nuclear site argument in Egypt
A nuclear falling out
El Abram 5 sept 09
Parliamentarians and nuclear power scientists appeal to President Hosni Mubarak to prevent businessmen from interfering in the choice of sites for nuclear power plants, Gamal Essam El-Din reports Continue reading
Costly delays in fixing nuclear plant
Point Lepreau refurbishment 9 months late
September 2, 2009 ATCBC NewsThe troubled $1.4-billion refurbishment of the Point Lepreau nuclear reactor is suffering another setback, pushing the massive project nine months behind schedule, CBC News has learned.
Sources inside NB Power say the refurbishment of the reactor is being stalled because of problems with the installation of the plant’s new calandria tubes…………
Point Lepreau is the first Candu-6 reactor to undergo a complete gutting and rebuild. It was intended to be a showcase for AECL to display its ability to revive the 1980s-era reactors.
When the refurbishment project started, it was supposed to last 18 months and have the reactor back on line in October 2010
However, crews at Point Lepreau struggled to deconstruct the old reactor, finally finishing that stage in late July, almost eight months behind schedule.
NB Power has acknowledged delays at Point Lepreau will cost $20 million a month.
Anti-radiation pills for people living near nuclear plants
People who live, work near TMI pick up anti-radiation pills
by MONICA VON DOBENECK, Of The Patriot-News September 01, 2009,
“……………free doses of potassium iodide being distributed by the Pennsylvania Department of Health in case of a radioactive release. The potassium iodide pills can partially protect the thyroid gland from radiation exposure if there is a nuclear accident. They are being distributed over the next few days to anyone who lives or works within ten miles of the state’s five nuclear power plants………..Alice Gray, director of community health systems for the Department of Health, said the state last distributed the pills in 2002, but those expired Monday. The state has enough tablets for the 1.2 million people within the 10-mile radius of the five nuclear plants, she said. She did not know how many will take advantage of the free distribution.
The potassium iodide, or KI pills, protect the thyroid gland against radioactive iodine that may be released in an emergenc……………..The pills do not protect against other forms of cancer or illnesses caused by radiation…
….The state has five nuclear plants: Three Mile Island, Beaver Valley Power Station, Limerick Generating Station, Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station and Susquehanna Steam Electric Station.
People who live, work near TMI pick up anti-radiation pills – PennLive.com
Finland’s nuclear plant: more delays, cost overruns
More Delays at Finnish Nuclear Plant
The New York Times. September 2, 2009, By James Kanter
AREVA a French nuclear construction company, said this week that its project to build the world’s most powerful reactor remained mired in delays and was over-budget by 2.3 billion euros, or about $3.3 billion.The price tag of the plant in Olkiluoto, Finland — the first of a fleet of so-called evolutionary power reactors that Areva foresees building in coming years — was about $4.3 billion in 2003 and costs have steadily increased.
The reactor was meant to have gone online early this summer but Areva no longer is committing to any dates for its completion. Patrice Lambert de Diesbach, an energy analyst with CM-CIC Securities in Paris, said the latest developments were “bad news” for Areva and “should be sanctioned by the market.”
The problems faced by Areva are important a time when the nuclear power industry is promising to build safer and more reliable reactors than during the last building boom in the 1960s and early 1970s. …………………………
So far there are few signs of a breakthrough in Finland.
Areva said this week that it would not begin work on the final stages of the reactor until the Finnish utility agreed to a new set of proposals and modifications.
More Delays at Finnish Nuclear Plant – Green Inc. Blog – NYTimes.com
Paladin loss, as uranium price slips
Money Sept 2 09
…….- Paladin’s loss was greater than the broker expected, given greater ramp-up and exploration costs. With cashflow tight Paladin has been forced to draw down on its debt facility although first half FY10 inventory sales mean it’s just a bridging deal.Paladin’s realised uranium price was also lower than expected given a higher level of spot over contract sales. As the U price continues to drift and the Kayakelera ramp-up remains slow, the broker sees no positive catalysts. Hold retained on slightly lower earnings forecasts.
South Africa’s nuclear company Eskom makes huge loss
Corporate Toughest of times for Eskom
World Nuclear News28 August 2009
Eskom, South Africa’s state-owned utility, has reported a record annual loss and has warned of a funding gap for an expansion program needed to prevent a repeat of the blackouts the country experienced in 2008.The company, which supplies about 95% of South Africa’s electricity and more than 60% of Africa’s, reported a loss of 9.7 billion rand ($1.25 billion) for the year ended 31 March. In the previous year, Eskom made a loss of 210 million rand ($27 million)………….
No public scrutiny for Florida nuclear waste storage
Florida Power and Light’s “dark” business
“…………..As storage of nuclear waste continues to pose concern across the country, an FPL land use change at Turkey Point raises questions about potential safety and environmental risks
Poder 360 By Siobhan Morrissey Sept 09“…………….Plans for the dry cask storage facility have sparked controversy because the project has not been aired at public hearings. Instead, the project was moved along quickly and quietly, with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) granting certification on May 18, roughly six weeks after receiving FPL’s application and without an opportunity for public input. Without fanfare, the approval slipped the notice of interested parties such as the Sierra Club, the Tropical Audubon Society and Clean Water Action. Miami-Dade County officials and environmentalists maintain the utility company and the regulatory agency did an end run to avoid public scrutiny……………
Currently, FPL places the spent nuclear fuel onsite in wet storage structures that resemble cavernous, stainless-steel-lined swimming pools. But it’s getting crowded in the pools, so the utility is resorting to dry cask storage.
“They’re simply running out of room in the spent fuel pools for the current two [reactor] units,” says Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. “You never want to get below a certain point [of capacity]. You have to start several years in advance.”…………………
But how did FPL manage to avoid a public discussion of the environmental concerns? FPL presented the proposed dry storage facility as an amendment to an existing certificate that DEP issued last October when the utility sought permission to ramp up its power output. In the industry, this is commonly known as “uprating.” FPL plans to begin increasing its power output at Turkey Point by 14 percent as early as 2011.
It’s a problem nuclear power plants across the country face,
India: nuclear deal will cause problems
A Different Perspective on the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal
MONTHLY REVIEW Peter Custers Sept 09
The U.S.-India nuclear deal was initiated through a framework agreement signed by India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and U.S. President Bush in July 2005.India, at the instigation of Washington, agreed to separate its civilian and military nuclear production facilities, and place all civilian production facilities under the inspection regime of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), in return for U.S. economic, technological, and military cooperation. The nuclear deal, which took three years to complete, is officially aimed at promoting India’s access to uranium and to civilian nuclear technology, through enlarged importation of both………….
……From its very start, the U.S.-India nuclear deal has generated huge controversies, both in India and internationally. The intent here is to lay bare the implications of the deal for the creation of waste,……………
fears that the controversial deal will enhance the danger of a nuclear conflagration in South Asia appear to be well grounded, even if we leave aside all other interrelated objections that have been raised……………..
the side effects in terms of generation of nuclear waste are so ponderous that, from this perspective too, implementation of the deal needs to be preempted…………….
the U.S.-India nuclear deal is bound to result in huge quantities of extremely dangerous waste that cannot be sold on the market, but needs to be put aside, at great risk to humans and to our natural environment……………….
A Different Perspective on the U.S.-India Nuclear Deal – Monthly Review
Nuclear sites fear they’ll get USA nuclear waste dump
Nuclear sites fear they’re the alternative to Yucca Mountain
Kansas city.com By LES BLUMENTHAL McClatchy Newspapers 1 Sept 09
It is among the nastiest substances on earth: more than 14,000 tons of highly radioactive waste left over from the building of the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal……………….Local leaders and lawmakers from the sites where the waste is now stored, however, are increasingly concerned the Energy Department will leave it in place, even though that might violate legally binding cleanup agreements.
There’s no backup plan for dealing with the waste. A promised commission to study the issue has yet to be appointed.
“We don’t want to become a long-term repository without even having a discussion,” said Gary Petersen of the Tri-City Industrial Development Council, near Hanford, Wash. “All of this waste is supposed to be going to Yucca. Without Yucca, everyone in the weapons complex has a problem.”
Jared Fuhriman, the mayor of Idaho Falls, the largest city near the Idaho National Laboratory, agreed.
“We are all concerned,” Fuhriman said. “Where are we going to store the waste we have?”
If Yucca is closed, a search for a new site for a national repository likely would start with the 31 states on the original list of potential locations. In addition to Hanford and the Idaho National Laboratory, the states with possible sites include Texas, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi and Pennsylvania……………..
The biggest concern has been the liquid waste, stored in aging and occasionally leaking underground tanks. Current plans call for the waste to be vitrified, or solidified into glass-like logs, and shipped to Yucca Mountain. The logs would be encapsulated in two-foot diameter, 14.5-foot-long stainless steel containers that would weigh about four tons each. The waste treatment plant would generate about 480 glass logs a year and somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 by the time the last of the waste is processed.
Nuclear sites fear they’re the alternative to Yucca Mountain – Kansas City Star
Bulgaria: right wing opposition to nuclear plant
Bulgaria Right-Wingers Call for Halt of Nuclear Plant Plan
novinite.com September 1, 2009,Bulgaria’s biggest right-wing party has reiterated its calls on the new government to give up the planned Belene project as it is still undecided whether to scrap or push ahead the construction of the multi-billion nuclear power plant.
“The price tag of the nuclear power plant at the Danube river town will stand at no less than EUR 10 B,” Martin Dimitrov, leader of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), said at a press conference on Tuesday.
According to him Belene nuclear power plant will not benefit local consumers, which makes it completely useless.
“Freezing the project is no solution to the problem,” Dimitrov added.
UDF leadership has repeatedly warned that the construction of the plant will translate into a BGN 1300 tax burden for each Bulgarian taxpayer, electricity hikes for decades on end, outdated and dubious Russian nuke units…………….
…………According to reports and non-governmental organizations RWE AG’s plan to expand in Bulgaria’s nuclear market is on the brink of collapse because financing for the project couldn’t be obtained.
Film shows why uranium mining is bad for Virginia
Why is SCC and the Alliance concerned about uranium mining and milling in Virginia?
The Alliance Acethecat 2 Sept 09
This short film really sums it up! It’s about the Olympic Dam uranium mine in South Australia. Their plight mirrors our own if uranium mining and milling EVER takes place in Virginia. URANIUM MINING & MILLING HAS NEVER BEEN DONE SAFELY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD! WHILE SOME SAY THAT THEY WANT (AND NEED) A “STUDY”, THE ONLY TRUE INFORMATION CAN COME FROM WHAT HAS HAPPENED IN THE PAST.Studying “how” to mine and mill uranium in Virginia is much different than studying “should” we mine and mill uranium in Virginia. REMEMBER: All uranium mining and milling has been done with the “latest technology” since its inception. ALL OF THAT TECHNOLOGY HAS FAILED!
Since mining and milling has NEVER been done in an area with our population (OVER 500,000 people within 120 miles of the proposed mine and milling operation and many, many more down stream to the Atlantic Ocean) and our net precipitation (greater than evaporation) any “study” of “how” to mine and mill uranium in Pittsylvania County, or anywhere else in Virginia, will be a THEORY.
… THE Alliance … THE Alliance … THE Alliance …: Where the Green Ants Dream
Financial crisis hurts some Eastern Europe nuclear plans
Financial crisis hurts some Eastern Europe nuclear plans
By Anna Mudeva
SOFIA (Reuters) 1 Sept 09
– Domestic political squabbles, funding woes and other hurdles threaten a number of nuclear power plant projects in central and southeast Europe
…………..Analysts say the global economic crisis has made banks reluctant to provide loans for nuclear plants, which cost around 3 billion euros ($4.30 billion) per 1,000 megawatt reactor, for a pay-off that takes decades.
Equipment suppliers and engineering companies are also unwilling to give fixed price tags during volatile times, which makes planning and calculation of costs difficult.
India: Tap solar power to harness hydrogen energy:
Tap solar power to harness hydrogen energy: Expert
The Times of India 1 september 09
CHENNAI: The residents of Tamil Nadu who constantly fret over the harsh summer that lasts nearly throughout the year better think again. “Hydrogen is considered an ideal energy carrier in the foreseeable future. It can be produced from water using a variety of energy sources, such as solar, nuclearand fossils, and it can be converted into useful energy forms efficiently and without detrimental environmental effects,” he said.
According to him, hydrogen can be used in any application in which fossil fuels are used. “It can be used as a fuel in furnaces, internal combustion engines, turbines and jet engines, even more efficiently than fossil fuels, that is, coal, petroleum and natural gas. Automobiles, trains, ships, submarines, planes and rockets can run on hydrogen.”
The good news for a power-starved country like India is that hydrogen can be converted directly to electricity. To generate 1 kWh of electrical energy using a fuel cell, just 0.05 kg of hydrogen need be supplied.
Tap solar power to harness hydrogen energy: Expert – Chennai – City – NEWS – The Times of India
Nuclear energy on a downward trend: no renaissance in sight
Study shows: Nuclear energy on downward trend worldwide
Federal Ministry for Nuclear safety Germany,
28 August 09Minister Gabriel:
There is no renaissance of nuclear energyThe share of nuclear energy in worldwide energy consumption is marginal and has been declining for several years. This is revealed in a study by independent experts of the energy and nuclear sector which was published by the Federal Environment Ministry today. As Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel said:“The renaissance of nuclear energy, much trumpeted by its supporters, is not taking place. The only thing frequently revived is the announcement. The study shows: the number of old nuclear power plants which are decommissioned worldwide is greater than the number of new ones taking up operation. Available resources, engineering performance and funds are not even enough to stop the downward trend, let alone increase the number of reactors. All the facts are in favour of phasing out this technology while at the same time expanding the use of renewable energies and energy efficiency, as this is a promising option for the future.”
The authors of the study, headed by Mycle Schneider, Paris, collected crucial quantitative and qualitative facts on nuclear power plants which are in operation, being built or planned today and assess the economic viability of old and new nuclear power plants.
At the time of going to press, 1 August 2009, there were only 435 reactors in operation worldwide, which is nine less than in 2002. Nuclear energy accounts for only about 5.5 % of worldwide commercial primary energy consumption and only around 2 % of worldwide final energy consumption – and consumption has been steadily declining for years.
The authors also found out that the number of nuclear power plants will decrease worldwide over the next decades. Between 2015 and 2025 the capacity of nuclear power plants is expected to sink compared to today’s output……………….
Current and planned building projects of the nuclear industry are becoming increasingly expensive. The EPR, for example, the flagship of the world’s largest manufacturer of reactors, AREVA NP, which is currently in construction in Olkiluoto in Finland, has so far exceeded planned costs by at least 55 %.
US states fearful of becoming host to nuclear waste
S.C. among states fearing they’re the alternative to Nevada nuke site
Herald OnLine By Les Blumenthal– McClatchy Newspapers 30 August 09WASHINGTON — It is among the nastiest substances on earth: more than 14,000 tons of highly radioactive waste left over from the building of the nation’s nuclear weapons arsenal.As the Obama administration and Senate leaders move to scuttle a proposed repository for the waste in Nevada, the Hanford nuclear reservation in Washington state — along with federal facilities in Idaho and South Carolina — could become the de facto dump sites for years to come…………………….
Local leaders and lawmakers from the sites where the waste is now stored, however, are increasingly concerned that the Energy Department will leave it in place, even though that might violate legally binding cleanup agreements.
There’s no backup plan for dealing with the waste. A promised commission to study the issue has yet to be appointed.
S.C. among states fearing they’re the alternative to Nevada nuke site | The Herald – Rock Hill, SC
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