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Karl Grossman on the Ohio Nuclear Scandal 2020

July 30, 2020 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Nuclear Energy Leadership Act (NELA), sneaked into National Defense Bill: it will go back to U.S. Congress

July 30, 2020 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Coast Guard To Deliver Nuclear Icebreaker Plan to White House

Coast Guard To Deliver Nuclear Icebreaker Plan to White House

The plan will include options to lease new breakers or build new nuclear-powered ships as Russia and China leap ahead of US capabilities in the Arctic.  WASHINGTON: The Coast Guard is on track to deliver plans for a new generation of potentially nuclear-powered icebreakers to the White House by August 10, just two months after the Trump administration issued a surprise public directive to do so…….. https://breakingdefense.com/2020/07/coast-guard-to-deliver-nuclear-icebreaker-plan-to-white-house/

July 30, 2020 Posted by | technology, USA | Leave a comment

U.S. Nuclear Agency Workers Say Cost-Cutting Is Hurting Safety

U.S. Nuclear Agency Workers Say Cost-Cutting Is Hurting Safety, Charlie McGee,  Bloomberg News, July 30, 2020, 

  • NRC inspector general survey shows worry among employees
  • Shrinking resources, fewer inspections cited in report

Employees of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission fear that cost cutting has reduced that agency’s commitment to safety, according to a survey by a government watchdog.

The NRC’s Inspector General polled more than 2,100 employees at the agency, which is charged with overseeing safety at the nation’s nuclear power plants……. (subscribers only)  https://news.bloomberglaw.com/daily-labor-report/u-s-nuclear-agency-workers-say-cost-cutting-is-hurting-safety

July 30, 2020 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

US-Russia launch talks in Vienna on nuclear arms control

US-Russia launch talks in Vienna on nuclear arms control,   https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/russia-launch-talks-vienna-nuclear-arms-control-200728100744019.html  29 Jul 20, 

The talks come less than a year before the expiration of New START, the last remaining nuclear arms control deal.  The United States and Russia have entered a new phase of talks on nuclear arms control in Vienna, with working groups comprising government experts from both sides starting to meet for the first time.Over the course of three days, starting Tuesday, the groups of experts will deal with military doctrines and potentials, transparency and verification, as well as with security in space, according to the Russian foreign ministry.

The new format was set up in June in negotiations between US arms-control envoy Marshall Billingslea and Russia Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov in the Austrian capital.

The talks are taking place less than a year before the expiration of the New START agreement, the last remaining nuclear arms-control deal between the countries, which together possess about 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons.

The US-Russia Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which had banned nuclear-capable, land-launched missiles with a range between 500km (310 miles) and 5,500km (3,417 miles), ended last year, after the US initiated a pull-out, accusing Moscow of cheating.

Washington also wants China to take part in the arms control negotiations, but Beijing has made it clear that it is not interested.

July 30, 2020 Posted by | politics international, Russia, USA | Leave a comment

Looks as if 20 municipalities in Utah have been NuScammed for those not so small nuclear reactors

readers may wonder how UAMPS convinced some members to sign an “option” contract, which eventually converts to a “hell-or-high-water” contract, meaning that the buyer has no right, under any circumstances, to abandon the contract once construction, the Achilles heel of nuclear projects, is authorized.

July 28, 2020 Posted by | business and costs, marketing of nuclear, politics, secrets,lies and civil liberties, Small Modular Nuclear Reactors, spinbuster, USA | Leave a comment

Dismantling of San Onofre nuclear station, but high level radioactive trash remains onsite

San Onofre Decommissioning Update  https://www.kpbs.org/news/2020/jul/27/san-onofre-decommissioning-update/ Monday, July 27, 2020, By Alison St John  Work continues to dismantle the San Onofre nuclear power plant, which provided San Diego with 20% of its electricity until 2012 when it shut down prematurely, due to a radiation leak. The process of decommissioning the plant is more controversial than its 44 years in operation. The question is whether the high-level nuclear waste, which remains radioactive for tens of thousands of years, can be safely disposed of?

Rob Nikolewski, energy reporter for The San Diego Union-Tribune, has been following the progress of decommissioning and storing the radioactive waste.

Nikolewski said one very large chunk classified as low-level nuclear waste has already been transported to a storage site near Clive, Utah. The 770-ton reactor vessel was shipped by rail and a convoy of eight trucks across over 400 miles to its destination. Millions more pounds of low-level waste will be broken down into smaller pieces and transported to Clive, where the private company Energy Solutions has a licensed repository.

However the high-level waste — hundreds of spent fuel rods — remains on-site, since the federal government has failed to approve a long- term storage site for the nation’s high-level nuclear waste. Southern California Edison, which owns the plant, has nearly finished transferring canisters of highly radioactive spent fuel rods into over 70 concrete bunkers next to the beach.

Earlier this month the California Coastal Commission approved Edison’s permit for the decommissioning, including removing the cooling pools which originally held the stored spent fuel rods. The Commissioners reserved the right to review the permit in 15 years and if there is evidence of cracking or other problems such as sea-level rise that threaten the integrity of the canisters, the permit holder could be required to move them.

San Diego Congressman Mike Levin is concerned about the safety of the site, which is in his district and has millions of people living within 50 miles. Levin convened a task force that met for a year and recently came out with a report. One recommendation is that since the federal government has not approved a long-term storage site for high-level nuclear waste, the state of California should take more responsibility for how the nuclear waste is disposed of.

Nikolewski said he has not seen any evidence of state officials stepping forward to hold the companies accountable. He said federal law may need to be changed to allow for that.

The distinctive twin domes that are visible from the Interstate 5 will be removed sometime between 2025 and 2027, and decommissioning the plant, including removal of the low-level nuclear waste, should be complete within 6 to 8 years. The high-level waste will remain indefinitely, in bunkers near the beach.

July 28, 2020 Posted by | decommission reactor, USA | Leave a comment

U.S. International Development Finance Corporation now calling nuclear projects “renewable”

July 28, 2020 Posted by | politics, politics international, spinbuster, USA | Leave a comment

Investigation into several Ohio nuclear bailout bills

July 28, 2020 Posted by | legal, secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

Former executive of South Carolina utility Scana Corp has pleaded guilty in nuclear conspiracy case

US executive pleads guilty in nuclear project delay cover-up   https://www.globalconstructionreview.com/news/us-executive-pleads-guilty-nuclear-project-delay-c/, 27 July 2020 | By GCR Staff 

A former executive of South Carolina utility Scana Corp has pleaded guilty to his role in what investigators called a “breathtaking” conspiracy to hide unresolvable problems in a project to build a $10bn nuclear power plant.

Stephen Byrne, 60, an executive vice president of Scana, repeatedly assured investors, taxpayers and state officials that two new units at the VC Summer nuclear power station would be finished in time to qualify for a federal nuclear production tax credit, worth up to $1.4bn, that is set to expire on 31 December this year.

Prosecutors said Byrne knew the scheme was hopelessly behind and over budget, but that his and co-conspirators’ deceptions allowed Scana to obtain rate increases from Scana’s customers to continue financing it.

“This conspiracy to defraud Scana customers is breathtaking in scope and audacity,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Jody Norris. “The FBI remains committed to ensure all those responsible for this crime, which only served to enrich a few by robbing families and communities within South Carolina, are held accountable.”

Byrne, who was in charge of Scana’s nuclear work, agreed a plea deal with prosecutors and has been cooperating with investigators. He faces up to five years in prison.

Peter McCoy, US attorney for the district of South Carolina, told reporters outside the courtroom after the plea: “Today is a good start to years upon years of investigation, so we’re mighty proud about what happened here today.”

The project to add two reactors to the station was abandoned by Scana subsidiary SCE&G three years ago after it became mired in cost overruns and then fell foul of the collapse of Westinghouse, a subsidiary of Japanese engineer Toshiba, which was carrying out the work.

The first concrete pour for unit two was made in March 2013, making it the first reactor to start construction in the US in 30 years. The first concrete for unit three was completed in November of the same year. However, the original $9.8bn cost of the scheme had increased to roughly $25bn by 2017.

As an example of Byrne’s deception, prosecutors gave evidence that in July 2016, Byrne submitted written testimony to the South Carolina Public Service Commission, the Office of Regulatory Staff and the public stating that the construction schedule was “logical and appropriate” when Byrne knew it was unreliable and unlikely to be achieved.

As part of the plea deal, the Virginia-based utility Dominion Energy, which acquired Scana in 2018, will provide $4bn to state rate-payers as damages for criminal activity that took place in 2015 and 2016.

The US Securities and Exchange Commission filed a second lawsuit against Byrne and former Scana chief executive Kevin Marsh in February, also connected with misleading statements about progress at VC Summer.

Byrne joined Scana in 1995 and has more than 30 years’ experience in the utility industry. He has been released pending sentencing.

Image: The second containment vessel ring being placed on unit two in February 2017 (Santee Cooper)

Further reading:

July 28, 2020 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

U.S. Navy’s safety culture’s deficiencies

Faults Cited After A 2008 Nuclear Carrier Fire Exacerbated The Bonhomme Richard Conflagration, Forbes,
Craig Hooper,  Senior Contributor, 27 Jul 20,   In the aftermath of the disastrous fire aboard the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD-6) the U.S. Navy is cracking down on lax waterfront safety practices. This is not enough. Unless the U.S. Navy wants to risk a repeat of the Bonhomme Richard fire at sea, the Navy’s safety standup must extend beyond the pier, encompassing fire safety across the entire Navy enterprise.

As the USS Bonhomme Richard fire—and as at least 4 other major pier-side fires have demonstrated since a shipyard arsonist torched the attack submarine USS Miami (SSN-755) in 2012—the pier is a dangerous place for any naval vessel. Earlier in the month, as the wrecked amphibious assault ship still smoldered, the Navy’s waterfront chronic safety culture shortcomings were re-emphasized and emphasized again after workers inexplicably sparked two minor fires aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD-3) and America’s undelivered super carrier, the John F. Kennedy (CVN-79).

The Navy’s pier-side safety standup is as welcome as it is overdue.  . But the Navy also needs to take a closer look at fire safety at sea and throughout the enterprise. In the past month, far too many have sought to minimize safety culture,……………

Conclusion:

The fact that the Navy is moving so quickly to address almost exactly the same deficiencies as those identified after the 2008 fire aboard the USS George Washington is concerning. At a minimum, it suggests that most of the firefighting deficiencies and lax pier-side safety culture that contributed to the demise of the USS Bonhomme Richard are well-known and widely disseminated across the Navy enterprise.

The fact that exactly the same firefighting and safety deficiencies still exist little more than decade after a fire sidelined an underway and strategically critical U.S. Navy platform is inexplicable. The lack of urgency in driving and sustaining a solution to the Navy’s lax fire safety culture is mind-boggling. This is a massive vulnerability. And with Navy’s fire safety proven to be a large—and systemic—national security risk, America must assume sophisticated rivals have noted the Navy’s lax safety culture and are currently targeting these vulnerabilities at individual, command and enterprise levels.

If a rival knows that the persistent encouragement of bad safety practices and the deliberate minimization of real safety risks can effectively sink a carrier for less than the cost of a single carrier-killing missile, there is no reason not to try it.

Follow me on Twitter or LinkedIn. Check out my website.   https://www.forbes.com/sites/craighooper/2020/07/27/faults-cited-after-a-2008-nuclear-carrier-fire-exacerbated-the-bonhomme-richard-conflagration/#3a72e354308a

July 28, 2020 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

Ohio’s tainted House Bill 6 likely to be repealed. What now for the nuclear power plants?

Ohio’s nuclear plants face new uncertainty as HB 6 comes under attack, Crains Cleveland Business, DAN SHINGLER  26 Jul 20, So what happens to Ohio and its nuclear plants now?

It’s becoming apparent that 2019’s House Bill 6, the now-tainted law that provides about $150 million a year in subsidies primarily to Ohio’s two nuclear plants, likely will be repealed.

But will it be replaced? And if so, will the plants, which Ohioans were told would close without the subsidies, be saved?

Those are questions now causing angst from Columbus, where state lawmakers are grappling with the issue, to the Toledo area and Lake County, where the affected Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear plants are respectively located. The companies involved, FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron and its former subsidiary, Energy Harbor, which owns the plants, have yet to say how they might address the matter and have declined interview requests.

Legislators, economic developers and others across the state expressed their disgust with the situation — which already has become one of the largest scandals in Ohio’s history and resulted in the July 21 arrest of House Speaker Larry Householder and  four others for what federal officials say was a $60 million bribery scheme to pass the law…….

Cirino said he would like to see HB 6’s subsidies remain in place, but he’s resigned to the bill likely being repealed. A number of lawmakers have already announced legislation to undo HB 6, and Gov. Mike DeWine, who said he supported keeping the law in place when the scandal broke, had reversed course by July 23 and joined calls for it to be repealed. ………

some GOP lawmakers working to repeal HB 6 are expressing support for renewables.

“Renewable energy in the long run will save the consumer a lot of money, in addition to the job development,” said Rep. Laura Lanese, R-Grove City, who is working on legislation to repeal HB 6. She and other lawmakers, from both parties, are calling for Ohio to start over on a new energy policy.

“We need to start afresh with any new energy legislation going forward,” Lanese said at a July 23 news conference.  …………. https://www.crainscleveland.com/government/ohios-nuclear-plants-face-new-uncertainty-hb-6-comes-under-attack

July 27, 2020 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Alaska’s permafrost degrading as summer rainfall increases

Alaska is getting wetter. That’s bad news for permafrost and the climate.   UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO AT BOULDER   EurekAlert  26 Jul 20, Alaska is getting wetter. A new study spells out what that means for the permafrost that underlies about 85% of the state, and the consequences for Earth’s global climate.

The study, published today in Nature Publishing Group journal Climate and Atmospheric Science, is the first to compare how rainfall is affecting permafrost thaw across time, space, and a variety of ecosystems. It shows that increased summer rainfall is degrading permafrost across the state.

As Siberia remains in the headlines for record-setting heat waves and wildfires, Alaska is experiencing the rainiest five years in its century-long meteorological record. Extreme weather on both ends of the spectrum–hot and dry versus cool and wet–are driven by an aspect of climate change called Arctic amplification. As the earth warms, temperatures in the Arctic rise faster than the global average.
While the physical basis of Arctic amplification is well understood, it is less known how it will affect the permafrost that underlies about a quarter of the Northern Hemisphere, including most of Alaska. Permafrost locks about twice the carbon that is currently in the atmosphere into long-term storage and supports Northern infrastructure like roads and buildings; so understanding how a changing climate will affect it is crucial for both people living in the Arctic and those in lower latitudes. ………   https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2020-07/uoca-aig072420.php

July 27, 2020 Posted by | climate change, USA | Leave a comment

USA wants nuclear power stations on the moon and on Mars

U.S. eyes building nuclear power plants for moon and Mars    https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/u-s-eyes-building-nuclear-nts-fpower-plaor-moon-and-mars  Nation Jul 24, 2020 BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The U.S. wants to build nuclear power plants that will work on the moon and Mars, and on Friday put out a request for ideas from the private sector on how to do that.

The U.S. Department of Energy put out the formal request to build what it calls a fission surface power system that could allow humans to live for long periods in harsh space environments.

The Idaho National Laboratory, a nuclear research facility in eastern Idaho, the Energy Department and NASA will evaluate the ideas for developing the reactor.

The lab has been leading the way in the U.S. on advanced reactors, some of them micro reactors and others that can operate without water for cooling. Water-cooled nuclear reactors are the vast majority of reactors on Earth.

“Small nuclear reactors can provide the power capability necessary for space exploration missions of interest to the Federal government,” the Energy Department wrote in the notice published Friday.

The Energy Department, NASA and Battelle Energy Alliance, the U.S. contractor that manages the Idaho National Laboratory, plan to hold a government-industry webcast technical meeting in August concerning expectations for the program.

The plan has two phases. The first is developing a reactor design. The second is building a test reactor, a second reactor be sent to the moon, and developing a flight system and lander that can transport the reactor to the moon. The goal is to have a reactor, flight system and lander ready to go by the end of 2026.

The reactor must be able to generate an uninterrupted electricity output of at least 10 kilowatts. The average U.S. residential home, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, uses about 11,000 kilowatt-hours per year. The Energy Department said it would likely take multiple linked reactors to meet power needs on the moon or Mars.

In addition, the reactor cannot weigh more than 7,700 pounds (3,500 kilograms), be able to operate in space, operate mostly autonomously, and run for at least 10 years.

“This may drive or start an international space race to build and deploy new types of reactors requiring highly enriched uranium.”

– Edwin Lyman, director of Nuclear Power Safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists

The Energy Department said the reactor is intended to support exploration in the south polar region of the moon. The agency said a specific region on the Martian surface for exploration has not yet been identified.

Edwin Lyman, director of Nuclear Power Safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists, a nonprofit, said his organization is concerned the parameters of the design and timeline make the most likely reactors those that use highly enriched uranium, which can be made into weapons. Nations have generally been attempting to reduce the amount of enriched uranium being produced for that reason.

“This may drive or start an international space race to build and deploy new types of reactors requiring highly enriched uranium,” he said.

Earlier this week, the United Arab Emirates launched an orbiter to Mars and China launched an orbiter, lander and rover. The U.S. has already landed rovers on the red planet and is planning to send another next week.

Officials say operating a nuclear reactor on the moon would be a first step to building a modified version to operate in the different conditions found on Mars.

“Idaho National Laboratory has a central role in emphasizing the United States’ global leadership in nuclear innovation, with the anticipated demonstration of advanced reactors on the INL site,” John Wagner, associate laboratory director of INL’s Nuclear Science & Technology Directorate, said in a statement. “The prospect of deploying an advanced reactor to the lunar surface is as exciting as it is challenging.”

July 27, 2020 Posted by | space travel, USA | Leave a comment

Union of Concerned Scientists, nuclear watchdogs and environmentalists push for elimination of funding for nuclear testing

July 27, 2020 Posted by | politics, USA, weapons and war | Leave a comment

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