Huge federal subsidies to nuclear power, but few to renewables
Ask Saint Onofrio discusses the significance of the Price-Anderson Nuclear Industries Indemnity Act, which limits the costs for nuclear plants by shifting a portion of the liability for an accident from plant operators to taxpayers. Also discussed are decommissioning costs, which fall largely on ratepayers. In the case of San Onofre, closing estimates are in the range of $4.1 billion.
New Report Finds California Nuclear Energy Has Received $8.2 Billion in Federal Subsidies http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/08/26/5149320/new-report-finds-california-
nuclear.html DBL Investors examines rationale for subsidizing mature, declining energy sources By DBL Investors SAN FRANCISCO, AUG. 26, 2013 — /PRNewswire/ – DBL Investors, a double bottom line venture capital firm, today announced a report revealing that the California nuclear industry has received $8.21 billion in federal subsidies over the last 50 years. The report, Ask Saint Onofrio: Finding What Has Been Lost in A Tale of Two Energy Sources, compares federal subsidies for nuclear energy to those provided for distributed solar energy.
“In keeping with our nation’s tradition of supporting the emergence of new energy sources, federal subsidies were necessary and highly-effective for the early growth of the nuclear industry and have been vital to the recent growth of the nascent distributed solar industry,” said report co-author and Managing Partner of DBL Investors Nancy E. Pfund,
Nuclear energy has received four times more federal support than distributed solar over a period six times as long. While solar is beginning to comprise a significant portion of installed capacity in California, it has received less support than nuclear did in its earliest years. At the same time, the closure of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) has reduced California’s in-state nuclear generation by almost 50 percent.
Pfund adds, “The difference is that despite the declining role of nuclear power in the Golden State, federal subsidies for nuclear have become a perpetuity. Meanwhile, solar subsidies are at risk of ending during the industry’s infancy, even as solar creates thousands of California jobs.” Continue reading
Republican Congressman Steven Palazzo opposes nuclear waste dump for Mississippi
Miss. nuclear waste plan sparks early opposition http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/26/3587346/miss-nuclear-waste-plan-sparks.html BY JEFF AMY ASSOCIATED PRESS JACKSON, Miss. –– The Mississippi Energy Institute is pushing for more exploration of storing and reprocessing used nuclear fuel in Mississippi at the same time that one of the state’s congressmen is coming out against it.
Leaders of the institute, which promotes energy development, pitched ideas Monday to the state Senate Economic Development Committee. Jason Dean, who works for a unit of the Butler Snow law firm, says Mississippi should explore interim storage and reprocessing of fuel rods.
The Energy Institute also touts Mississippi’s “unique geologic salt domes.” That’s an echo of a proposal to entomb nuclear waste in the Richton salt dome that sparked public opposition starting in the 1980s.
Congressman Steven Palazzo, a Biloxi Republican who represents Richton, is voicing opposition. “Not now, not ever,” Palazzo says in a Monday statement.
UK Labour has an electoral asset – opposition to Trident nuclear replacement
New nuclear weapons for the UK: a challenge Labour can’t dodge REBECCA JOHNSON 50-50, 23 August 2013 Labour could turn opposition to the billion pound Trident replacement into an electoral asset, but instead appears to be sleepwalking to oblivion. Rebecca Johnson makes the case for challenging Trident replacement, and says it’s time to mobilise civil society
The 2015 general election may be this country’s last chance to avoid wasting billions of pounds on new nuclear weapons that one of Labour’s greatest Foreign Secretaries, Robin Cook, condemned as “worse than irrelevant” for addressing 21st century security challenges. Following the sham Trident Alternatives Review, it is clear that we need to mobilise civil society pressure to scrap Trident and elect a new government that is willing and able to participate in multilateral disarmament negotiations to rid the world of the scourge of nuclear weapons for all time.
The rational case was won a long time ago, even with many Conservatives. Across most of the world, nuclear weapons are recognised to be clumsy, outdated weapons that carry residual risks but cannot be used for dealing with the real world security challenges we might face in the 21st century and beyond. Replacing the current submarines with another Trident system is a foolish project driven by the economic interests of a handful of British and American defence contractors well versed in manipulating political fears, vanity, and inertia among our politicians and civil servants. Tony Blair’s memoirs reveal that despite recognising that there was no military or security case for replacing Trident, he felt it would be easier to carry on nuclear business as usual than to initiate the political arguments at home and be accused of “downgrading our status”. Now this shortsighted procurement is being taken forward by David Cameron. Nick Clegg – having been outmanoeuvred by Cameron over the Review – is bent on overcoming Liberal Democrat scepticism and getting his Party to back Trident replacement. Labour could turn opposition to Trident replacement into an electoral asset, but instead appears to be sleepwalking to oblivion…… http://www.opendemocracy.net/5050/rebecca-johnson/new-nuclear-weapons-for-uk-challenge-labour-can%E2%80%99t-dodge
Australia’s old Has-Been Hawke – in the grip of the nuclear lobby
Greens condemn plan to turn Australia into the world’s nuclear waste dump Australian Greens spokesperson on nuclear policy, Senator Scott Ludlam. 24 August 2013. The Greens have strongly rejected the proposal by former Labor Prime Minister Bob Hawke to turn Australia into a dump for the world’s nuclear waste.
Greens spokesperson Senator Scott Ludlam said the plan was “the worst imaginable way to raise revenue”.
“What Mr. Hawke is proposing is criminal activity. The Parliament passed Greens amendments last year to prohibit the importation of nuclear waste.
“Mr Hawke seems to think the way to fill the Budget hole is to fill a hole in Australia with the world’s nuclear waste. The Labor Party and the Coalition must rule out this dangerous proposal immediately.
“Having seen both the Howard and Rudd-Gillard Governments make an absolute mess of trying to force a dump for Australian nuclear waste on Tenant Creek in the Northern Territory, heaven help us if they were trying to deal with nuclear waste from around the world as well.
“The question is – is Mr Hawke expressing this view as a hobby or as an earner on the side? If he has any commercial interests in a waste management company he should make that clear now
Prime Minister Abe’s plan to restart Japan’s nuclear reactors is now under threat
Calls for Japan nuclear switch-off threaten ‘Abenomics’ Ft.com By Ben McLannahan in Tokyo , 23 Aug 13, Yumi Murakami began her weekly vigils not long after the tsunami-induced meltdowns at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant almost two and a half years ago. The 64-year-old housewife was at her usual spot outside the ministry of economy, trade and industry in Tokyo on Friday evening, bedecked in “No Nuke” badges, about to join a protest march to the prime minister’s house.
This week’s demonstration was vital, she said, following the disclosure from Fukushima’s operator that it had discovered a 300-tonne leak from one of the hundreds of jerry-built tanks holding contaminated water used to keep melted fuel cool.
“We can’t keep ruining people’s lives”, said Ms Murakami. Switching Japan’s reactors back on would be “hell”.
Shinzo Abe, beginning a five-day trip to the Middle East, was not there in person to see Friday’s protest. But the prime minister is acutely aware of the tensions between economic need and civil unease that elections have done little to resolve.
Mr Abe’s Liberal Democrats – the only party not calling for the elimination of nuclear power – comfortably won last month’s contest for control of the upper house of parliament. But turnout was low, as it was in December for the lower-house election that put the LDP in charge.
Opinion polls show significant shares of Japanese opposed to restarting the 50 reactors shut down in the wake of the Fukushima crisis, all but two of which remain idled. A survey this month by state broadcaster NHK found only 24 per cent of Japanese were in favour of restarting nuclear plants.
For Mr Abe, however, restoring nuclear power is a vital part of the grand project to pull Japan out of the deflation that has dogged it for much of the past 20 years……. Continue reading
Rapid City Council votes for water security, and against uranium mining
Council passes resolution opposing uranium mining, Rapid city Journal, 21 Aug 13 The Rapid City Council passed a resolution late Monday night opposing a uranium mining operation near Edgemont, saying it “poses an unacceptable risk” to the city’s primary water supply.
The 9-1 vote came after council member Steve Laurenti sought to continue the discussion until state hearings for mining and water rights permits for Powertech concluded.
“I will tell you that this issue ranks in the top handful of issues that have generated public concern,” Mayor Sam Kooiker said. “This has really gotten peoples’ interest and there is a lot of concern in the community, and I believe that people have the right to ask questions about this issue.” Kooiker encouraged Laurenti to join the rest of the council in its decision to oppose the mine.
However, Laurenti stood firm with his vote against the resolution, maintaining that more information was needed before he could take a stand against the operation.
“The problem I have, from a logical standpoint, is to oppose something or even to have grave concern, grave meaning that I have a fear for my life,” Laurenti said. “I don’t fear for my life over this issue at this point.”…… The mine would draw up to 9,000 gallons of water per minute from the Inyan Kara and Madison aquifers. The Madison Aquifer supplied Rapid City with 60 percent of its water resources in 2012, according to city officials. http://rapidcityjournal.com/news/council-passes-resolution-opposing-uranium-mining/article_2253d74c-8890-58cc-9688-4bea869afbe9.html
Czech Republic’s new anti renewable energy law
Activists criticise law on renewable energy, industry hails it, Prague Daily Monitor Prague, Aug 16 (CTK) – Environmentalist groups and solar industry associations in the Czech Republic have expressed criticism of the amended law on renewable sources, approved by the Chamber of Deputies Friday, but representatives of industrial companies have welcomed the bill.
Environmentalists say the law will end support to environmentally friendly production of electricity while maintaining subsidies to burning coal, gas and waste.
In contrast, representatives of industrial companies focusing on energy-intensive production welcome the bill, saying it will help to maintain competitiveness of Czech businesses.
“The law brings no end to subsidised electricity. It only ends support to projects of pure renewable energy for municipalities and households, while it continues to subsidise large companies which operate waste incinerators and coal-fired power plants,” Jiri Kozelouh of environmentalist movement Hnuti Duha (Friends of the Earth) said.
“If the law is approved by the Senate too, it will give more power to fossil fuel barons who get billions of crowns from the sale of gas, oil and coal whose prices continue to rise. The law will secure further state subsidies for them, but will complicate the possibility to abandon fossil fuels for families and municipalities,” Kozelouh added.
The Alliance for Energy Self-Sufficiency and Czech Photovoltaic Industrial Association (CZEPHO) said in a joint statement that the law aimed to boost the start of production of clean energy will paradoxically turn into a subsidy mechanism for coal and gas burning and for the construction of waste incinerators because of the gradual drop in support to new renewable sources…… http://praguemonitor.com/2013/08/19/activists-criticise-law-renewable-energy-industry-hails-it
Some American Republican advice on nuclear radiation, and climate change
Oregon’s GOP Chair Wants to Sprinkle Nuclear Waste From Airplanes Mother jones, —By Tim Murphy Fri Aug. 16, 2013 After months of in-fighting, the beleaguered Oregon Republican Party elected a new chairman last weekend. His name is Art Robinson, and he wants to sprinkle radioactive waste from airplanes to build up our resistance to degenerative illnesses. …. Robinson, who has a Ph.D. in chemistry, has marketed himself for the last three decades as an expert on everything from nuclear fallout to AIDS to climate science in the pages of a monthly newsletter, Access to Energy, which he published from his compound in the small town of Cave Junction……
Democrats AND Republicans want tax reform to further renewable energy
Raul Ruiz urges tax reforms to benefit renewable energy Aug. 16, 2013 Erica Felci The Desert Sun PALM DESERT — Calling renewable energy development a “critical area of economic growth,” Rep. Raul Ruiz on Friday called on his fellow lawmakers to reform the federal tax code in a way that benefits wind, solar and other green industries.
The Palm Desert Democrat joined two fellow representatives — Republican Jon Runyan of New Jersey and Democrat Earl Blumenauer of Oregon — in a letter that was sent to the House Committee on Ways and Means.
The letter said the United States saw a 34 percent decrease in renewable energy investments last year because of “policy uncertainty.” To stop that, officials are urging the committee to include “policies that promote America’s renewable energy economy” as part of much-discussed tax reform.
Such change could benefit the Coachella Valley and the rest of Ruiz’s district, which hosts geothermal, solar and wind developments from Palm Springs to the Salton Sea. It’s also home to the the Riverside East Solar Zone that runs along Interstate 10 from Joshua Tree National Park to Blythe.
The letter was signed by 60 Democrats and Republicans.
“The race to develop renewable energy is widely considered one of the most important areas of economic growth for the 21st century,” the letter states. “Maintaining policies in the tax code that promote investment in and deployment of renewable energy technologies will help ensure that the American consumer continues to benefit from renewable energy innovations while also reaping the benefits of a diverse energy economy.”….. http://www.mydesert.com/article/20130816/BUSINESS0302/308160004/Ruiz-urges-tax-reforms-benefit-renewable-energy?nclick_check=1
Squabble in Europe over subsidies for nuclear power
Opponents of nuclear power, including environmental groups, say government funding for atomic power would be a breach of EU legal principles and would mark a major shift in policy.
Under EU law, state aid is designed to address problems that the market cannot solve and must not cause unfair competition. It is in principle reserved for technology in its infancy, such as renewable energy. Nuclear generation began more than half a century ago.
Picking up the nuclear energy bill divides the EU Planet Ark, Date: 15-Aug-13 Country: UK/BELGIUM Author: Barbara Lewis and Karolin Schaps European Union rules to be published over the coming weeks could make it easier to justify using taxpayers’ money to fund new nuclear power, which would pitch major EU powers against each other.
The European Commission, the EU executive, says its mind is still open on the topic, but it is under pressure to set a legal framework for state aid to nuclear projects after several member states, including Britain, sought its guidance.
Whatever it lays down, as part of a wider modernization of state aid rules, is likely to widen a rift between anti-nuclear nations, such as Germany and Austria, and those willing to support the technology, including Britain and the Czech Republic.
A Commission spokesman said the executive is not planning to encourage nuclear state aid, but lawyers said a leaked draft of its proposal last month indicated it was leaning towards allowing nuclear financing….. Continue reading
Few barriers between Nevada and nation’s nuclear waste
….That view was not unanimous in the 2-1 decision. Judge Merrick B. Garland wrote a dissent scoffing at the assumed import of the decision, chiding that an order to send $11 million would do more than “order the commission to spend part of those funds unpacking its boxes, and the remainder packing them up again.”….
Published Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2013
The pressure on Nevada lawmakers to see a new nuclear waste disposal act through Congress this session just skyrocketed.
The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., decided Tuesday that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission must continue reviewing plans for a nuclear waste dump at Yucca Mountain until they have zero funds to continue.
That leaves only two barriers to Nevada getting dumped with the nation’s nuclear waste: Sen. Harry Reid’s ability to block funding – which depends entirely on Democrats keeping a majority in the Senate – or a scientific determination that Yucca Mountain is unfit.
Neither is as sure a thing as a law that simply designates a new destination for nuclear waste.
But it may take a small miracle to get such legislation passed.
“We’re not going to get any laws passed to change this,” Reid told reporters during a summit on clean energy in Las Vegas on Tuesday, blaming Tea Party opposition for stymieing any positive momentum toward siting a new repository.
In fact, the problem runs far deeper than that.
Last month, Congress began considering a bill to site new temporary and permanent repositories to store spent nuclear fuel by a consent-based process. Such a process, which would rely on the host community agreeing to the project, won tentative approval of members of the Nevada delegation, including Sen. Dean Heller, who got a whole lot more vocal about his support for the legislation immediately after the appeals court decision.
“Today’s decision serves as yet another example of why Yucca Mountain needs to be taken off the table once and for all,” Nevada Sen. Dean Heller said in a statement released after the ruling. “Instead of continuing to try to force Yucca Mountain on the people of Nevada, my colleagues should focus on moving toward a new process that will allow for consent-based siting.”
But last month, lawmakers in the House of Representatives also overwhelmingly rejected amendments presented by Rep. Joe Heck, R-Nev., to divert money appropriated for the Yucca Mountain licensing process by a vote of 335 to 81.
Votes like that – which occur on an annual basis – make it clear that support for Yucca is strong in both the Republican and Democratic parties.
Entergy’s finances being probed by Nuclear Regulatory Commission
NRC to probe Entergy’s nuclear plant finances Rutland Herald, By Susan Smallheer
Deb Katz, executive director of the Citizens Awareness Network, said Saturday that the NRC accepting the petition for review was a major accomplishment for the groups. She said she hoped the NRC would get answers to many people’s questions about Entergy’s financial status.
Katz made her remarks during the “Flotilla 2013” rally and protest Saturday on the banks of the Connecticut River, directly across from the Vermont Yankee plant in Vernon, Vt. Entergy, the corporate parent of Vermont Yankee, announced last month it was laying off 800 employees out of its workforce of 15,000 nationwide. The cuts translate to a 4.6 percent staff cut at Yankee, which will lose 30 employees out of a total of 650.
Earlier in the year, the company announced it had been forced to write down the value of Vermont Yankee from $517 million to $162 million due to ongoing financial problems.
The NRC announced late last week that it was accepting the petition and would delve into Entergy’s finances. Continue reading
Japan getting ready to officially discharge radioactive water to Pacific Ocean?
The government’s expanded role will likely be led by the Ministry of Economics, Trade and Industry, or METI, which has been criticized for its close ties to TEPCO and the rest of the nuclear industry
Other aspects of the Fukushima plant’s decommissioning have also been dominated by other members of Japan’s collusive “nuclear village,” as the close-knit industry is called, including reactor makers and politically connected large construction companies.
Japanese government intervenes to shore up crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, The Globe and Mail, MARTIN FACKLER TOKYO — The New York Times News Service , Aug. 08 2013,“……….As the scope of the latest crisis became clearer Wednesday, Japan’s popular prime minister, Shinzo Abe, ordered his government to intervene in the cleanup of the plant – taking a more direct role than any government since the triple meltdowns in 2011 qualified Fukushima as the world’s second worst nuclear disaster after Chernobyl.
Abe, a staunch defender of the country’s nuclear program, appears to have calculated that he needed to intervene to rebuild public trust and salvage a pillar of his economic revival plan: the restarting of Japan’s many idled nuclear plants………Some experts suggested Wednesday that the government’s intervention may be the first step in attempts to win public acceptance for what they say is an increasing inevitability: the dumping into the ocean of some of the less contaminated of the huge amount of water being stored in hulking tanks that are overwhelming the plant.
At a news conference last week, Shunichi Tanaka, chairman of Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority, seemed to lay the groundwork, saying eventually “it will be necessary to discharge water,” a possible solution likely to raise concerns not only in Japan but in other Pacific Rim countries. Continue reading
UK’s Liberal Democrats about to sell out on their anti nuclear policy
Lib Dems may be set to relax trademark anti-nuclear stance Opposition to building a new generation of nuclear power stations has been one of the Liberal Democrats’ most distinctive policy positions
The Independent, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR SUNDAY 04 AUGUST 2013 Liberal Democrats could ditch their long-standing antipathy to nuclear energy next month in a conference debate that will cause deep
divisions within the party.
Opposition to building a new generation of nuclear power stations has been one of the Liberal Democrats’ most distinctive policy positions although they have watered it down in the Coalition Government.
At their conference in Glasgow, delegates will be asked whether they want to adopt a new policy of accepting that nuclear energy has its place in electricity generation.
The move is understood to have the backing of Nick Clegg, the party leader, and Ed Davey, the Energy and Climate Change Secretary, although they are unlikely to speak directly on the issue……….. Continue reading
Secrecy in South Africa, as government mulls subsidies for nuclear power
Regardless of how the financing will be structured it is clear that most of the money will come from debt, which South Africans will ultimately pay for through higher electricity tariffs or increased taxes. The details of these financing structures are also unlikely to be transparent.
SA still in the dark over nuke money, Mail and Guardian, South Africa 02 AUG 2013 NEWS ANALYSIS LYNLEY DONNELLY Vendor financing is a possibility, but questions remain over the country’s finances. The government appears intent on hitching its star to a big nuclear wagon, despite serious misgivings within its own ranks over whether the need for nuclear power is as urgent as once believed, the possibility of emerging alternatives and the continued opposition from business and civil society.
Chief among the reasons for a rethink of South Africa’s nuclear ambitions is the ability to pay for it, according to energy experts and economists, although there are international financing models.
The state has so far refused to pronounce on the cost, but it is estimated that it will be between R400-billion and R1-trillion. Continue reading
1 This Month
of the week – THE ONENESS of HUMANITY
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
1st July – Webinar Waste of Space: The Environmental Harm of Military and Civil Space Activity st July, 7 pm
Report Launch Online: We are seeing an increasing exploitation of space for military and commercial purposes. This must change.
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
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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