Boris Johnson quizzed over future of Bradwell, (Essex) nuclear plant
Boris Johnson quizzed over future of Essex nuclear plant https://www.maldonandburnhamstandard.co.uk/news/19738655.boris-johnson-quizzed-future-essex-nuclear-plant/
By Jessica Day-ParkerTrainee Reporter PRIME Minister Boris Johnson told MPs he does not want to “pitchfork away” all investment from China in response to a question about Bradwell B.
Matthew Pennycook, Labour MP for Greenwich and Woolwich, pressed the Prime Minister on Bradwell B – the proposed nuclear power station at Bradwell-on-Sea put forward by China General Nuclear Power Group (CGN) – in the House of Commons.
Mr Pennycook said: “The Government’s Integrated Review concluded the Chinese state poses a systemic challenge to our national security and the Prime Minister has made clear that when it comes to China we must remain vigilant about our critical national infrastructure.
General Nuclear to own and operate its own plant in Bradwell in Essex have been abandoned?”
Mr Johnson confirmed the Government doesn’t want to see “undue influence by potentially adversarial countries in our critical national infrastructure” and insisted “there will be more information” coming on Bradwell.
But he added: “What I don’t want to do is pitchfork away wantonly all Chinese investment in this country or minimise the importance in this country of having a trading relationship with China.”
The US Faces Pressure To Do More To Address Its Nuclear Legacy In The Marshall Islands.
The US Faces Pressure To Do More To Address Its Nuclear Legacy In The Marshall Islands, Civil Beat By Anita Hofschneider 22 Nov 21, Marshallese are concerned about continued health effects from Cold War-era nuclear testing as well as a concrete dome in which the atomic waste was stored.
Two Congress members are asking the U.S. Department of Energy to provide more information about the effects of U.S. nuclear waste in the Marshall Islands.
The U.S. conducted 67 nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands from 1946 to 1958, exposing Marshallese people to radiation that continues to have health and environmental implications. The U.S. then stored the atomic waste at Runit Dome, a concrete dome on Enewetak Atoll.
Rep. Katie Porter represents Orange County, California, and is chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations in the House Committee on Natural Resources.
She has been seeking more details about the effects of nuclear testing in the Marshall Islands in the wake of a Los Angeles Times investigation that found the U.S. stored nuclear waste from Nevada in Runit Dome without informing the Pacific nation.
In a letter Friday, Porter and Rep. Raul Grijalva of Arizona asked for documents and correspondence among Department of Energy officials related to a letter that officials sent to the Marshall Islands about the state of nuclear waste in May.
The Department of Energy didn’t respond to a request for comment.
In October, Porter led a congressional hearing regarding concerns about Runit Dome, which is leaking radioactive waste. The Energy Department said in a report last year that the leaking is not significant.
“The U.S. has both a moral and national security imperative to address our nuclear legacy in the Marshall Islands,” Porter said at the hearing, adding that addressing the issue would be in line with the Biden administration’s commitment to racial justice and national security issues in the Pacific………
In their letter, Porter and Grijalva criticized the agency’s lack of response to repeated document requests, raised concerns about conflicting Energy Department testimony and the timing of the department’s May letter.
The U.S. is in the midst of renegotiating a treaty with the Marshall Islands that in part gives the U.S. military strategic denial rights over the country’s surrounding air and waters.
The Congress members described how the U.S. failed to evacuate Marshallese people quickly enough to protect them from the fallout during the 1946-1958 testing, and cited descriptions of how mothers later gave birth to babies with translucent skin and no bones.
A 2014 study analyzed how the radiation exposure in the Marshall Islands increased the risk of certain cancers, especially thyroid cancer.
Broader Concerns
Franscine Anmontha, communication director of the Marshall Islands National Nuclear Commission, said Saturday that the community is concerned about the ongoing health effects of radiation on people not only on the atolls enrolled in the U.S. medical program but on surrounding atolls.
“If you were to ask a group of young Marshallese people if they knew someone with cancer almost 90% of them would raise their hands,” she said. She said the commission wants to bring scientists to the Marshall Islands to analyze the dome so that they don’t have to rely solely on U.S. data……….
Friday’s letter is the second letter this month pressing the Biden administration for more information about the nuclear testing.
Several Congress members — including Hawaii Reps. Ed Case and Kai Kahele — wrote to the White House on Nov. 5 pushing for the appointment of a lead negotiator for treaty discussions who would have the ability to address concerns about nuclear waste.
The lead negotiator “should have the mandate to see that legacy issues related to U.S. nuclear testing in the region are appropriately resolved, including proper environmental protections, clean up, health benefits, and monetary compensation for victims and their descendants,” the lawmakers wrote…………. https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/11/the-us-faces-pressure-to-do-more-to-address-its-nuclear-legacy-in-the-marshall-islands/
As presidential candidate, Emmanuel Macron opposed nuclear power, now he’s all for it
Nuclear: Emmanuel Macron’s energy “at the same time”. Inheriting President Hollande’s nuclear commitments, candidate Macron had made campaign promises that were not very favorable to the atom.
But, in the middle of his five-year term, the President of the Republic has put nuclear power back at the center of France’s energy policy. To end up announcing, at the beginning of November, that it would be necessary to build new power stations.
Les Echos 22nd Nov 2021
Heritage Foundation – murky think tank funded by the nuclear weapons industry, wants weapons-makers to be exempt from climate and pandemic regulations
“Defense industrial base” is a buzzword that has picked up steam during the pandemic: It sends the message that, whatever happens with the economy and pandemic, we need to make sure we are in “fighting shape” — by keeping military contractors afloat. This concept was invoked to explain why, at the beginning of the pandemic, factories that produce bombs and tankers should be allowed to stay open, even amid the outbreak risk to workers. And it was also used to justify subsidies to contractors during the hardship of the pandemic.
Lockheed Martin is just one of numerous weapons manufacturers that has directly funded the Heritage Foundation. According to a report by the think tank Center for International Policy (CIP), the Heritage Foundation ranks ninth among the top think tanks that received funding from military contractors and the U.S. government from 2014 to 2019. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon were two of those major funders, both of which are among the largest weapons companies in the world and would be impacted by the new regulation.
This case provides a window into the murky world of think tanks, which are often viewed as academic and above-the-fray institutions but operate more as lobbying outfits.
Think Tank Funded by the Weapons Industry Pressures Biden Not to Regulate Military Contractors’ Emissions https://www.rsn.org/001/think-tank-funded-by-the-weapons-industry-pressures-biden-not-to-regulate-military-contractors-emissions.html
Sarah Lazare/In These Times 19 November 21The Heritage Foundation has received considerable donations from the arms industry. And now it’s trying to shield that industry from climate regulations targeting military contractors.
The Heritage Foundation, a prominent conservative think tank, is publicly opposing a new Biden administration regulation that would force the weapons industry to report its greenhouse gas emissions related to federal contracts. It turns out the Heritage Foundation also receives significant funding from the weapons industry, which makes the case worth examining — because it reveals how the arms industry pays supposedly respectable institutions to do its policy bidding at the expense of a planet careening toward large-scale climate disaster.
The regulation in question was first proposed in an executive order in May. It would require federal contractors to disclose their greenhouse gas emissions and their “climate-related financial risk,” and to set “science-based reduction targets.” In other words, companies like Lockheed Martin would have to disclose how much carbon pollution its F‑35 aircraft and cluster bombs actually cause.
In October, the Biden administration started the process to amend federal procurement rules to reflect these changes. “Today’s action sends a strong signal that in order to do business with the federal government, companies must protect consumers by beginning to mitigate the impact of climate change on their operations and supply chains,” Shalanda Young, acting director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, said at the time.The Department of Defense is the world’s biggest institutional consumer of fossil fuels and a bigger carbon polluter than 140 countries. Yet its emissions (and those of other armed forces) are excluded from UN climate negotiations, including the recent COP26 talks. The Biden administration itself supports a massive military budget, initially requesting $753 billion for the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, a number that has since ballooned, with the Senate set to vote on a $778 billion plan. Organizers and researchers argue that, to curb the climate crisis, it is necessary to roll back U.S. militarism and dismantle the military budget.
But according to the Heritage Foundation, even this modest proposal is a bridge too far.
Continue readingWhile the French government promises a nuclear revival, its supreme auditing body warns of serious obstacles to this.
The Court of Auditors (Cour des comptes) is the supreme body for auditing the use of public funds in France. It is independent from the Government and Parliament. It has financial jurisdiction and is in charge of auditing, issuing rulings and certifying the State and Social Security accounts, as well as contributing to the evaluation of public policies.
Nuclear revival: the Court of Auditors highlights many obstacles https://reporterre.net/Relance-du-nucleaire-la-Cour-des-comptes-pointe-de-nombreux-obstacles 19 Nov 21,
In a report published this Thursday, November 18, the Court of Auditors questions our “ability to build a new fleet of [nuclear] reactors on time and at reasonable costs”. This, while “maintaining a 50% nuclear share in electricity production (…) beyond 2050 would require ultimately not having seven EPR or EPR2, but 25 to 30 in the assumption that the current reactors would almost all be shut down by this time, ”the text specifies. And that the composition of the new mix must be decided between 2022 and 2027, believes the institution, given the delays in the construction of new plants.
The report from the Court of Auditors
In this document entitled “The choices of electricity production: anticipating and controlling technological, technical and financial risks”, the wise men of the rue Cambon recall the slippages of cost – 19 billion euros instead of the 3 billion planned – and of deadlines – at least eleven years late – of the Flamanville EPR site. “The gaps are similar for the Olkiluoto RPE in Finland,” they said. In July 2020, the Court of Auditors detailed these troubles at length in a report dedicated to the EPR sector.
Several points of real concern are mentioned.
One is the locations of these new reactors, “as climate change can make the installation of sites along rivers more complicated”.
Management of spent fuel and waste: the construction of new reactors planned to operate until 2100 would in fact involve “either renewing the fuel reprocessing plant at La Hague (…) and creating new sites for ‘warehousing and then disposal of nuclear waste, or to propose another mode of management of spent nuclear fuel and waste which would be, in such a hypothesis, much more voluminous ”, we read in the note.
Another imperative element for the implementation of this half-nuclear mix emphasized by the Court is “the start of the Cigeo radioactive waste disposal project” – a project that is also marred by many uncertainties.
The cost, finally. “EDF will not be able to finance the construction of new nuclear reactors on its own when it has to bear the cost of extending the current fleet and of the“ post Fukushima ”safety investments, face the future costs of dismantling and the uncertain evolution regulated access to historic nuclear power since its inception in 2011, and that it is already indebted to the tune of 42 billion euros, ”warns the Court of Auditors. The project to build six new EPRs had been estimated at 46 billion euros by EDF and could be half-financed by the state, as reported by Reporterre. The cost of the investment has since been reassessed from 52-56 billion euros to 64 billion euros, according to a working document released at the end of October by the media Context.
The implementation of a 100% renewable energy mix also represents many challenges, nevertheless warns the Court of Auditors. It would thus be necessary to define modalities for storing energy (batteries, etc.) at an affordable cost and to overcome implementation difficulties linked to geography, regulations and even social acceptability.
In any case, “the holding of an informed democratic debate would encourage choices made with full knowledge of the facts and then followed up with lasting effects”, recommends the institution. This debate could take place in 2023 during the preparation of the next multiannual energy program, the roadmap for France’s energy policy.
The publication of this report comes at a time when debates rage on the definition of the electricity mix of the future. On October 25, the electricity transmission manager unveiled its six electricity scenarios for 2050: three give pride of place to the atom. Less than three weeks later, Emmanuel Macron promised the construction of new nuclear reactors in France during a televised address.
Finland’s nuclear power project collapsing – unprofitable and unnecessary
Doubts about nuclear power plant construction in Finland. The planned Hanhikivi nuclear power plant could be on the verge of collapse.
It is unclear whether there will be any need for the plant’s electricity at all.
The costs are running away, the schedule for the start of construction and commissioning has been revised and postponed several times. The planning documents are so inadequate that the project is not yet ready for approval even after a six-year approval process.
And most of the independent analyzes assume that the project can neither become profitable nor that
there is even a need for what is to be produced here. It recently revealed that there is also a huge funding gap, and now the military is raising concerns about national security.
Taz 18th Nov 2021
France has multiple nuclear problems – costs, wastes, safety and more …..
Cost, waste management and safety: eight questions raised by the announced
return of nuclear power in France. Emmanuel Macron said he wanted new
reactors, in the name of France’s energy independence and climate
preservation. But where is the sector and what does this choice imply?
Le Monde 18th Nov 2021
Electricity production choices: anticipate and control technological,
technical and financial risks.
Cour des Comptes 18th Nov 2021
Nuclear revival: the Court of Auditors highlights many obstacles.
Reporterre 18th Nov 2021
https://reporterre.net/Relance-du-nucleaire-la-Cour-des-comptes-pointe-de-nombreux-obstacles
USA’s $1.2tn bipartisan infrastructure bill provides $6bn to prop up ailing, aging, unprofitable nuclear power plants.
Ailing nuclear power plants propped up by US infrastructure law. A 2018 report from the Union of Concerned Scientists found that more than a third of American nuclear power plants were unprofitable.
The $1.2tn bipartisan infrastructure bill that Biden signed into law on Monday provides $6bn in
grants for struggling reactors.
The president’s “Build Back Better” spending bill under debate in Congress would also establish a nuclear power production tax credit worth billions of dollars. The federal funding follows bailouts in several US states for nuclear generators on the brink of closure.
FT 17th Nov 2021
https://www.ft.com/content/faba7e8a-1983-4b47-9b70-ec903351a373
The British public wants NATO to renounce the “first use” of nuclear weapons
The British public wants NATO to renounce the “first use” of nuclear weapons, Bulletin 19 Nov 21,
A recent survey of British public opinion revealed a two-thirds opposition to NATO retaining the first-use option for nuclear weapons. These responses are in direct opposition to official UK policy…………..https://thebulletin.org/2021/11/the-british-public-wants-nato-to-renounce-the-first-use-of-nuclear-weapons/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=ThursdayNewsletter11182021&utm_content=NuclearRisk_NATOrenounce_11182021
”Billionaires who fly into space to produce nothing of scientific value” -on hearing that, Jeff Bezos hires lobbyist!
Bezos’ Blue Origin Hires Lobbyist Tied to Obama Admin After Space Tax Proposed, https://sputniknews.com/20211118/bezos-blue-origin-hires-lobbyist-tied-to-obama-admin-after-space-tax-proposed-1090824789.html
The company decided it needs the lobbyist’s services after US representative Earl Blumenauer, proposed a tax on space exploration firms. The Democratic lawmaker made his statement on 20 July – the day when Bezos himself went to space in Blue Origin’s first crewed flight.
“Space exploration isn’t a tax-free holiday for the wealthy. Just as normal Americans pay taxes when they buy airline tickets, billionaires who fly into space to produce nothing of scientific value should do the same, and then some”, he said in a statement at the time. “I’m not opposed to this type of space innovation. However, things that are done purely for tourism or entertainment, and that don’t have a scientific purpose, should, in turn, support the public good”.
Bradwell nuclear project is likely to be scrapped, despite the Planning Inspectorate having supported the project.
The Blackwater Against New Nuclear Group (BANNG) is naturally disappointed
that BRB’s Appeal to the Planning Inspectorate against the refusal by
Maldon District Council of Planning Permission for further land
investigations at Bradwell was successful.
But this does not give a greenlight to a future nuclear power station at Bradwell. BANNG has always made
clear that its objections to land investigations were on the grounds that
they were unnecessary since the site is wholly unsuitable, unsustainable
and unacceptable for the development of a mega nuclear power station and
spent fuel stores.
The Planning Inspector chose to uphold the Appeal on the
narrow grounds that the works would be temporary and would create little
disruption and disturbance to the environment and human welfare. The
Inspector declined to take into account the question of need for new
nuclear, relying on a Government policy from 2011 that deems Bradwell a
‘potentially suitable’ site.
In its latest policy statements the Government is silent on Bradwell and the project seems likely to be dropped altogether on geopolitical grounds.
BANNG 15th Nov 2021
Regulated Asset Base model may save Hitachi’s Wylfa Newydd nuclear project.
RAB model may have saved Wylfa Newydd nuclear project. Access to the
regulated asset base (RAB) financing model may have helped to save
Hitachi’s plans to build a new nuclear plant in north Wales, an executive
who worked on the project has told MPs. Last year, the Hitachi-backed
Horizon consortium announced it had withdrawn from the Wylfa Newydd project
after ploughing more than £2 billion into its development.
Utility Week 18th Nov 2021
Kamala Harris became the first woman to have control over US nuclear weapons, but only briefly
Kamala Harris became the first woman to have control over US nuclear weapons, but only briefly, Business Insider, Ryan Pickrell, Nov. 19, 2021,
| President Joe Biden briefly transferred presidential authority to Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday.That included the ability to use nuclear weapons, making Harris the first woman in US history to hold that authority.Presidential power was returned to Biden following the completion of a medical procedure. President Joe Biden temporarily transferred his presidential authority to Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday as he underwent a routine colonoscopy, which briefly made her the first woman in US history to have power as commander-in-chief and the first woman to have control of the US nuclear arsenal and nuclear strike authority………………… https://www.businessinsider.com.au/vp-harris-will-become-first-woman-to-control-us-nukes-2021-11?r=US&IR=T |
UK’s small nuclear reactor consortium indicates that it will be relying on tax-payer funding if it is to go ahead
State support a fallback option for UK’s mini-nuclear plants rollout.
The head of the consortium, which is developing a £ 30 billion fleet of
mini-nuclear power stations, has indicated that it will have to rely on UK
taxpayers to help fund the construction of the first of the new designs if
there is not enough investor interest.
FT 10th Nov 2021
https://www.ft.com/content/869279aa-f771-4025-8719-c3b8bdf1f375
U.S. govt brings early Christmas to Bill Gates and the nuclear industry – tax-payer funding!
The U.S. Government and Bill Gates Get Behind Nuclear Power, Barrons, By Avi Salzman, Nov. 17, 2021 Nuclear power got a boost from the infrastructure bill signed into law this week by President Biden that could at the very least forestall the industry’s decline. With government support and the endorsement of major investors like Bill Gates, nuclear power looks as if it has a place in a carbon-free future. [ed. only nuclear is not carbon-free]
The legislation sets aside $6 billion to help fund nuclear plants in danger of closing. Several plants have needed help from the states where they are located in recent years because running nuclear plants has not always been profitable as other sources of electricity have become cheaper. A 2018 report from the Union of Concerned Scientists found that “more than one-third of U.S. nuclear plants are unprofitable or scheduled to close.” Having a federal financing program would ease the pressure on states and make it more likely plants could stay open……..
The new law has other goodies for the industry too, including funding for the Energy Department’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program.
One project that will receive funding from the bill is a new advanced reactor in Wyoming being built by TerraPower, which was founded by Bill Gates. The TerraPower reactor is expected to be smaller than most traditional nuclear plants, but to have more highly enriched uranium. Theoretically, these kinds of projects could bring power to more remote areas. The TerraPower plant is expected to open by 2028 and replace a coal plant.
Several utility companies could benefit from support for nuclear plants, including Exelon (ticker: EXC) and NextEra Energy (NEE).
Nuclear power could get an even bigger boost from the Build Back Better bill now being debated, including from special tax credits.
Those credits could be worth as much as $15 billion to the industry. Additional credits for low-carbon hydrogen production could also benefit the nuclear industry. https://www.barrons.com/articles/the-u-s-government-and-bill-gates-get-behind-nuclear-power-51637177613
1 This Month
PLEASE OPPOSE HR 8255 AND S.3639 – bills would accelerate satellite deployment, with no environmental review or safeguards – https://ncstd5li.quorum.us/campaign/169331/
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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