NORTH AMERICA « nuclear-news

NuScam’s ”small” nuclear reactor design approved – but cost, safety, public acceptance hurdles loom against them

First U.S. Small Nuclear Reactor Design Is Approved, Concerns about costs and safety remain, however, Scientific American By Dave Levitan on September 9, 2020

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has approved the design of a new kind of reactor, known as a small modular reactor (SMR). The design, from the Portland, Ore.–based company NuScale Power, is intended to speed construction, lower cost and improve safety over traditional nuclear reactors…………

some experts have expressed concerns over the potential expense and remaining safety issues that the industry would have to address before any such reactors are actually built. ………

The NRC’s design and related final safety evaluation report (FSER) do not mean that the firm can begin constructing reactors. But utility companies can now apply to the NRC to build and operate NuScale’s design. With almost no new nuclear construction completed in the U.S. over the past three decades, SMRs could help reinvigorate a flagging industry.

NuScale’s SMR, developed with the help of almost $300 million from the U.S. Department of Energy, has a generating capacity of 50 megawatts—substantially smaller than standard nuclear reactors, which can range to well more than 1,000 megawatts (MW). A utility could combine up to 12 SMRs at a single site, producing 600 MW of electricity—enough to power a midsize city. The NRC says it expects an application for a 60-MW version of NuScale’s SMR in 2022……….

Opponents have cited the unresolved issue of disposing nuclear waste, as well as the significant price tag and time involved in building any nuclear plant, compared with renewable energy sources.

NuScale believes it can avoid the dramatic cost overruns and years-long delays that have plagued construction of traditional nuclear power plants in recent decades. Diane Hughes, the company’s vice president of marketing and communications, says that the company expects to sell anywhere from 674 to 1,682 reactors between 2023 and 2042. ……

NuScale has signed memorandums of understanding with companies and utilities in the U.S., Canada, Jordan, Romania, Ukraine and other countries. The agreements simply mean the parties will jointly explore potential deals.

NuScale’s first scheduled project is with Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS), a state-based organization that supplies wholesale electricity to small, community-owned utilities in surrounding states. NuScale plans to deliver its first reactor to the UAMPS project at the Idaho National Laboratory by 2027; it is scheduled to be operational by 2029. Another 11 reactors will round out the 720-MW project by 2030. A portion of the generated power will be sold to the U.S. Department of Energy, with the rest purchased by UAMPS member utilities. Agreements for some of the power are in place, although a few municipalities have already walked away because of price concerns. Others have until September 30 to exit the project.

Experts have expressed skepticism about both the safety of the NuScale SMR and its potential costs. In an online press event on September 2, M. V. Ramana, a professor and nuclear expert at the University of British Columbia, discussed a report he prepared at the request of Oregon Physicians for Social Responsibility that highlighted significant issues associated with the UAMPS project.

“I am sorry to say that what lies ahead is risky and expensive,” Ramana said. Just in the past five years, he noted, cost estimates from various sources for the UAMPS project have risen from approximately $3 billion to more than $6 billion. NuScale’s initial goal of having operational reactors by 2016 has been extended by more than a decade, reflecting the sluggish U.S. nuclear industry in general. Costs to consumers could far exceed those associated with other emissions-free power sources such as solar and wind, Ramana added.

And despite the NRC’s design approval of the new SMR, some safety features still require adjustment. “I don’t think future NuScale applicants will benefit from a design certification that has safety gaps in it,” says Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists. He points out that the NRC has issued its final safety report in spite of questions raised both by an expert at the agency and an external advisory board.

In a July 2020 report, NRC nuclear engineer Shanlai Lu discussed a complicated issue known as boron dilution, which could possibly cause “fuel failure and prompt criticality condition”—meaning that even if a reactor is shut down, fission reactions could restart and begin a dangerous power increase. And in another report, the NRC’s Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards also noted that “several potentially risk-significant items” are not yet completed, though it did still recommend that the NRC issue the FSER. The agency’s response to the latter report stated that those items will be further assessed when site-specific licensing applications—the step needed to actually begin building and operating a reactor—are submitted. ……..

Lyman says that in general, the NRC’s design certification process should reduce uncertainty for utilities aiming to build nuclear plants because they can reference a completed safety review. But he thinks the NuScale approval undermines that advantage. Whether the gaps in safety will result in further delays to NuScale’s time line remains to be seen. The NRC will undertake another review when the company’s 60-MW design is submitted. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/first-u-s-small-nuclear-reactor-design-is-approved/

September 10, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, USA | Leave a comment

Connecticut senate candidate Ryan Fazio’s very bad idea – to buuild more nuclear power plants

CT senate candidate Ryan Fazio wants to build more nuclear reactors, https://www.stamfordadvocate.com/opinion/article/Opinion-CT-senate-candidate-Ryan-Fazio-wants-to-15553213.php By Sean Goldrick, September 9, 2020 Ryan Fazio wants to build you a nuke. Yep, that’s right. Fazio, the Republican candidate for state senate in Connecticut’s 36th district — Greenwich, north Stamford, and New Canaan — has at the top of his power plan for Connecticut building new nuclear power plants: “As your state senator, I will advance an all-of-the-above clean energy strategy that incorporates more nuclear, hydroelectric, and other affordable power sources to our grid.”

“More nuclear …”? Does he want to replace the Indian Point, the nuclear power plant on the Hudson River just minutes’ drive from Greenwich that’s shutting down next spring, with a new nuke in Connecticut? Perhaps he wants to build a second Shoreham nuclear power plant, the Long Island nuke that was shut down due to overwhelming opposition by residents without ever delivering a single watt of power. Fazio thinks that Connecticut, the third smallest and fourth most densely populated state in the nation, is the perfect place to build more nuclear? Before we hand him the keys to the reactor, let’s review what nuclear has done to us.

While nuclear power plants don’t emit carbon, they do emit radiation. According to the environmental advocacy organization, Riverkeeper, the reactors at Indian Point routinely emit airborne and liquid radioactivity, including 100 different isotopes, Strontium-89, Strontium-90, Cesium-137, and Iodine-131. Humans ingest them either by inhalation, or through the food chain (after airborne radioactivity returns these chemicals to earth). In 2016, a major leak occurred at Indian Point that resulted in tritium seeping into the groundwater. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the radiation leak “alarming,” and environmentalists described it as “uncontrolled.” One well near the plant detected the presence of more than 8 million picocuries per liter of radioactivity versus the standard of 12,300.

Our downwind location from Indian Point has resulted in thyroid cancer rates in Fairfield County substantially higher than the national average — and rising. Thyroid cancer’s only known cause is exposure to radiation. Thyroid cancer rates are higher in Westchester County, and higher still in Putnam County. The closer one gets to Indian Point, the higher the cancer rates. Residents of Connecticut’s New London County, in which the aptly named Millstone nuclear power plant is located, also suffer high rates of thyroid cancer. In 2012, the federal government initiated a five-year study of cancer incidence in New London County and Fairfield County, but shut it down suddenly in 2015 with little explanation, and no release of data.

The Shoreham nuclear power plant across Long Island Sound from us, built at a cost of more than $6 billion in the 1980s, representing a 10,000 percent cost overrun from its original budget, shut down without ever producing power. But it did produce a massive debt for the people of Long Island, a billion dollars of which they’re still paying off. All but two of New England’s nuclear power plants have been shut down- Millstone and the Seabrook plant in New Hampshire.

It’s curious that Fazio is so critical of Connecticut Democrats’ energy policy, because Gov. Ned Lamont recently acceded to demands from Republican legislators and Millstone’s owner, Dominion Energy, who strong-armed Connecticut into agreeing to a 10-year contract to keep Millstone’s high-cost nuclear energy flowing. Dominion threatened to shut down Millstone if it didn’t receive a bail-out, though the company refused to open its books to the General Assembly for inspection to prove it was nearly insolvent. The bailout gave them 82 percent of the state’s total renewable energy allowance, crowding out lower-cost and infinitely safer solar and wind projects.

Research shows that the unsubsidized levelized cost of energy (LCOE) of large scale wind and solar is a fraction of the cost of new nuclear generators. So nuclear power, which Fazio wants foist on Connecticut ratepayers, is actually not an “affordable power source” at all, but one that can only operate with massive subsidies.

And given that nuclear power plants demand massive quantities of water to cool their reactor cores, a new nuclear plant would have to be built on the Connecticut shoreline. So would you like a new nuke In Norwalk? Shall we foist one onto the people of Bridgeport? Will you feel comfortable with a nuclear reactor in Connecticut even closer to us than Indian Point?

So, high and rising thyroid cancer rates, uncontrolled leaks of tritium into the groundwater, taxpayer subsidies to Millstone for its economically unviable, uncompetitive, and expensive nuclear power, all crowding out wind and solar power, real clean energy that continues to achieve dramatic reductions in cost of generation. But nuclear tops the list on Ryan Fazio’s energy plan?

Let’s keep tritium out of our groundwater, and Ryan Fazio out of the Connecticut state senate.

September 10, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | election USA 2020 | Leave a comment

What a way to spend tax-payers’money! $13.3 billion to Northrop Grumman for new nuclear missiles

Air Force awards Northrop Grumman $13.3 billion contract for new nuclear missiles, Market Watch Sept. 8, 2020
By Associated Press

Critics call project wasteful, but Esper says nuclear arsenal needs to be modernized
WASHINGTON — The Air Force on Tuesday awarded a $13.3 billion contract for engineering and development work on a replacement for the Minuteman 3 missile, which has operated continuously for half a century as a key part of the nuclear force.

Critics call the replacement project wasteful and dangerous.

Democrat Joe Biden has not said whether he would, if elected in November, support the project, known officially as the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent. The project has bipartisan support in Congress.

The announcement came just one day after President Donald Trump assailed Pentagon leaders as eager to fight wars to generate profits for defense contractors. Trump at times has lamented the enormous cost of maintaining a big nuclear arsenal, but his defense budgets have supported nuclear modernization.

Award of the contract to Northrop Grumman NOC, +1.45% is a big step in a project that is estimated to eventually cost at least $85 billion. ……..

Critics, however, say the $13.3 billion sole-source contract for Northrop Grumman is driven more by political inertia than military necessity.

“Our nation faces major security challenges, including a global pandemic that has killed almost 200,000 Americans, and we shouldn’t spend our limited resources on new nuclear weapons that we don’t need and make us less safe,” said William J. Perry, who served as defense secretary in the Clinton administration and has written extensively since then on the dangers posed by nuclear weapons.

“The highest probability of starting a nuclear war is a mistaken launch caused by a false alarm and a rushed decision to launch nuclear-armed ICBMs,” Perry said in a written statement. “Instead of spending billions of dollars on new nuclear missiles we don’t need, we must focus on preventing accidental nuclear war.” https://www.marketwatch.com/story/air-force-awards-northrop-grumman-133-billion-contract-for-new-nuclear-missiles-2020-09-08

September 10, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

Ohio’s House Bill 60 – bailing out nuclear power, will not save consumers money.

Savings from HB 6 nuclear bailout don’t add up, advocacy groups say, Mark Williams, The Columbus Dispatch, 9 Sep 20,

Groups pushing for repeal of the bailout of Ohio’s two nuclear plants are challenging proponents of House Bill 6 who say the law will save consumers money. Instead, consumer and environmental groups say the legislation will add about $7 to a monthly bill.

Ohio environmentalists and consumer groups dispute the math that’s been used to justify the bailout of Ohio’s two nuclear power plants. They say House Bill 6, passed last summer, actually will increase the cost of the average monthly electric bill a family pays by about $7, not decrease it, as backers of the law say.

Efforts to repeal HB 6 have gained momentum since the indictment this summer of former House Speaker Larry Householder, who has been charged with four others in a $61 million federal bribery and racketeering scandal tied to the legislation.

“Supporters of House Bill 6 and those that are now arguing for no repeal or partial repeal are presenting similar cost savings information that is inaccurate and incomplete,” said Trish Demeter, chief of staff of the Ohio Environmental Council Action Fund……..

environmentalists and consumer groups said Wednesday that those numbers don’t tell the whole story.

Take energy efficiency, for example.

Those programs carried an average monthly fee of $3.36. The programs provide homeowners and small businesses with rebates and incentives to switch out aging appliances and upgrade old equipment that wastes energy.

Based on filings with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio, utilities report savings of $2.65 for every dollar invested. That means average monthly savings of $7.71 per customer, resulting in cumulative savings of more than $7 billion since 2009.

When you account for the lost efficiency savings, consumers are much worse off,″ said Chris Neme, principal of Energy Futures Group, which has worked on energy efficiency programs.

Demeter said the $1.50-per-month fee to shore up the two coal plants is supposed to end in 2030, but utilities are allowed to defer costs to operate the plants, which can be recovered later from consumers.

“Millions upon millions more (will be) coming out of Ohioans’ pockets and going to into the coffers of Ohio utilities,” she said.

The groups are calling on the legislature to consider the true costs of the bill and then repeal it.

Demeter also said repeal of the bill is necessary to begin to restore the public trust in the legislative process that’s been hurt by the scandal.

“Not repealing the bill as soon as humanly possible is sending a message the legislature is not interested in restoring that trust,” she said. https://www.dispatch.com/business/20200909/savings-from-hb-6-nuclear-bailout-donrsquot-add-up-advocacy-groups-say

mawilliams@dispatch.com

@BizMarkWillliams

September 10, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, spinbuster, USA | Leave a comment

Dominion Energy has filed to keep nuclear station in Virginia going for 80 years!

Dominion files to keep Virginia’s North Anna nuclear plant operating 80 years, Utility Dive, 9Sep 20,
Dominion Energy announced on Friday it has filed with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a 20-year extension of its license to operate two generating units at the North Anna nuclear power plant in Louisa County, Va.

North Anna Units 1 and 2 are currently licensed to operate through 2038 and 2040, having received original licenses in 1978 and 1980, respectively. If renewed, the combined 1.9 GW units would be able to generate carbon-free power until 2058 and 2060, Dominion said………..

September 10, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | Leave a comment

The United States and its allies must learn how to live safely with a nuclear North Korea

On North Korea, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace,Toby Dalton, Co-director and Senior Fellow Nuclear Policy Program, 9 Sep 20,

The hard realities of North Korea’s nuclear program require a new approach by the United States.North Korea’s nuclear weapons are a fait accompli. Kim Jong Un is determined to hold on to them to guarantee his survival. Neither unilateral disarmament nor military confrontation is a viable U.S. policy approach, and maximum economic pressure will not change Kim’s calculus. The United States and its allies must learn how to live safely with a nuclear North Korea.

The United States and its allies must learn how to live safely with a nuclear North

Three practical goals should inform a new U.S. policy toward North Korea:

Prevent crises that could lead to war
Cap North Korea’s arsenal of nuclear and long-range missiles and prevent their export
Buffer the alliances with Japan and South Korea against likely North Korean provocations

Additional objectives—for instance, preventing illicit trafficking and improving human rights—are important but ultimately secondary. Though desirable, regime change is too risky and uncertain to pursue, as recent experiences in Iraq and Libya suggest.

Accomplishing these three goals will require new negotiations just to establish rules of the road. North Korean demands are bound to be distasteful, but the costs of a negotiated agreement would be far less than those incurred through war or through increased military deployments in East Asia and the construction of a more extensive missile defense shield.

The costs of a negotiated agreement would be far less than those incurred through war.

Reaching a deal will involve helping North Korea overcome its suspicious, hard-nosed attitude. But an even greater challenge will be changing how Washington thinks about detecting and addressing the Kim regime’s possible cheating on a deal……… https://carnegieendowment.org/2020/09/09/on-north-korea-pub-82524

September 10, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | North Korea, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Donald Trump’s claim to have a new secret new weapon system, blowing a defense secret!

Trump Claims To Have Built A New, Secret Nuclear Weapons System, Forbes, Nicholas Reimann, 9 Sep 20.

President Donald Trump claimed to journalist Bob Woodward that he had overseen the creation of a new U.S. nuclear weapons system, saying, “We have stuff that you haven’t ever seen or heard about,”as the two discussed tensions between the United States and North Korea.

KEY FACTS

It’s not clear what Trump was referring to, but Woodward writes in his new book Rage that he later confirmed with sources that the U.S. military indeed had a secret new weapon system, and the sources said they were surprised Trump had disclosed the information, according to The Washington Post.

It’s possible that Trump was referring to the W76-2 warhead, according to the defense publication Task & Purpose.

That weapon was announced in Feb. 2018 as a relatively “low-cost” addition to the U.S. nuclear arsenal, and has a smaller explosive yield than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Trump made the comments to Woodward during one of 18 on-the-record interviews the famed Watergate journalist had with the president between December and July for his for his upcoming book, which is billed as providing an inside look at the Trump White House.

CRITICAL QUOTE

“I have built a nuclear — a weapons system that nobody’s ever had in this country before. We have stuff that you haven’t even seen or heard about. We have stuff that Putin and Xi have never heard about before. There’s nobody — what we have is incredible,” Trump said.

KEY BACKGROUND

Trump reportedly made the comments when reflecting on how close the U.S. came to war with North Korea in 2017, near the beginning of his presidency……… https://www.forbes.com/sites/nicholasreimann/2020/09/09/trump-claims-to-have-built-a-new-secret-nuclear-weapons-system/#4dcea85f1a1e

September 10, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA, weapons and war | 1 Comment

More reports of drones flying near Paolo Verde nuclear power plant, and others, and over spent nuclear fuel storage sites

Dozens More Mystery Drone Incursions Over U.S. Nuclear Power Plants Revealed, Forbes, David Hambling– 7 Sept 20, Forbes recently described how a swarm of drones flew in a restricted area at Palo Verde Nuclear Power Plant on two successive nights last September. A new cache of documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act (FoIA) reveals how 24 nuclear sites suffered at least 57 drone incursions from 2015 to 2019 – and Palo Verde itself was overflown again in December, despite new security measures.

The documents were obtained by from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission by Douglas D. Johnson on behalf of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies (SCU). The SCU’s main interest is in anomalous aerospace phenomena, more commonly known as UFOs, but Johnson uncovered a series of incidents involving something less exotic but potentially more threatening: commercial drones.

In the September incidents, a swarm of five or six large drones flew over Unit 3 nuclear reactor at Palo Verde in Arizona for about eighty minutes, a length of time which suggested they were carrying out a thorough survey of the site. The documents released at the time referred to a similar incident at Limerick Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania………….

We do not know how many involved multiple, simultaneous drone flyovers. At the time the list was generated, three of the incidents were listed as ‘Open’ and five ‘Closed Resolved.’ but the overwhelming majority, 49 of them, were ‘Closed Unresolved.’ This indicates that for 85% of the cases the NRC has no idea who the perpetrators are or what they intended, and has given up on finding them………

Limerick had five drone sightings, Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Cleveland, Ohio had six and Diablo Canyon near San Luis Obispo in California had no less than seven separate incidents from December 2015 to September 2018, all of them unresolved. The scale spread and number of intrusions indicate that this is not a local issue, and that the drone overflight may be carried out by a large, coordinated organization.

While most of the sites were nuclear reactors, there were also three drone incursions over spent nuclear fuel storage sites, including Trojan in Oregon and Rancho Seco in California where radioactive waste is stored in steel canisters inside giant concrete casks………..

While reactors themselves are protected by thick concrete domes able to withstand the impact of a crashing airliner, the above-ground pools in which spend nuclear fuel is stored may be far more vulnerable. A 2011 report by the Institute of Policy Studies noted that over 40,000 tons of highly radioactive waste is stored in pools, many above ground: “some of the largest concentrations of radioactive material on the planet.” These pools are not heavily protected, but are in light structures similar to big-box stores and car dealerships.

A 2003 report noted how vulnerable such pools were to terrorist action, simply by making a hole in the pool to drain out the cooling water and causing the stored fuel to overheat: “We warned that U.S. spent fuel pools were vulnerable to acts of terror. The drainage of a pool might cause a catastrophic radiation fire, which could render an area uninhabitable much greater than that created by the Chernobyl accident.”

Robert Alvarez, author of the 2003 and 211 reports, reiterated the danger from terrorist attacks on fuel pools in 2017…………. https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidhambling/2020/09/07/dozens-more-drone-incursions-over-us-nuclear-power-plants-revealed/#77285c0a6296

September 8, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | incidents, secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Climate change should be the central focus of the American presidential debates

Green groups press for climate focus at presidential debates https://www.politico.com/news/2020/09/03/green-climate-focus-presidential-debates-408453The effort is calling on debate moderators to press President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden to lay out their plans to fight climate change. ANTHONY ADRAGNA, 09/03/2020

A coalition of more than three dozen environmental groups is pressing the moderators of the upcoming presidential debates to make climate change “a central focus” of this year’s contests — after moderators in the 2016 debates failed to ask a single question on climate policy.

The effort, led by Evergreen Action and the collection of green groups working together in the independent organization Climate Power, is calling on debate moderators to press President Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Joe Biden to lay out their plans to fight climate change. Biden listed the issue as one of the top problems facing the country during his speech at last month’s Democratic National Convention, while Trump’s administration has dismantled many of the rules and policies put in place to address climate change under his predecessor.

“It is imperative the candidates seeking our nation’s highest office explain how they will address and prepare us for the current and increasing effects of the climate crisis and how they will combat the environmental injustice that has plagued Black and brown communities for decades,” the coalition of 41 groups wrote in a letter Thursday.

The details: Along with the letter, Evergreen launched a petition inviting signers to demand “climate be front-and-center in the 2020 debates” and soliciting potential questions to be asked.

The commission in charge of the debates announced Wednesday that “Fox News Sunday” anchor Chris Wallace, C-SPAN political editor Steve Scully and NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker would moderate the three presidential contests. Susan Page, Washington bureau chief for USA Today, will handle the vice presidential debate between Vice President Mike Pence and Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.).

Dozens of House Democrats sent their own letter Wednesday to the Commission on Presidential Debates demanding it “break precedent and publicly call on the moderators to include climate in the topics” discussed during the sessions.“In 2016, there was not a single question on climate change in any of the four presidential and vice-presidential debates. This cannot happen again,” the lawmakers, led by Rep. Mike Levin (D-Calif.) wrote. “We need a dedicated discussion on the climate crisis that matches the importance of this moment.”

Other signers of the environmental letter include Center for American Progress Action Fund, the League of Conservation Voters, the National Wildlife Federation, NRDC Action Fund, Physicians for Social Responsibility, the Sierra Club and the Working Families Party.

The context: Trump has recently softened his long-held view that climate change is a “hoax,” though has consistently derided efforts by Democrats to address the problem and slammed efforts like the Green New Deal as “radical” and “unthinkable.” He’s also eased regulations to the benefit of fossil fuel producers and weakened rules around vehicle fuel efficiency and power plant emissions designed to fight climate change.

Biden has called climate change one of the four crises currently facing the nation, along with the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, racial justice reckoning and economic devastation linked to the pandemic. However, despite significant support from all wings of the party, the Democratic National Committee ultimately opted against holding a climate-specific debate during the primary.

The only question remotely related to climate change during the 2016 cycle came from coal plant operator Ken Bone, who asked the candidates about energy policy, and he subsequently became an internet celebrity.

What’s next: The three presidential debates are slated for Sept. 29, Oct. 15 and Oct. 22, while the vice presidential session is due to take place on Oct. 7.

September 8, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA | Leave a comment

Joe Biden if president will push allies like Australia to do more on climate, adviser says

Joe Biden if president will push allies like Australia to do more on climate, adviser says

Jake Sullivan says the former vice-president, if elected, won’t ‘pull any punches’ on what is a global problem. Guardian Daniel Hurst @danielhurstbne, Mon 7 Sep 2020

Joe Biden will not pull any punches with allies including Australia in seeking to build international momentum for stronger action on the climate crisis, an adviser to the US presidential candidate has said.

If elected in November, Biden will hold heavy emitters such as China accountable for doing more “but he’s also going to push our friends to do more as well”, according to Jake Sullivan, who was the national security adviser to Biden when he was vice-president and is now in the candidate’s inner circle……..

While Australia’s prime minister, Scott Morrison, is likely to welcome the pledge of US coordination with allies on regional security issues, there may be unease in government ranks about the potential for tough conversations about Australia’s climate policies.

The Coalition government has resisted calls to embrace a target of net-zero emissions by 2050 and it proposes to use Kyoto carryover credits to meet Australia’s 2030 emission reductions pledge. Some Coalition backbenchers still openly dispute climate science.

Sullivan said climate change would be a big priority for Biden, both in domestic policy – with climate and clean energy issues placed at the heart of his economic recovery visions – and in foreign policy, where he would do more than just reverse Donald Trump’s decision to abandon the Paris agreement.

He has said right out of the gate, we’re not just rejoining Paris – we are going to rally the nations of the world to get everyone to up their game, to elevate their ambition, to do more,” Sullivan told the Lowy Institute. ………. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/sep/07/joe-biden-if-president-will-push-allies-like-australia-to-do-more-on-climate-adviser-says

September 8, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | election USA 2020 | Leave a comment

Bob Halstead has done a great job defending Nevada from nuclear waste dumping at Yucca Mountain

Nevada grateful for Halstead’s many years fighting nuclear waste, Las Vegas Sun , Monday, Sept. 7, 2020 On this Labor Day, t

he Sun salutes a recently retired Nevada leader whose three decades of tireless public service unquestionably made a difference in our state.

Bob Halstead, who stepped down last month as the executive director for the Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, will be long remembered for his staunch defense of the state against the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository project. It’s scary to think where Nevada might be today if not for Halstead and his guard-dogging against the federal government’s attempts to shove the nation’s high-level nuclear waste down our throats.

Halstead was the state’s foremost expert on the project, a walking encyclopedia of its many flaws. His credibility, geniality and commitment allowed him to work with Republican and Democratic governors, Nevada congressional delegates, state legislators and local officials alike.

That helped forge a unified front on the project that continues to this day. Outside of a few misguided officials, it’s difficult to find a Nevada leader who wants anything to do with Yucca Mountain.

Halstead also spearheaded the state’s response to the feds’ 2018 secret shipments of weapons-grade plutonium to the Nevada National Security Site, among other efforts.

Along the way, he became a nemesis of the Department of Energy, beating them back with legal and scientific challenges and poking their arguments full of holes………….

It’s certainly been an impressive fight, and a long one. It dates to 1987, when Congress passed the so-called “Screw Nevada” bill that designated our state as the national waste repository site — without our consent.

Since then, the project has been killed and resurrected repeatedly, most recently when the Trump administration pushed for funding to restart the licensing process. When President Donald Trump finally capitulated, it was a high point for Halstead after a career of bedeviling pro-Yucca presidents, bureaucrats and Congress members who were intent on shipping waste out of their own districts and dumping it on Nevada.

But as Halstead has noted, the fight isn’t over. It won’t be until there’s legislation that permanently shuts down the site.

With Halstead’s departure, that means the current and next generations of Nevada leaders will have to take up the cause just as fervently as he did.

We simply can’t let down our guard on this monstrosity, which would result in more than 110,000 metric tons of highly radioactive waste being shipped into the backyard of Las Vegas and stored there. Transporting the material is dangerous, especially for Las Vegas, given that one of the main routes takes shipments directly through the heart of the city. Think about the effects of an accident or a terrorist attack on a shipment going through the middle of Las Vegas.

As for storage, seismic activity in the region makes Yucca Mountain a terrible place to put this waste. A leak could contaminate groundwater for thousands of years — and keep in mind that we’re talking about enough material to cover a football field about seven yards deep.

There’s nothing close to scientific proof that the waste could be safely stored in the repository for the tens of thousands of years it will remain radioactive.

Halstead knew this, and for 30 years he refused to yield on it……..https://lasvegassun.com/news/2020/sep/07/nevada-grateful-for-halsteads-many-years-fighting/

September 8, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | opposition to nuclear, PERSONAL STORIES, politics, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

A Republican voter changes sides – wants nuclear disarmament

Nuclear policy her deciding factor https://www.hutchnews.com/opinion/20200907/letter-to-editor-nuclear-policy-her-deciding-factor, – Dawn Olney, Prairie VillageI In early 2020, at President Trump’s request, the U.S. built and deployed “low yield” nuclear missiles. This new model, W76-2, is currently armed on submarines and is an escalation of nuclear armament. As recently as May 2020, Trump and his administration have been in discussions to test nuclear weapons, which the US has not done since 1992.

The Republicans in the Senate approved at least $10 million in the 2021 budget for nuclear testing. It is unfathomable that the US would again spread radiation in our own country by detonating nuclear bombs, yet plans are being laid to do just that.

These steps surely increase the likelihood of nuclear development and warfare escalation by other countries, a vicious circle we have tried to avoid for decades. This behavior is obviously alarming to our allies, as our leadership position in the world continues to erode.

At the recent Republican convention, it was decided their platform would be to support President Trump’s agenda. Electing Trump and any Republican to the U.S. Senate and U.S. House would enable Trump to proceed with these dangerous plans that would escalate global violence and wars.

I used to be a Republican, but these decisions would be disastrous to the U.S. and the world. The best hope to avoid irradiation of our country by our own government, and to discourage the spread of nuclear weapons in the world, is to vote for Biden, Bollier and De La Isla.

September 8, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | election USA 2020 | Leave a comment

Dominion Energy wants to prolong old nuclear reactors – yet again!

Dominion Energy applies for additional 20-year license for its North Anna Power Station nuclear reactor units, By JOHN REID BLACKWELL Richmond Times–Dispatch, 7 Sept 20,

Dominion Energy, Virginia’s largest utility company, is seeking approval from federal regulators to continue operating its two nuclear reactor units in Louisa County until the years 2058 and 2060.

The Richmond-based company said Friday it has filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the North Anna Power Station’s operating licenses for additional 20-year terms.

An approval of the license would allow the company to operate the two reactors beyond a current license extension that was granted in 2003, which enabled the company to run the reactors until 2038 and 2040.

The original licenses for the two North Anna reactor units were granted in 1978 and 1980. As with all U.S. nuclear power plants, the original licenses were granted for 40 years……….

The application has not been made public yet. The NRC staff will conduct an initial review and ensure that protected information such as security-related information is redacted before the application is made public.

Two other nuclear reactor plants in the U.S.—the Turkey Point Nuclear Generating Station in Florida and the Peach Bottom Nuclear Generating Station in Pennsylvania—already have received a second renewal for their reactor licenses. …. https://fredericksburg.com/news/local/dominion-energy-applies-for-additional-20-year-license-for-its-north-anna-power-station-nuclear/article_ad34f155-d01d-5a41-9e05-8a48fe78fcf5.html

September 8, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Workers and families sue U.S. Department of Energy contractors over illnesses from work at Piketon-area nuclear plant

Former employees, families sue companies working on Piketon-area nuclear plant, https://www.dispatch.com/news/20200906/former-employees-families-sue-companies-working-on-piketon-area-nuclear-plant By Beth Burger
The Columbus DispatchThe lawsuit, filed last week, alleges workers and their families became ill due to the actions of U.S. Department of Energy contractors. The suit seeks a medical monitoring program to evaluate the multi-generational impact of radioactive contamination.

A lawsuit filed on behalf of former nuclear employees and their families accuses U.S. Department of Energy contractors of “poisoning workers and the people, land, air and water for miles” around the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant that was in southern Ohio.

The actions of DOE’s contractors released radioactive isotopes that “have created a situation akin to a creeping Chernobyl” and resulted in “injuries, sickness, disease, including cancers, damage to DNA, death, loss of and damages to property, and reduction in property values,” according to the lawsuit filed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Columbus.

The contamination likely spread in Pike, Scioto, Lawrence, Vinton and Adams counties in Ohio, according to the lawsuit.

Though the DOE is not named as a defendant in the case, its contractors are, including: Centrus Energy Corp., the United States Enrichment Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., Uranium Disposition Services, BWXT Conversion Services, Mid-America Conversion Services, Bechtel Jacobs Co., Lata/Parallax Portsmouth LLC, FLUOR-BWXT Portsmouth LLC, Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. and Martin Marietta Inc.

DOE spokeswoman Jessica Szymanski said Friday that the department does not comment on pending litigation.

The lawsuit is requesting a medical monitoring program that would evaluate the multi-generational impact of radioactive contamination.

“That is a major component of our request for relief,” said Nathan Hunter, one of the attorneys representing the plaintiffs, who noted that DNA damage could be transferred through generations.

There’s a workers’ compensation fund for nuclear workers, but that has failed the plaintiffs because of a host of issues, including falsified records, Hunter said.

The accusations are serious, and allege that DOE and the companies “actively deceived workers, the general public and regulators,” by suppressing critical information, including the release and spreading of nuclear poison, safety violations, arson, workplace exposures, and illegally transporting highly radioactive materials, as well as conspiring to destroy and falsify records.

Jeff Walburn worked in security at the plant for 31 years, and was hospitalized in 1994 because of damage to his lungs. He’s listed as a plaintiff.

“My life and family have been decimated by the nuclear scourge unleashed into the environment by these companies. These radioactive isotopes go into our bodies, creating cancers and genetic defects for generations,” he said in a released statement.

Charles “Chick” Lawson, a resident of Lucasville who was employed for 15 years in security and was the union safety representative and OHSHA investigator at the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, also is a plaintiff.

We are filing this lawsuit to expose the heinous actions and extensive cover-up by companies paid over a billion dollars to protect us,” he said in a released statement.

The lawsuit says that cancer rates in some affected areas are 700% greater than the national average. Scioto, Pike, Lawrence Vinton and Adams counties have the highest cancer rates in the state of Ohio, according to the lawsuit.

Pike County’s cancer rate was the second-highest in Ohio in 2019, according to the Ohio Department of Health. Vinton County had the highest rate of cancer, records show.

The lawsuit filed Thursday is the latest filed in connection to health issues associated with the former plant.

bburger@dispatch.com

@ByBethBurger

September 7, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | health, Legal, USA | Leave a comment

Exelon’s threat to Illinois – aiming to get more tax-payer funding

Illinois officials call Exelon plan to close 4 GW of nuclear a ‘threat’ to secure more subsidies, UtilityDive, Catherine Morehouse @cmorehouse10– Aug. 28, 202

Dive Brief:

Exelon on Thursday announced it would close two of its nuclear plants totaling over 4.1 GW of nuclear power by fall of 2021, blaming in part a 2019 rule implemented by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that raises the bidding price for state-subsidized resources in the PJM Interconnection…….
But stakeholders, including representatives from Illinois Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s office, say the utility’s “threats” are a thinly veiled attempt to secure more funding from the state. ……. https://www.utilitydive.com/news/illinois-officials-call-exelon-plan-to-close-4-gw-of-nuclear-a-threat-to/584301/

September 7, 2020 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, politics, USA | Leave a comment

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