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Obama under mass pressure to act on climate change

US protesters urge Obama to act on climate  http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world/us-protesters-urge-obama-to-act-on-climate/story-e6frfkui-1226579935196#ixzz2LC6PreLO   news.com.au  by: Chantal Valery   AAP February 18, 2013  TENS of thousands of protesters have gathered in Washington to urge President Barack Obama to take concrete measures to fight global warming. Continue reading →

February 21, 2013 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Utah Bill designed for ratepayers to pay upfront for new nuclear reactors.

The bill is basically an admission that nuclear power plants are far too expensive, and far too risky an investment, to be bankrolled through the private capital market.

Nuclear speculation SB199 would shift risk to ratepayers, Salt Lake Tribune Feb 20 2013  When the ink isn’t even dry before the sponsoring lawmaker starts distancing himself from a bill he just introduced, the possibility of that bill becoming law seems remote indeed.

Which is good, because Sen. Curt Bramble’s SB199 is a horrible idea.

The bill, dropped in the hopper at the behest of developers who just won’t give up the foolish idea of building a nuclear power plant on Utah’s Green River, would take the extraordinary step of allowing a power utility to start charging its customers for certain generating stations long before the station is actually generating. And it would provide a loophole in the current law that requires utilities operating in the state to provide their customers with the cheapest power available. Continue reading →

February 21, 2013 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

UK government to subsidise nuclear power, backtracking on promises not to

UK-subsidyAt the same time some MPs are concerned that the energy bill, which is being scrutinised by MPs, would allow future governments to give nuclear power stations more money if it was needed, without telling parliament.

Suspicion about the clauses in the bill enabling future financial support have been fuelled by industry claims in recent weeks. Vincent de Rivas, chief executive of EDF, told MPs that he wanted the government to guarantee buying all the possible output from the new nuclear plants, not just what was needed.

 “He [Davey] is saying there will be a subsidy. Perhaps an enormous subsidy. But you, parliament and the public, will not know what it is until it is too late to change.”

Nuclear power: ministers offer reactor deal until 2050 The Guardian UK  , political correspondent, 18 Feb 13,  Energy firms may get 40-year backing after government U-turn on subsidies. The government is launching a last-ditch attempt to sign up energy companies to build new nuclear power stations by proposing to sign contracts guaranteeing subsidies for up to 40 years.

The coalition agreement reached between the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in 2010 promised that nuclear power stations would be built only if the industry got no public subsidy, but costly overruns for new reactors overseas and the exit of several major utilities from the UK programme, most recently Centrica, have driven ministers and officials to backtrack on that pledge and accept they will have to provide financial support. Continue reading →

February 19, 2013 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Serious obstacles to South Africa’s nuclear power plans

South Africa’s new nuclear challenges, Mail and Guardian Africa 15 FEB 2013   LYNLEY DONNELLY South African authorities will have to address two critical issues as the country faces signing for its new nuclear procurement megaplan. Funding and human resources capacity are two of the biggest challenges confronting any country embarking on a nuclear energy programme, according to Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

These are two critical issues that South African authorities will have to address as the country faces signing on the dotted line for its new nuclear procurement megaplan for six nuclear power stations by 2030. Funding was a “difficult issue” for the nuclear industry everywhere, said Amano, who was on a brief tour of South Africa last week…… Continue reading →

February 16, 2013 Posted by | politics, South Africa | Leave a comment

UK govt twists and writhes – trying to give the nuclear industry a subsidy that doesn’t look like a subsidy

nukes-hungryThe government, which has ruled out any public subsidy for nuclear power, is determined to avoid the perception that it will support new nuclear at any price, even at the risk of the talks collapsing.
The FT revealed on Monday that EDF is in talks with the Treasury to provide a guarantee to support the financing of third-party investors under George Osborne’s new “UK Guarantees” programme.
Talks over price threaten nuclear aims http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/113bb614-76b1-11e2-8569-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2KzwMuEIX By Guy Chazan and Jim Pickard, 14 Feb 13,  The future of Britain’s nuclear ambitions flag-UKhangs in the balance amid increasingly fraught talks between EDF Energy and the Treasury over the price of electricity from EDF’s planned nuclear power station in Somerset.

The two sides are negotiating over what price EDF should be awarded for the power it generates at Hinkley Point C, set to become the first new UK atomic plant built in a generation. But the gap between them is much wider than many in the industry were expecting. Continue reading →

February 15, 2013 Posted by | business and costs, politics, UK | Leave a comment

Obama aiming for action on climate change

Obama reaffirms support for renewable energy, PVTECH, By Felicity Carus – 13 February 2013, The president used his state of the union speech to underline his commitment to renewable energy President Barack Obama last night restated a renewed commitment to clean energy and pledged to return manufacturing jobs to the US in his state of the union address.

America was “finally poised to control our own energy future” and had begun to turn a corner in competing for clean energy capacity with China, he said.

“Last year, wind energy added nearly half of all new power capacity in America. So let’s generate even more. Solar energy gets cheaper by the year – so let’s drive costs down even further. As long as countries like China keep going all-in on clean energy, so must we.”….. Echoing his passionate comments on climate change in his inaugural address last month, the president also said that more needed to be done to tackle global warming “for the sake of our children and our future”. He added that if Congress did not enact “a market-based solution to climate change”, he would.

“I will direct my Cabinet to come up with executive actions we can take, now and in the future, to reduce pollution, prepare our communities for the consequences of climate change, and speed the transition to more sustainable sources of energy.”

Clean energy business groups welcomed the president’s comments last night…… http://www.pv-tech.org/news/obama_reaffirms_support_for_renewable_energy

February 15, 2013 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

UK nuclear price guarantee a tricky and controversial question

Lid to be kept on nuclear price guarantee – strike price ‘won’t reach three figures’ : http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/markets/article-2276494/Lid-kept-nuclear-price-guarantee–strike-price-wont-reach-figures.html#ixzz2Kc9vIVuf  By JON REES 10 February 2013 The wholesale price guaranteed by the Government for nuclear power generation is likely to be less than £100 a megawatt hour.

Nuclear investors will be compensated if the price falls below the agreed level, but if the price is higher the energy giants must pay the difference to consumers.

Sources close to the negotiations with the Government last week claimed that the guaranteed figure – known as the strike price – ‘will not reach three figures’, which is considerably less than the £140 per megawatt hour equivalent for offshore wind.

If the strike price is set at a level that is seen as being too high it will prove politically controversial as EDF – the only company with firm plans to build new nuclear plants before 2020 – is owned by the French.

A spokesman for the Department of Energy and Climate Change said: ‘No commitment has been made on commercial terms or a strike price.’

February 11, 2013 Posted by | politics, UK | Leave a comment

Exelon nuclear company blaming wind energy for decline in electricity prices

wind-nuclear- Exelon is merely “looking for a scapegoat” after power prices plummeted following the utility’s “bet on the electricity spot market” with nuclear.

Exelon chief: Wind subsidies could shut down nuclear plants,THE HILL By Zack Colman – 02/08/13  

A major utility that was ousted from a wind energy trade group last fall said continued government support of wind power could shutter nuclear plants.

Exelon Corp. CEO Christopher Crane told the Chicago Tribune in comments published Friday that his company might eventually have to close nuclear facilities “if we continue to build an excessive amount of wind and subsidize wind.”

Exelon vocally opposed the extension of the wind production tax credit last year. That led the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) to kick the Chicago-based utility out of the organization.

Exelon will likely try to quash AWEA’s push this year for a phase-out of the 2.2 cent per kilowatt-hour credit for wind power production. Exelon has ties to the White House, as one of its directors is a top fundraiser for and friend of President Obama. Former strategist David Axelrod also consulted for the utility, and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who served as Obama’s first chief of staff, helped create the firm through a merger in 2000 while working as an investment banker. Continue reading →

February 9, 2013 Posted by | business and costs, politics, renewable, USA | Leave a comment

South Dakota uranium decision a blow for the environment

Evidently, South Dakota lawmakers care more about foreign uranium companies than they do about their own citizens.

A tough day for uranium opponents, South Dakota Peace and Justce Center,   February 8, 2013 Yesterday was a tough day for those of us who want to keep South Dakota’s water safe for future generations. At 10:00 am, the Senate Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee held a hearing for Senate Bills 148, 149, and 150 to bolster state oversight of uranium mining (read more in our earlier post on the three bills). After hearing from ranchers, public health experts,  activists, lobbyists, and South Dakota citizens who will have to deal with the fallout from Powertech’s proposed Dewey-Burdock Project in Fall River County, the Committee promptly voted to defer all three bills, effectively killing them.

by   Continue reading →

February 9, 2013 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear physicist Moniz next USA Energy Secretary?

Obama considers MIT nuclear physicist as next energy secretary. The Age, 7 Feb 13, President Barack Obama is considering naming nuclear physicist Ernest Moniz, one of his science and energy advisers, as the next energy secretary, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Wednesday. Moniz, who was undersecretary at the Energy Department during the Clinton administration, is a familiar figure on Capitol Hill, where he has often talked to lawmakers about how abundant supplies of US natural gas will gradually replace coal as a source of electricity.

Moniz is director of MIT’s Energy Initiative, a research group that gets funding from industry heavyweights including BP , Chevron, and Saudi Aramco for academic work on projects aimed at reducing climate-changing greenhouse gases.

He did not respond to an e-mail request for comment on Wednesday evening…… From his time in the Clinton administration, he has experience managing the department’s oversight of a chain of national laboratories and the US stockpile of nuclear weapons.

After Obama made good on a first-term campaign promise to shut down the proposed Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site in Nevada, he named Moniz to a “Blue Ribbon” panel that looked for a new approach for storing toxic nuclear waste.
http://www.theage.com.au/environment/obama-considers-mit-nuclear-physicist-as-next-energy-secretary-20130207-2e1lq.html#ixzz2KKsxrFxw

February 8, 2013 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

South Dakota rejects power for control over uranium mining permits

South Dakota Senate panel rejects uranium mining bill
http://www.ksfy.com/story/21076787/south-dakota-senate-panel-rejects-uranium-mining-bill

PIERRE, S.D. (AP) – A South Dakota Senate committee has rejected a
plan to restore some of the state’s permitting authority over a
proposed uranium mine.

The Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee voted 7-1 to kill the
bill after committee members said they see no need for the state to
duplicate federal regulatory programs.

The committee hearing focused on Powertech Uranium Corp.’s proposed
uranium mine near Edgemont. It would pump groundwater into the
underground ore deposits to dissolve the uranium. The water would be
pumped back to the surface, where the uranium would be extracted.

The Legislature two years ago suspended state rules on permitting such
uranium mines. That means federal agencies will decide if the mine
gets a license and can inject water underground.

The state controls water rights permits.

February 8, 2013 Posted by | politics, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Poor UK new nuclear industry !- stalled by Cumbria’s rejection of waste dump

Oscar-wastesMuch of the UK’s high level nuclear waste is stored above ground at SellafieldNo other community had come forward as a potential site, and no other community looks likely to. And given West Cumbria’s nuclear history it always seemed the best bet.

The government also has to find a solution. It will be harder to justify new nuclear power stations if the country can’t find a long term way of dealing with its existing waste problem.

Is it all over for Cumbrian nuclear waste store plans?, BBC News 1 Feb 13,  The long term plan could have seen nuclear waste buried underground in Cumbria For the second time in 14 years the hunt for a long-term solution to Britain’s nuclear waste stockpile seems to have foundered in Cumbria.

flag-UKIn 1999 Cumbria County Council rejected plans for a rock laboratory that could have paved the way for an underground nuclear waste store. And now the same council has again withdrawn as a potential site for a repository. Cumbria’s decision The majority of the council’s executive decided the county wasn’t suitable. The government has also said it accepts Cumbria’s decision and will look elsewhere.

So is it all over? Continue reading →

February 2, 2013 Posted by | politics, UK, wastes | Leave a comment

Republican senators’ ignorant and disrespectful treatment of defense nominee Chuck Hagel

exclamation-Zero Tolerance for Nuclear Weapons, HUFFINGTON POST, William Hartung, Director, Arms and Security Project, Center for International Policy, 1 Feb 13,  There were many low moments in yesterday’s disrespectful, intolerant inquisition of secretary of defense nominee Chuck Hagel by key Republican senators, but some of the most troubling involved the dismissive, ill-informed tone they took towards serious proposals for reducing global nuclear arsenals.

Flag-USAThe criticisms centered around Hagel’s support for Global Zero, an organization whose goal is to set in motion a process that will lead to a world free of nuclear weapons. The goal itself should be uncontroversial. Presidents of diverse political leanings, from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama, as well as a majority of former U.S. secretaries of defense and secretaries of state have endorsed it. What has too often been missing is a road map for getting there.

In a May 2012 commission report with the decidedly non-threatening title “Modernizing U.S. Nuclear Strategy, Force Structure and Posture,” Global Zero made a series of suggestions on how to responsibly reduce U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals on the road towards nuclear disarmament.  Continue reading →

February 2, 2013 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Abandonment of Virginia uranium mining proposal

“This is not just environmentalists,” Jaffe said. “This is small business owners in Southside, it’s farmers, it’s parents of small children, it’s community leaders, it’s physicians — all these disparate voices coming together.”

Environmentalists were joined in their opposition by local grass-root organizers, Virginia’s largest farm lobby, the state’s medical society, municipal and church groups, the NAACP and others

logo-NO-nuclear-SmUranium mining proposal abandoned in Virginia  Bloomberg,  By Flag-USASteve Szkotak on January 31, 2013  RICHMOND, Va. (AP)— A proposal to mine uranium in Virginia was abruptly abandoned Thursday in the Legislature, and supporters scrambled to appeal directly to the governor to salvage what would be the first full-scale mining operation of the radioactive ore on the East Coast.

Unable to deliver the votes in the General Assembly, Sen. John Watkins withdrew his legislation to establish state regulations for uranium mining in Southside Virginia, a rural area along the North Carolina state line and home to the largest known deposit of the radioactive ore in the U.S.

Watkins instead asked fellow Republican Gov. Bob McDonnell to use his administrative powers to have state agencies draw up the rules. McDonnell has not taken a position on the divisive issue and his spokesman J. Tucker Martin said the governor was reviewing the request.

Meanwhile, opponents of uranium mining, many of whom had traveled to Richmond for a hearing on the legislation, cheered when Watkins announced his decision.

“This is a resounding — a resounding — victory,” said Cale Jaffe of the Southern Environmental Law Center.

He credited broad opposition to the proposal, which was pitched by the mining company as a job creator in a hard-hit section of the state.

“This is not just environmentalists,” Jaffe said. “This is small business owners in Southside, it’s farmers, it’s parents of small children, it’s community leaders, it’s physicians — all these disparate voices coming together.”……. Continue reading →

February 1, 2013 Posted by | opposition to nuclear, politics, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Lots of government incentives fail to win Cumbrians: nuclear waste dump rejected

flag-UKCumbria sticks it to the nuclear dump lobby – despite all the carrots on offer Guardian UK, Terry Macalister, 31 Jan 13, Council’s decision to turn down the hosting of huge underground nuclear waste depository is a body blow for government Cumbria county council’s decision to “dump the dump” by voting against a nuclear waste repository close to the Lake District has drilled a nasty great hole in the middle of the government’s wider nuclear strategy.

Ministers had made clear that part of the agreement with the public over a new generation of atomic power stations would involve finding a safe and permanent home for the high-level waste created by the old ones.

Cumbria’s decision is a body blow for government because though it may not necessarily have been the most geologically suitable spot, it certainly was the most politically suitable.

Oscar-wastesThe “energy coast”, as the region calls itself, is home to Sellafield, formerly Windscale, the largest nuclear complex in Europe with more than 5,000 well-paid jobs, as well as the nuclear submarine-building base at Barrow-in-Furness.

Even a secretarial job there can pay £10 an hour, and to win votes in the local constituency you need to pin your nuclear colour – yellow – to the mast, as the MP for Copeland, Jamie Reed, and his predecessor, “Neutron Jack” Cunningham, have done.

The Unite union, representing many Sellafield workers, can also be relied upon to bang the nuclear drum on a national level, and was quick to condemn the county council’s decision on Wednesday.

The government had dangled all kinds of carrots in front of Cumbria’s local and regional councils, including the prospect that up to 1,000 jobs could be created from the proposed £12bn underground project. It made some headway when Copeland and Allerdale councils voted in favour of further dialogue, but that was not enough without the county council.

Now, if an area steeped in a nuclear culture is not prepared to countenance a waste dump, then who will?…… Continue reading →

February 1, 2013 Posted by | politics, UK, wastes | Leave a comment

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