Michael Cohen and an Alabama Nuclear Plant Show Everything About This Administration* Is for Sale, A bipartisan swamp-dweller is back in the news. Esquire, BY CHARLES P. PIERCE, 31May 19
Have we mentioned recently that absolutely everything about this administration is for sale? From the AP:
The contribution from Haney, a prolific political donor, came as he was seeking regulatory approval and financial support from the government for his long-shot bid to acquire the mothballed Bellefonte Nuclear Power Plant in northeastern Alabama. More than two years later, he still hasn’t closed the deal. His tale is a familiar one in Washington, where lobbyists and wealthy donors use their checkbooks to try to sway politicians. It’s a world Haney is accustomed to operating in and one that Trump came into office pledging to upend. Yet Trump has left in place many of the familiar ways to wield influence.
Unpossible!
Trump’s former personal attorney, Michael Cohen, has given prosecutors information regarding Haney, his son and business associate, Frank Haney Jr., and the nuclear plant project, according to a person familiar with what Cohen told the authorities. The person was not authorized to speak publicly and requested anonymity. Haney had briefly hired Cohen to help obtain money for the Bellefonte project from potential investors, including the Middle Eastern country of Qatar. Cohen is now serving a three-year prison sentence for tax evasion, lying to Congress and campaign finance violations.
And because, as The Master warned us, money doesn’t talk, it swears, this Haney fella has been around the bipartisan block a few times…….
https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/politics/a27668121/alabama-nuclear-power-plant-michael-cohen-trump-administration/
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June 1, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA |
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Duke plans to decommission nuclear plant ahead of schedule, Gainsville.com By Carlos E. Medina, 31 May 19, It will seek permission to decommission the idle Crystal River plant about 50 years sooner than planned at a cost of $540 million.
Duke Energy wants to tear down its Crystal River nuclear power plant about 50 years earlier than planned, the company announced Thursday.
In 2013, Duke decided to keep the facility idle until 2074 and then demolish the physical plant after removing all radioactive material. But a recent review of the cost to accelerate the timeline found the company had enough money in their decommissioning trust fund to cover the accelerated plan, said Heather Danenehower, Duke communications manager.
They need approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to change plans and that process will take at least a year.
The accelerated process, which will take until 2027 to complete, would cost $540 million. The trust fund balance stood at $717 million on March 31. Whatever remains will go back to Duke’s customers. Customers, including the more than 66,000 in Marion County and the more than 4,000 in Alachua County, will not see their electricity bills increase because of the move, she said…… https://www.gainesville.com/news/20190530/duke-plans-to-decommission-nuclear-plant-ahead-of-schedule
June 1, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
decommission reactor, USA |
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Scientists Have Found A Way To Remove CO2 From Air, Which May Reverse Global Warming, https://www.indiatimes.com/technology/science-and-future/scientists-have-found-an-easy-way-to-remove-co2-from-air-reduce-global-warming-368327.html Gwyn D’Mello, May 31, 2019,
A number of research teams around the world are currently working towards
scrubbing all the excess carbon dioxide from the air. It’s one of the prime reasons we are seeing
record breaking rise in temperature across India this summer.Not only could this do wonders to push back global warming, but we can also put all of that CO2 to good use in other applications. Take this research team from the University of Toronto Engineering for instance. They’ve developed a new electrochemical path to transform carbon dioxide that’s been pulled from the atmosphere into valuable products like jet fuel or plastics.
“Today, it is technically possible to capture CO2 from the air and, through a number of steps, convert it to commercial products,” says Professor Ted Sargent who led the research team. “The challenge is that it takes a lot of energy to do so, which raises the cost and lowers the incentive. Our strategy increases the overall energy efficiency by avoiding some of the more energy-intensive losses.”
The previous direct-air carbon capture method does so by forcing air through an alkaline liquid solution. The CO2 dissolves in the liquid, forming a carbonate. To use that captured CO2 however, it has to be turned back into a gas, which is the convoluted part. It requires adding chemicals to the carbonate to turn it into a solid salt, and then heat that powder to a whopping 900-degrees Celsius to regain CO2 gas. That heating method is what’s responsible for the energy wastage that makes this sub-optimal.
This team’s new method instead uses an electrolyzer, a device that uses electricity to power a chemical reaction. Electrolyzers are sometimes used to produce hydrogen fuel from water, and this team realised they can also use it to release the CO2 from dissolved carbonate, skipping the heating entirely.
The electrolyzer also has a silver-based catalyst that immediately converts the CO2 into a gas mixture known as syngas. Syngas can be easily turned into a wide variety of products, including jet fuel and plastic precursors.
“This is the first known process that can go all the way from carbonate to syngas in a single step,” says Sargent.
According to the team’s reports, their method has an overall energy efficiency of 35 percent, much higher than current methods. They do believe there’s scope to improve that, and it can of course be scaled up to an industrial level given enough time.
When that happens, we might actually be able to set up giant plants, the sole purpose of which is to scrub carbon dioxide from our air, and turn it into products we can use, helping reverse climate change in the process.
June 1, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Canada, climate change |
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30 May 19 Hate to say it. It is true though. Expect a nuclear accident in the United States soon.
Trump has deregulated supervision of the 97 old nuclear reactors, in America.
Sixty of the old, beat-up, reactors are in flood zones and hurricane zones. The others are so old and decrepit, that any inclement-unpredictable weather, could cause a nuclear accident.
The soil in much of the Midwestern United States, Southeastern USA, and in the Southern United States is saturated with water from flooding, this year. That is the way it is now, in May 2019.
The soil is saturated from atmospheric rivers of rain, moving in quickly and, dumping their massive loads of water. The atmospheric-river phenomenon has been going on, for more than 10 years now, in the United States.
Atmospheric rivers of rain that come put of nowhere.
Hurricanes have grown progresssively worse and more numerous, in the past 10 years .
A deadly one-two punch of spring floods and later, Tropical storms and hurricanes, is upon us again.
The combination of flooding-saturation and then serial Hurricanes, cause Mega Climate Disasters. It also increases the probability of a Nuclear Accident in these regions, where there are numerous reactors.
We saw it with Hurricane Florence in Carolina, Harvey in Texas, Maria in Florida and Puerto Rico.
Paces like Tennessee, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas are saturated with water now. The water in the Atlantic and Gulf Of Mexico is hotter and higher, than it has ever been. People could not go to the beach, along much of the Gulf of Mexico on Memorial day because, the surf flooded the beaches. The beaches were flooded, from high winds and storming in the Gulf of Mexico. Similar phenomenon preceded the Horrendous Hurricane seasons, of the past few years. The surface of the Gulf is warmer than ever.
May 31, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
climate change, USA |
1 Comment
U.S., Canada Energy Leaders Announce New Book on Nuclear Innovation in Clean Energy USA Dept of Energy
MAY 28, 2019, VANCOUVER, CANADA – Today, leaders from the United States and Canada are unveiling a new book, Breakthroughs: Nuclear Innovation in A Clean Energy System, at the Tenth Clean Energy Ministerial (CEM10), a forum including ministers from 25 nations, occurring this year in Vancouver, Canada from May 27-29. MAY 28, 20
“The combination of vision and innovation is having a profound impact on our energy landscape, and nowhere is that more true than nuclear energy,” said U.S. Under Secretary of Energy Mark W. Menezes. “Nuclear energy is one of our most reliable and cleanest sources of energy, and we are determined to revive and revitalize the nuclear energy industry with advanced and smart designs. This book highlights some of the incredible transformative opportunities nuclear innovation can bring to society and the clean energy future of our planet.”
Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources Amarjeet Sohi said, “The Clean Energy Ministerial is part of building the world’s clean energy future. Canada is proud to host the 10th Clean Energy Ministerial in Vancouver at this historic moment in time. We are pleased to be working with the United States, Japan, and other countries under the nuclear innovation initiative. We also welcome the release of Breakthroughs – a collection a real stories about nuclear innovations and how they can contribute to our climate change goals.” ………
The Breakthroughs book is a product of the CEM Nuclear Innovation: Clean Energy Future (NICE Future) initiative that was launched at the May 2018 Ninth CEM in Copenhagen, Denmark. The NICE Future initiative envisions nuclear energy’s many uses in contributing to clean, reliable energy systems of the future. …….. https://www.energy.gov/articles/us-canada-energy-leaders-announce-new-book-nuclear-innovation-clean-energy
May 30, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Canada, spinbuster, USA |
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Canada’s nuclear waste to be buried in deep underground repository, By Eric Sorensen, Global News, 29 May 19, “……..While the nuclear creating heat and electricity has been well contained in reactors, ceramic pellets and fuel bundles, we have been left with big a problem that everyone saw coming: the hazard posed by nuclear waste.
At the Bruce plant, low and intermediate level wastes are accumulating. Low-level includes worker clothing and tools. Typically, they could be radioactive for 100 years. Intermediate-level waste is described as resins, filters and used reactor components that could be a hazard for 100,000 years.
Ontario Power Generation has slowly made headway for a plan to bury this waste in a deep underground repository next to the Bruce plant. Much of it now sits in large tanks with row upon row of cement lids poking above the surface.of the ground.
Fred Kuntz, wearing an OPG hard hat, gazed over the containers: “This is all safe storage for now, but it’s not really the solution for thousands of years. The lasting solution is disposal in a deep geologic repository.”
He pointed to a stand of trees. “The DGR would be built here.”
Some think that’s a terrible idea. The repository could leak, it could be attacked, and the location on the Bruce site is barely a kilometer from Lake Huron, which has opponents on both sides of the Great Lakes up in arms.
“There isn’t a magic bullet. It’s not like we can put it out of sight and we’ve solved the problem.” said Theresa McClenaghan of the Canadian Environamental Law Association.
She suggests humans have little concept of how long 100,000 years is. She questions whether the facility would last and whether we can be sure we’ll be able to communicate the dangers to some future civilization.
………..The deep geological repository was approved by an environmental review panel in 2015, but both the Harper and Trudeau governments have put off giving the final go ahead. It now appears to hinge on the approval by indigenous people in the region.
For the Saugeen Ojibway Nation, it’s about time they were consulted. Fifty years ago, the concerns of indigenous people were an afterthought when it came to major public policy decisions.
The nuclear plant was built on the traditional land of the Saugeen Ojibway. OPG says it has come to recognize the “historic wrongs of the past” and is negotiating compensation for those wrongs. And moving forward, OPG has given its assurance that the repository will only be built if the Saugeen Ojibway approve – from an afterthought to the power of veto over a multibillion-dollar enterprise……….
Remarkably, this is the relatively easy stuff to deal with: low- and intermediate-level nuclear waste. An even bigger problem is high-level radioactive used fuel. It too is piling up, primarily at the three big Ontario plants. It may be toxic for a million years. ……..
Ultimately they need to find one particular community to be a “willing host” for what amounts to 57,000 tonnes of used nuclear fuel……..
The plan is to pack the bundles into carbon steel tubes coated in copper – 48 bundles per container. They look like a big torpedoes. Each one will be packed snugly into what look like coffins made of a special clay called bentonite.
Thousands of bentonite boxes will be moved by robotic machines into hundreds of long placement rooms deep underground. Dried slightly, the clay will expand and plug every last space, ultimately sealing the repository. ……
Picking a host community, getting regulatory approval, building the repository, and transferring high-level waste will take the next 50 years.
It is separate from the OPG plan for low- and intermediate-level waste, which could have an answer from the Saugeen Ojibway Nation by the end of this year, and federal approval in 2020.
As it turns out, two of the NWMO sites for high-level waste – South Bruce and Huron-Kinloss – are also on Saugeen Ojibway land, so they may ultimately have to decide on separate nuclear waste projects on their land………https://globalnews.ca/news/5329835/canadas-nuclear-waste-to-be-buried-in-deep-underground-repository/
May 30, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Canada, wastes |
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National Security Adviser John Bolton Accuses Iran of Seeking Nuclear Weapons, TIME BY JON GAMBRELL / AP , MAY 29, 2019 (ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates) — President Donald Trump’s national security adviser warned Iran on Wednesday that any attacks in the Persian Gulf will draw a “very strong response” from the U.S., taking a hard-line approach with Tehran after his boss only two days earlier said America wasn’t “looking to hurt Iran at all.”
John Bolton’s comments are the latest amid heightened tensions between Washington and Tehran that have been playing out in the Middle East.
Bolton spoke to journalists in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, which only days earlier saw former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis warn there that “unilateralism will not work” in confronting the Islamic Republic……..
A longtime Iran hawk, Bolton blamed Tehran for the recent incidents, at one point saying it was “almost certainly” Iran that planted explosives on the four oil tankers off the UAE coast. He declined to offer any evidence for his claims.
…….Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif has repeatedly criticized Bolton as a warmonger. Abbas Mousavi, a spokesman for Iran’s Foreign Ministry, said later Wednesday Bolton’s remarks were a “ridiculous accusation.”
Separately in Tehran, President Hassan Rouhani said that the “road is not closed” when it comes to talks with the U.S. — if America returns to the nuclear deal. However, the relatively moderate Rouhani faces increasing criticism from hard-liners and Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the collapsing accord…….
Bolton also said the U.S. would boost American military installations and those of its allies in the region. …..
Bolton’s trip to the UAE comes just days after Trump in Tokyo appeared to welcome negotiations with Iran. http://time.com/5597424/john-bolton-iran-nuclear-weapons/
May 30, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Iran, politics international, USA |
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Closure of Pilgrim nuclear plant is part of a shifting energy industry, Boston Globe, By David Abel Globe Staff,May 28, 2019, “…….. If all goes right, the last of 145 crucifix-shaped control rods will be inserted into the reactor, shutting down operations for good.
“For many of us, it’s the end of an era,” said Joe Frattasio, 56, a control room shift manager who has been working for Pilgrim for 19 years and expects to remain at the plant until March. “Unfortunately, this is the reality of the industry.”
When Pilgrim shuts down, there will be 97 nuclear reactors left in the United States, down from a peak of 112 in 1990. Another 10 reactors are slated to close by 2025.
Concerns about the safety of nuclear power — especially after the disasters at plants in the former Soviet Union and Japan — have contributed to the industry’s decline. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission in recent years had designated Pilgrim one of the nation’s three least-safe reactors, forcing the plant to spend tens of millions of dollars on upgrades and inspections.
……. But the changing nature of the larger energy industry, and the resulting economics, has played an even larger role.
…… By next April, when Entergy expects to complete the first phase of the decommissioning process, only about half as many workers will remain.
“It’s a sad time, but also a time of reflection,” said Patrick O’Brien, a spokesman for Pilgrim, before a simulation of the shutdown on Tuesday at a testing facility near the plant.
As part of the process, the company will reduce the evacuation zone to the perimeter around the plant.
….. The future of the property may be left to Holtec International, a New Jersey company that’s seeking to buy Pilgrim. Although it has never owned or decommissioned a nuclear plant, Holtec has promised to complete the process in just eight years, well ahead of the 60 years allowed by federal rules. https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2019/05/28/pilgrim/p00dL7Ju623l3VZDiUvMJO/story.html
May 30, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
USA, wastes |
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NASA JUST GOT $125 MILLION TO DEVELOP NUCLEAR ROCKETS, https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-develop-nuclear-rockets DAN ROBITZSKI_ 29 May 19, For the first time since the 1970s, NASA is developing nuclear propulsion systems for its spacecraft.NASA didn’t request any money for a nuclear propulsion program, but it will get $125 million for the research as part of the space agency’s
$22.3 billion budget that Congress approved last week,
Space.comreports. If the program succeeds, nuclear propulsion could significantly cut down on travel time during missions to Mars and beyond.
Test Launch
Republican leadership sees nuclear propulsion as an important step along the way to deep space missions and the 2024 Moon landing with which Congress has tasked NASA, per Space.com. Alabama Representative Robert Aderholt described nuclear propulsion as “critical” for the 2024 launch in a budget meeting last week.
“As we continue to push farther into our solar system, we’ll need innovative new propulsion systems to get us there, including nuclear power,” Vice President Mike Pence told the National Space Council in March.
Sorting It Out
But before NASA can embrace nuclear-powered technology, there’s the matter of navigating regulations that govern the use of nuclear energy.
For the time being, the space agency hasn’t announced any plans to use nuclear propulsion for any of its planned missions, according to Space.com, but that may change as the technology develops.
May 30, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
space travel, USA |
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Russia ‘probably’ conducting banned nuclear tests, US official says, https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48454680 29 May 19, Russia may be violating a ban on the testing of low-yield nuclear weapons capabilities at a site in the Arctic, a top US intelligence official said.Lt Gen Robert Ashley, the director of the US Defense Intelligence Agency, said Moscow was “probably not adhering to” the rules of a recognised treaty.
He was referring to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), a multilateral agreement prohibiting nuclear testing.
Russia, which ratified the treaty in 2008, says it complies with the CTBT.
The US has signed but has not yet ratified the treaty.
Our understanding of nuclear weapon development leads us to believe that Russia’s testing activities would help it improve its nuclear weapons capabilities,” Lt Gen Ashley said on Wednesday.
He added that the US expected Russia, which he said was likely testing weapons in the Novaya Zemlya islands, to increase its nuclear arsenal “significantly” over the next decade.
But analysts received the statement with scepticism. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) said in a statement that it had not detected any unusual activity.
“The CTBTO has full confidence in the ability of the IMS [its monitoring system] to detect nuclear test explosions,”, the organisation said in a statement.
The CTBT, which bans nuclear weapons testing anywhere in the world, was adopted by the UN General Assembly in 1996. It sets out nuclear disarmament as a principle but diplomatically avoids the politics of the issue.
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May 30, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Russia, USA, weapons and war |
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https://www.kpbs.org/news/2019/may/29/san-onofre-task-force-questions-edison-about-nucle/ May 29, 2019, By Alison St John Members of a San Onofre Task Force convened by San Diego Congressman Mike Levin are meeting Wednesday with officials from Southern California Edison, which owns and operates the shuttered nuclear power plant in North San Diego County.
The Task Force was created to increase public involvement in the decommissioning of the plant, which shut down in 2012 after a small radioactive leak was discovered in the steam generators.
Levin said several Task Force members are concerned about burying spent nuclear fuel in stainless steel canisters encased in concrete, next to the beach.
“Our task force members had specific questions about those canisters,“ Levin said, “their safety, their design and the wear and tear that the coastal environment takes on them. Those questions were not answered sufficiently. Edison said, ‘We’ll have to have another meeting to discuss that,’ so we took them up on that, and we’re having another meeting.”
Levin said he has introduced legislation to put San Onofre’s nuclear waste at the top of the list to be moved if Congress decides on a location to store the nation’s spent fuel longer term.
His bill to earmark $25 million to identify and develop what’s called consolidated interim storage site recently passed the House Appropriations Committee.
May 30, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
USA, wastes |
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https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/letters/2019/05/29/letter-church-should/ By Leslie and Gail Ellison | The Public Forum, Dear Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring,
On May 5, 1981, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a bold and important statement opposing the placing of the MX missile train system in Utah and Nevada.
Our state is confronted with a similar situation today that simply cannot be ignored. Our legislators in the last session passedHB220 potentially allowing Class B and Class C nuclear wastes (including depleted uranium) to be transported to and stored at the Envirocare Skull Valley repository. These long-lived wastes increase in toxicity over hundreds of thousands of years. Every legislator that voted in favor of this legislation received donations from Envirocare.
Imagine the thousands of trains and trucks transporting these nuclear poisons, sloshing in their holds … forever. Insane!
There is so much wrong here, not only the dangers of transportation through population centers and the Envirocare site itself (open pit, shallow aquifer, etc.), but so many unknowns. This is a Utah state issue. Other states and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) cannot believe our state will actually welcome these toxic wastes.
This should not be a political issue. It is an extremely serious health concern for our families, our children and our children’s children. We call upon the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to take a stand in reversing this bill, similar to the brave and righteous position they took against the MX missile system in 1981.
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May 30, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
Religion and ethics, USA, wastes |
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Tornadoes Cut Across Unusually Wide Swaths of US, Raising Alarm for Climate Scientistshttps://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/05/27/tornadoes-cut-across-unusually-wide-swaths-us-raising-alarm-climate-scientists “There’s reason to believe major outbreak days are getting worse.” by Julia Conley, staff writer,
As the death toll in Oklahoma rose to six Monday amid an outbreak of nearly 200 tornadoes across the Midwest in recent days—as well as in areas far less accustomed to them—climate scientists said such patterns may carry warnings about the climate crisis and its many implications for extreme weather events.
In Oklahoma, tornadoes touched down in at least two cities, including El Reno and Sapulpa, over the weekend, injuring dozens and leveling a number of homes. The tornado that hit El Reno, a suburb of Oklahoma City, was given an EF3 rating, with wind speeds up to 165 miles per hour. Only about five percent of tornadoes are given an EF3 rating or higher.
The tornadoes hit after much of the state endured severe flooding last week, following powerful storms that overflowed the Arkansas River and damaged about 1,000 homes.
Outside the Midwest, at least one twister touched down near Washington, D.C., with reports of tornadoes in Texas and Colorado, and Chicago facing a tornado watch on Monday.
While tornadoes have long been a fixture in the Midwest, meteorologist Eric Holthaus tweeted last week that there is “reason to believe major outbreak days…are getting worse,” while climate scientists are examining links between the storms and the climate crisis.
The so-called “Tornado Alley,” which covers parts of Texas and Kansas as well as Oklahoma, appears to be growing, according to a study published in Nature last year—making tornadoes more frequent in states that rarely saw them previously including Arkansas, Mississippi, and eastern Missouri.
“What all the studies have shown is that this particular part of the U.S. has been having more tornado activity and more tornado outbreaks than it has had in decades before,” Mike Tippett, a mathematician who studies the climate at Columbia University told PBS Newshour earlier this year.
As the Kansas City Star reported on Sunday, scientists believe the warming of the globe—fueled by human activities like fossil fuel extraction—is contributing to higher amounts of water vapor in the atmosphere, causing heavier rainfalls which can spawn tornadoes.
The increase in destructive tornadoes across wider swaths of the country than in previous decades “may be suggestive of climate change effects,” Purdue University researcher Ernest Agee told the Star. And the unusual occurrence of tornadoes in far more densely-populated areas than those that frequently see such weather events has led to concerns that tornadoes will become more deadly and destructive than they’ve been in the past
May 28, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
climate change, USA |
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Energy overhaul: ‘Clean Air Program’ just for nuclear plants, not wind or solar.
Now, the veil is off.
Changes made to House Bill 6 last week would direct most of the $197.6 million collected from new fees on Ohioans’ electric bills to Akron-based FirstEnergy Solutions, which operates two nuclear plants outside Toledo and Cleveland.
Renewable energy companies from wind to solar would not get a cut of this “Ohio Clean Air Program.”
In a double blow, lawmakers also axed current programs that encourage electricity providers to purchase renewable energy and help customers become more energy efficient.
And lawmakers ensured utilities could charge customers a fee for two coal plants operated by Piketon-based Ohio Valley Electric Corporation through 2030. The plants are located in Gallipolis and Madison, Indiana. Wednesday’s changes likely jettisoned any hope of widespread Democratic support.
“It’s now just straight-up corporate welfare,” said Rep. Kristin Boggs, the Ohio House’s No. 2 Democrat. “I don’t know how else to describe it.”
That means Speaker Larry Householder, R-Glenford in Perry County, must rely on fellow Republicans to pass the energy bill – a divergence from his recent bipartisan strategy. And it’s not clear he has the votes yet. ……
opponents of the bill argue that investing in energy efficiency has saved the state $5.1 billion since 2009. No energy efficiency requirements will lead to higher electrical bills, environmental groups say. …….
Should Ohio bail out FirstEnergy?
At the heart of the debate is whether Ohio taxpayers should save FirstEnergy Solutions.
The company, which was spun off from parent FirstEnergy Corp., filed for bankruptcy in March 2018 with more than $2.8 billion in debt.
Without help from taxpayers, FirstEnergy Solutions says the company will close its two nuclear plants in Ohio: Davis-Besse, east of Toledo, in May 2020 and Perry, east of Cleveland, in May 2021……..
opponents of the bailout say FirstEnergy made poor business decisions by investing in coal and nuclear plants rather than diversifying its energy portfolio. The company’s financial situation is not Ohio ratepayers’ problem.
Nuclear energy is costly compared to natural gas, coal and some renewable energy. Nuclear plants require security, disaster plans and maintenance that other plants do not. That has made nuclear energy dependent on subsidies to survive nationwide………
FirstEnergy and pro-FirstEnergy groups have spent millions on campaign contributions, Facebook advertisements and television spots to encourage a deal that saves the plants.
Since 2015, FirstEnergy’s political action committee has given more than $1.74 million to Ohio political candidates and parties, according to an Enquirer analysis of campaign finance data.
Recipients of those contributions include Householder, Senate President Larry Obhof and Gov. Mike DeWine – the three politicians with the power to make a FirstEnergy bailout happen. https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/politics/2019/05/27/ohio-energy-no-money-wind-solar-just-nuclear-plants/3739552002/
May 28, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
politics, USA |
1 Comment
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Nuclear waste: A hot business? https://thebulletin.org/2019/05/nuclear-waste-a-hot-business/, By Thomas Gaulkin, May 24, 2019 It usually takes decades for defunct nuclear plants in the United States to be taken apart and cleaned up so the land can be developed for other purposes. Long after the main facilities are dismantled and their sites remediated, spent fuel remains radioactive and takes years to cool off in pools before it can be safely placed in concrete cylinders—dry casks, in industry lingo—for interim storage that could last years or even decades. Utility companies stuck with these useless sites often delay the costly cleanups as long as they possibly can.
But Bob Salsberg reports for the Associated Press that a profit-hungry industry is emerging to rescue electric utilities that have little enthusiasm for dismantling their own aging nuclear power plants. Behind a promise of dramatically reduced decommissioning times, in some cases by as much as 50 years, a group of companies wants to buy the retired plants, take on the work of demolishing them, and manage storage of the spent fuel rods that will likely be stuck on the plants’ grounds for a very long time.
Companies like Holtec International (which Salsberg reports has deals for several plants that are being retired up and down the east coast and in Michigan) will take on the nuclear facilities, their multibillion-dollar funds set aside for the decommissioning process, and the prospect of lucrative government compensation. (Since there’s no national long-term disposal site for high-level civilian nuclear waste, the concrete cylinders have to stay where they are until a long-term repository is created.)
Holtec claims it can safely store spent fuel in its specialized cylinders after only two years of cooling, instead of the five to 10 years of cooling now required. But opponents and some officials worry that encouraging commercialization of nuclear waste storage will jeopardize safety, and that the speedier decommissioning projects will hit more snags than they already do. Salsberg notes that Holtec International has “never managed a decommissioning start to finish.”
It’s also not clear that moving spent fuel from cooling pools into storage canisters a few years more quickly than it otherwise might be moved will make the former sites of nuclear power plants—still burdened with dry casks full of nuclear waste—all that attractive as developments sites.
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May 28, 2019
Posted by Christina Macpherson |
business and costs, decommission reactor, USA |
1 Comment
