear. Hundreds of expert welders have been recruited to repair problems found in cooling circuits. Stress tests are being conducted to check for safety problems.
As Europe braces for a winter without Russian gas, France is moving fast to repair a series of problems plaguing its atomic fleet. A record 26 of its 56 reactors are off-line for maintenance or repairs after the worrisome discovery of cracks and corrosion in some pipes used to cool reactor cores.
The crisis is upending the role that France has long played as Europe’s biggest producer of nuclear energy, raising questions about how much its nuclear power arsenal will be able to help bridge the continent’s looming crunch……………………………………………
France’s nuclear power crunch has become so acute that Mr. Macron is preparing to have the government take over the remaining 16 percent of EDF that it doesn’t already own, at a cost of nearly 10 billion euros ($10.3 billion).
The company, which is nearly €45 billion in debt, has tumbled further into financial difficulty and announced that its 2022 profit would drop by €29 billion because of the problems with its reactors, as well as a government effort to force EDF to provide artificially cheap electricity for households and businesses.
Even as EDF is rushing to comply with the demand for accelerated repairs, the company last week cut its 2022 nuclear power production forecast. The announcement caused the cost of French and European electricity to spike.
Herculean efforts to repair corrosion in pipes that cool the cores of four reactors were taking longer than expected, the company said. Those reactors now will not restart until January or February.
A strike late last month by French nuclear plant workers demanding higher wages to keep up with inflation was another blow. EDF said it was already behind in performing required maintenance on several aging reactors because of coronavirus lockdowns when the labor action put it further behind.
The company’s recent troubles began late last year, as it started moving through that backlog. The inspections unearthed alarming safety issues — especially corrosion and micro-cracks in systems that cool a reactor’s radioactive core — at an older-generation nuclear reactor in southwest France called Civaux 1. As EDF scoured its nuclear facilities, it found that 16 reactors, most of them newer-generation models, faced similar risks and closed them down.
EDF made to reactors designed by Westinghouse Electric that EDF had used in its older-generation plants. Bernard Doroszczuk, the head of France’s Nuclear Safety Authority, testified to French lawmakers this summer that the modifications, used for later-generation reactors, appeared to have caused abnormal corrosion and stress on critical cooling pipes.
The crisis has sent French nuclear power production to a 30-year low, generating less than half of the 61 gigawatts that the reactors can produce. (EDF also generates electricity with gas, coal and renewable technologies.) Even when more reactors are restarted in the coming months, French nuclear output will be around 45 gigawatts — lower than usual this winter, compounding the impact of Russia’s gas cutoff.
The situation “increases the risk of supply shortages for the coming winter, with availability standing at record-low levels for this time of the year,” Fabian Ronningen, a senior analyst at Rystad Energy, an independent consultancy, said in a note to clients.
The energy shortfall has turned France, once the continent’s biggest exporter of energy, into a net importer this year. A quarter of Europe’s electricity comes from nuclear power plants in about a dozen countries, with France producing more than half the total………………………………..
But even critical repairs must be monitored. EDF said a radioactive leak occurred this month during a hydraulic test on the main cooling circuit of the Civaux 1 nuclear power plant. EDF had spent months laboring to repair the corroded cooling pipes, using new technologies including ultrasound and welding robots that don’t have radiation exposure limits.
EDF said that there was no safety risk from that leak, and that no radioactivity was detected outside of it. But the episode is likely to delay the plant’s reopening beyond a planned Jan. 8 date, adding to the nuclear park’s woes. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/15/business/nuclear-power-france.html
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Ukraine joins in USA’s false story, “clean” energy from the mythical small nuclear reactors
Ukraine, United States announce cooperation on Clean Fuels from SMR pilot project. https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-economy/3613271-ukraine-united-states-announce-cooperation-on-clean-fuels-from-smr-pilot-project.html 13 Nov 22,
—
As part of the UN’s COP27 Climate Conference, U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko announced cooperation on a Ukraine Clean Fuels from Small Modular Reactors (SMR) pilot project.
The relevant statement was made by the U.S. Department of State, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
“Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry and Ukraine Minister of Energy German Galushchenko announced a Ukraine Clean Fuels from SMRs Pilot project that will demonstrate production of clean hydrogen and ammonia using secure and safe small modular nuclear reactor (SMR) and cutting-edge electrolysis technologies in Ukraine,” the report states.
The project aims to carry out a first-of-a-kind pilot of commercial-scale production of clean fuels from SMRs using solid oxide electrolysis.
“Building on existing capacity-building cooperation launched under the U.S. Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible Use of SMR Technology (FIRST) program, the project seeks to support Ukraine’s energy security goals, enable decarbonization of hard-to-abate energy sectors through clean hydrogen generation, and improve long-term food security through clean ammonia-produced fertilizers. Further, it aims to demonstrate Ukraine’s innovative clean energy leadership through the use of advanced technologies,” the U.S. Department of State noted.
Additionally, Special Envoy Kerry launched a new initiative, Project Phoenix, to accelerate the transition in Europe of coal-fired plants to SMRs while retaining local jobs through workforce retraining.
Project Phoenix will provide direct U.S. support for coal-to-SMR feasibility studies and related activities in support of energy security goals for countries in Central and Eastern Europe.
Is nuclear energy actually sustainable?
“If successive governments had given even half the love and attention they afford to nuclear power to scaling up home insulation, energy efficiency and smart storage technologies, it’s likely we wouldn’t be facing current challenges around energy and household bills, and we would have done a lotmore good for the climate and nature.”
Sizewell C, if built, would not produce electricity until the 2030s. A debate in the House of Commons on 19 January, led by a group of MPs known as the “atomic kittens”, suggested nuclear energy can be a
panacea for all ills – including a solution for the climate crisis and the gas crunch.
The facts suggest otherwise. In addition to safety
concerns, rising costs are a central reason why the number of new plants
under construction remains limited. Since 2011, nuclear power construction
costs globally have doubled or even tripled.
China is, however, notable in
its nuclear ambitions. The country is planning at least 150 new reactors in
the next 15 years, more than the rest of the world has built in the past
35, though cost could ultimately change this direction of travel.
The major excitement among many nuclear enthusiasts, including plenty of UK MPs is
around so-called small modular reactors (SMRs). If you believe the hype,
they are the answer to all climate and energy ills.
Traditional, big nuclear projects look likely to provide only a sliver of the world’s
electricity in the future. They are hugely expensive to build, their
construction runs over time, and they are frequently struck by
technological issues.
Moreover, they need to be built close to the sea or a
large river for cooling reasons, highlighted Paul Dorfman from the
University of Sussex. France has already had to curtail nuclear power
output in periods of heatwaves and drought, which are only set to get worse
as climate change takes hold. Greater storm surges and eroding coastlines
also don’t make the prospect of building by the sea any easier. SMRs
solve few of these issues.
So what is the solution? Renewables, renewables
and more renewables? In short, yes. The costs of solar, wind power and
storage continue to fall, and by 2026 global renewable electricity capacity
is forecast to rise by more than 60 per cent, to a level that would equal
the current total global power capacity of fossil fuels and nuclear
combined, says the IEA. Some argue nuclear can be a clean back-up option
for when the wind doesn’t blow and the sun isn’t shining.
But again, other options already exist, including demand response (for example,
plugging in your electric car when there is lots of energy and not
switching on your washing machine when the system is under strain),
large-scale storage and interconnections between different countries.
Craig Bennett, chief executive of the Wildlife Trusts, summed up the general mood
of those less enthused by nuclear than Crosbie and her fans: “If
successive governments had given even half the love and attention they
afford to nuclear power to scaling up home insulation, energy efficiency
and smart storage technologies, it’s likely we wouldn’t be facing current
challenges around energy and household bills, and we would have done a lot
more good for the climate and nature.”
New Statesman 12th Nov 2022
EDF nuclear problems increase risk of winter energy shortages
EDF nuclear problems increase risk of winter energy shortages. French
energy prices surge as EDF scales back electricity output predictions
again. The risk of energy shortages in Britain and across the Channel this
winter is growing as French state energy giant EDF faces fresh problems
with its nuclear power stations.
French power prices for January have
surged above €1,000 (£870) per megawatt hour after EDF scaled back
predictions for its nuclear electricity output for the fourth time this
year. Markets were also rattled further on Tuesday as the company warned it
was “too early to say” whether the Civaux 1 reactor would return to
service on schedule following a radiation leak.
Experts said the
developments risked further squeezing the amount of power available in
January and February, the coldest months of the year when demand is usually
highest. That could spell trouble for France and Britain, which hope to
rely on each other for electricity supplies this winter.
Telegraph 8th Nov 2022
France’s Nuclear Power Problems Are Mounting
Oil Price, By ZeroHedge – Nov 07, 2022,
France’s nuclear troubles are mounting due primarily to routine maintenance of the country’s 56 aging reactors. A new update from French electric utility company Electricite de France SA, commonly known as EDF, said an outlook for nuclear power generation was slashed ahead of winter, causing chaos in energy markets.
EDF is the world’s largest owner of nuclear plants. It reported Friday that its fleet of nuclear reactors is expected to produce between 275 and 285 terawatt-hours of energy this year, down from the range of 280 and 300 terawatt-hours.
The reduced outlook comes amid a series of strikes at nuclear plants across the country that delayed planned maintenance work. Nuclear power generation has been sliding all year due to technical issues, and about half of the country’s 56 reactors are shuttered.
“The situation changed drastically this year, when France swung from being one of Europe’s largest exporters of electricity to a net importer because of issues with its reactors. The outages worried officials that France and the broader region might run short of electricity in the winter, when power demand in Europe peaks,” Bloomberg said. …………………………………………………………………………………https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/Frances-Nuclear-Power-Problems-Are-Mounting.html
As France’s aging nuclear reactors fail, France may block electricity exports to UK
France may block energy exports to UK as Macron’s ‘ancient’ nuclear
plants rust up. Power giant EDF will slash output following delays in vital
repairs to its fleet of nuclear reactors. The French may block electricity
exports to the UK this winter as a result, causing a fresh energy supply
crunch on these shores. It’s a frightening prospect as winter looms.
Express 5th Nov 2022
France, depending on nuclear power, now imports more electricity than it exports
Nuclear power provides 70pc of French electricity. The failure to replace
ageing infrastructure has left more than half of the 56 reactors out of
service as the worst winter in living memory approaches.
EDF, whichnoperates the plants, has been nationalised and, for the first time in
decades, France is importing more energy than it exports, only narrowly
avoiding blackouts so far. For the foreseeable future, the country has not
only been overtaken by Sweden as Europe’s leading electricity exporter,
but has lost its vaunted reputation for energy security.
Telegraph 6th Nov 2022
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2022/11/06/how-france-became-trapped-spiral-chaos-decline/
Does the UK need new nuclear plants like Sizewell C to reach net zero?
Does the UK need new nuclear plants like Sizewell C to reach net zero?
With the cost of renewables and batteries plummeting, some academics argue
that the UK doesn’t need to build new nuclear power stations to achieve its
net zero goal.
Eight months ago, the UK government made a big bet on
nuclear, promising to treble the size of the country’s nuclear fleet
between now and 2050. Delivering on that promise would require huge
investment in both large-scale new nuclear plants and small-scale modular
reactors. This follows years of government delay and prevarication.
Ministers at the time told the public this push for nuclear was essential
to achieve the UK’s aim to have net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.
That nuclear-fuelled zero-carbon future could now be in doubt, according to news
reports. A government official told the BBC that plans for the nuclear
power plant Sizewell C, which would supply around 7 per cent of the UK’s
electricity, are “under review” as the government looks to cut
spending.
The prime minister’s spokesperson later denied that it was
under review, saying that negotiations with private firms over funding were
ongoing and the government “hoped to get a deal over the line as soon as
possible”.
However, some academics are questioning whether new nuclear is
even necessary. For years it has been energy orthodoxy to argue that
nuclear will be an essential component of the UK’s energy mix to meet its
net zero goal. Wind and solar would supply most of the country’s energy,
so the thinking went, but some back-up power would be needed for when the
wind doesn’t blow and the sky is cloudy. It is an argument broadly
accepted by the UK government, the Climate Change Committee that advises it
and, reluctantly, many environmental campaigners.
But that is now changing,
says James Price at University College London, author of a study published
in September that suggests the government’s backing for new nuclear is
“increasingly difficult to justify”
New Scientist 4th Nov 2022
India headed towards 100% renewables power by 2050
A new optimistic Nature paper from the LUT University in Finland looks to a
key role being played by renewables for rapid transitioning of the power
sector across states in India. Progress has been uneven at times, but LUT
says that a renewables-based power system by 2050 could be ‘lower in cost
than the current coal dominated system’ and have ‘zero greenhouse gas
emissions’ while providing ‘reliable electricity to around 1.7 billion
people’.
Renew Extra 29th Oct 2022
https://renewextraweekly.blogspot.com/2022/10/india-towards-100-renewable-power-by.html
Nuclear power – a ‘religion’ in France. now turning out to be a curse.
Paris dims the lights as blackouts threaten disaster for Macron. Years of
underinvestment in its aging nuclear fleet risk causing chaos in France
this winter. Xavier Barbaro, chief executive of France’s leading
independent renewables producer Neoen, is concerned about the growing risk
of shortages.
“It’s a possibility and no one would have thought that a
few years or even a few months ago,” he says. “Blackouts were something in
the past. and it can happen again. “We have heard literally for decades
that having nuclear was a chance for the country and in the end, it might
actually be a curse.”
France put all of its eggs in the nuclear basket,
but technical problems are now frequently cutting capacity at its aging
plants. While President Emmanuel Macron has ordered new reactors as part of
a nuclear “renaissance”, decades of inaction are coming back to haunt
the country. Like Liz Truss, Macron’s government has staked its
reputation on his country avoiding blackouts that would undoubtedly have
severe political consequences this winter.
However, industry bosses are
less certain than the President. “We’ve been told for ages that nuclear
power is safe, secure and so constant,” says Adrien Jeantet, director of
energy services at Enercoop, a French utility company using only renewable
energy.
“Now we see that it’s not dependable. We really need it now that
we have gas shortages and all of a sudden it’s not there. Half of the
reactors are shut down.” Barbara Pompili, Macron’s minister in charge
of the energy transition for two years, says nuclear power is almost like a
religion in France.
However, she adds that a widespread belief in its
“magic” has caused underinvestment in renewables that will be needed
for the future. “What I’m worried about is the strategic thinking in the
long run,” she says. “Maybe we were too confident on nuclear power and
we underestimated the importance of renewables. The reason is that too many
people considered that investing in renewables was bad for nuclear power.
“It’s totally crazy. We lost so much time thinking in this way… it’s
very difficult to have a serious rational debate in France on the energy
issue.”
Telegraph 24th Oct 2022
France’s Nuclear Reactors Malfunction as Energy Crisis Bites
B1 The linchpin of France’s energy security faces maintenance and pipe-corrosion problems plus labor unrest
WSJ, By Matthew Dalton Oct. 23, 2022
PARIS—France is falling behind in its plans to return the country’s fleet of nuclear reactors to full power this winter after a rash of outages, raising fears that one of Europe’s key sources of electricity won’t be ramped up to counter Russia’s squeeze on the continent’s energy supplies.
The nuclear fleet was designed to act as the front line of France’s energy security. Since Moscow cut the flow of natural gas to Europe—plunging the continent into its biggest energy crisis since the 1970s oil shock—France’s vaunted nuclear fleet has been about as effective as the Maginot Line, the French fortifications that did little to stop the German invasion during World War II…………….. (subscribers only) more https://www.wsj.com/articles/frances-nuclear-reactors-malfunction-as-energy-crisis-bites-11666517581
Renewable energy brings record savings to Europe
Renewable energies have allowed the European Union to avoid €99bn in
fossil gas imports since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, with an
increase of €11bn compared to last year thanks to record growth in wind
and solar capacity, according to a new report.
Edie 20th Oct 2022
1 This Month
of the week – Shut Down Drone Warfare!
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
Petition to revoke the licensing of the Near Surface Nuclear Disposal Facility (NSDF) at Chalk River. https://www.ourcommons.ca/petitions/en/Petition/Details?Petition=e-7247
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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