During nuclear audit, Santee Cooper executives faced a question: ‘Disclose or not’
By Thad Moore tmoore@postandcourier.com
The $4.7 Billion Nuclear Bill That No One Wants to Pay Utility and South Carolina lawmakers clash over who should pick up the costs of abandoned project, WSJ By Mengqi Sun, 26 Aug 18
Aug. 25, 2018 The primary owner of a power plant with two partially built nuclear reactors in South Carolina walked away from the $9 billion project last summer because of high construction costs and delays. Now no one wants to pay for it.
The utility overseeing the Virgil C. Summer plant is asking ratepayers across the Palmetto State to shoulder its construction expenses of $4.7 billion, citing a law passed last decade. But local lawmakers are trying to force South Carolina Electric and Gas Co to pick up more of the tab. … (subscribers only) https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-4-7-billion-nuclear-bill-that-no-one-wants-to-pay-1535194801
Exelon welcomes community to learn about nuclear power, Watertown Daily Times By DEBRA J. GROOM
“This is cool,” he said.
Dominick, 6, a first-grader at Hastings-Mallory Elementary School, visited the Exelon Generation nuclear plant site Tuesday with his grandmother Diane Giamartino as part of the annual Community Information Night. Nearly 200 people showed up to learn more about what the company does at its three Oswego nuclear plants and the different types of jobs available in the nuclear industry.
There were two buildings filled with “cool” things to see, according to Dominick.
In the first building, visitors could watch a 3D printer turn out these spinning toys that Dominick and other children could take home. The small plastic devices were made of one piece of plastic, but had parts that would spin in different directions……..
Dominick saw even more “cool” stuff in the other Exelon building — especially the nuclear plant control room simulator used by employees. The control room is the brain of the plant, a place filled with various lights and readings on a huge control-room board that supervisors, senior reactor operators and reactor operators keep their eyes tuned to 24 hours a day to ensure all systems in the plant are operating correctly.
Jill Lyon, speaking for Exelon, said the Community Information Nights have been held since 2014 to help area residents learn more about what goes on at the plants.http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/news04/exelon-welcomes-community-to-learn-about-nuclear-power-20180826
The Hill 24th Aug 2018 The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) is updating emergency
US Air Force Tests Upgraded ‘Earth-Penetrating’ Nuclear Bomb, Sputniik News, 24.08.2018 The US Air Force sent out a B-2 stealth bomber to deploy an upgraded B61-12 nuclear bomb recently in an effort to review the weapon’s accuracy and ability to carry out its various attack options.
According to Warrior Maven, the latest upgrades enable the nuclear bomb to be able to carry out “earth-penetrating attacks, low-yield strikes, high-yield attacks, above surface detonation and bunker-buster options,” giving the Air Force a five-in-one kind of deal.
“The main advantage of the B61-12 is that it packs all the gravity bomb capabilities against all the targeting scenarios into one bomb,” Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project, told the website. “That spans from very low-yield tactical ‘clean’ use with low fallout to more dirty attacks against underground targets.”
“A nuclear weapon that detonates after penetrating the earth more efficiently transmits its explosive energy to the ground, thus is more effective at destroying deeply buried targets for a given nuclear yield. A detonation above ground, in contrast, results in a larger fraction of the explosive energy bouncing off the surface,” Kristensen added, noting that the B-2 bomber presently carries nuclear bombs of the models B61-7, B61-11 and B83-1.
However, the B61-12 nuclear bomb won’t be the only piece of military equipment to receive a facelift. The B-2 bomber, first introduced in the 1980s, is expected to see upgrades to its Defensive Management System, hardware used to help the bomber recognize and deter enemy air defenses, Warrior Maven reported. The US Air Force operates an estimated 20 B-2 bombers. Its next-generation competition is the B-21 Raider.
The latest test, conducted at an undisclosed area, follows news in late June that the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and the US Air Force tested two B61-12 bombs on June 9 at the Tonopah Test Range in Nevada……..
The life extension program is part of a joint effort to preserve the critical elements of the US nuclear triad, a three-pronged military structure consisting of land-launched missiles, nuclear missile-armed submarines and strategic aircraft with nuclear bombs and missiles. ……https://sputniknews.com/military/201808241067454740-earth-penetrating-nuclear-bomb-tested/
Trump orders Pompeo to delay nuclear North Korea talks due to lack of progress https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/24/trump-pompeo-delay-nuclear-north-korea-talks-lack-of-progress
‘I do not feel we are making sufficient progress’
Trump suggests US-China trade dispute may be to blame, Guardian, Martin Pengelly, 24 Aug 18, Donald Trump has directed the secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, to delay a planned trip to North Korea, the president tweeted on Friday, “because I feel we are not making sufficient progress with respect to the denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula”.
Trump met Kim Jong-un in Singapore in June, after months of abuse and threats between the two leaders and the US-led imposition of tough sanctions against Pyongyang.
Trump claimed the Singapore summit was a success, after he signed a joint statement which said in part: “President Trump committed to provide security guarantees to the DPRK, and Chairman Kim Jong-un reaffirmed his firm and unwavering commitment to complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.”
North Korea has returned to the US remains of soldiers killed in the Korean war, which was fought between 1950 and 1953 and has never formally ended. But critics have said the Singapore statement achieved nothing concrete and progress has been slow.
On Friday, at the end of a week in which the International Atomic Energy Agency said North Korea was still developing nuclear weapons, Trump made a striking U-turn.
Some of the blame rested with China, he said, “because of our much tougher Trading stance”.
Trump’s imposition of tariffs on steel and other imports has touched off an intensifying trade war with Beijing.
Trump added: “I do not believe they are helping with the process of denuclearization as they once were (despite the UN Sanctions which are in place).
“Secretary Pompeo looks forward to going to North Korea in the near future, most likely after our Trading relationship with China is resolved.”
Pompeo, formerly CIA director, has played a leading role in talks with North Korea, meeting Kim twice on three visits to Pyongyang. On Thursday, he appointed a senior Ford executive, Steven Biegun, to be his special envoy. The two men would visit the country next week, Pompeo said.
A senior White House official told Reuters Trump asked Pompeo not to go to North Korea during a meeting at the White House on Friday afternoon.
Trump tweeted: “I would like to send my warmest regards and respect to Chairman Kim. I look forward to seeing him soon!”
In response, Kelly Magsamen, vice-president for national security and international policy at the Center for American Progress and a former Pentagon and White House adviser on Asia, tweeted that Trump was “undermining his own leverage again. Not to mention his [secretary of state] and new envoy”.
“It’s fine to not send the secretary due to lack of progress,” she wrote, “but don’t then also talk about how you are eager to meet with [Kim] and how China is thwarting you.”
Trump left the White House on Friday for Ohio, where he was due to visit a hospital and speak at a Republican dinner. He did not respond to shouted questions about North Korea.
Guardian 22nd Aug 2018 The nation’s newest national wildlife refuge, filled with swaying prairie
grass and home to a herd of elk, is slated to open next month just outside
Colorado’s largest city.
But seven Denver metro area school districts
have already barred school-sanctioned field trips to the preserve. A top
local health official says he would probably never hike there.
And a town is suing over what the soil might contain. “The threat posed by
contamination at Rocky Flats and its effect on visiting children appears to
be an issue of dispute amongst experts,” Lisa Flores, a Denver public
schools board of education member, told the Guardian.
“Until we have definitive assurances of child safety, we will exercise an abundance of
caution.” The 2,119-hectare (5,237-acre) Rocky Flats national wildlife
refuge, due to open this autumn, sits on land surrounding what once was a
nuclear weapons production facility. From 1951 to 1989, the Rocky Flats
Plant manufactured plutonium triggers – grapefruit-size spheres that,
when compressed by explosives, catalyze a nuclear reaction. Though the
area, about 20 miles north-west of Denver, has been cleaned up and declared
safe by the government, plutonium remains in the ground where the facility
once stood.
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/aug/22/new-us-refuge-rocky-flats-plutonium-toxic
So what’s happening now is that there are so many warning signs already that in the ’20s, the cost of the nuclear modernization program is going to force cuts elsewhere in the defense budget, if you want to pay for it. So right now there are people who are out saying, well, why don’t we adjust the nuclear modernization program now, so we don’t have to make these catastrophe cuts later in that may mess up a program or create confusion about our posture and all these types of things.
But we have a very die-hard nuclear advocacy group or community right now that, every time they go to Congress and testify about the nuclear modernization program, it’s like, “Oh no, this is the only one, this is all we can do. Oh no, we can pay for it, it’s only a small portion of defense budget.” They just keep perpetuating this and all the warning signs are out that there are going to be some nasty adjustments that have to be made. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/checkpoint/wp/2018/08/24/the-modern-nuclear-arsenal-a-nuclear-weapons-expert-describes-a-new-kind-of-cold-war/?utm_term=.fba7f776436e
Cautious optimism surrounds nuclear waste storage progress in Minnesota, Duluth News Tribune, RED WING, Minn. 24 Aug 18 — Federal lawmakers voiced optimism Thursday, Aug. 23, about progress toward relocating the country’s radioactive waste to a permanent repository, though the community living closest to spent nuclear fuel in Minnesota has its doubts.
“Until we actually see it start moving, we won’t be 100 percent optimistic,” Prairie Island Tribal Council President Shelley Buck said about the more than two dozen dry storage casks holding spent nuclear fuel at Xcel Energy’s Prairie Island nuclear plant. The waste has been building up for years a few hundred yards away from the Prairie Island Indian Community.
The proximity of the storage casks, combined with the potential for flooding on the Mississippi River and derailment of an oil train that could block the only evacuation route off the island, puts the existence of the tribal community at risk, Buck said.
She made the comments during a roundtable discussion at the nuclear plant attended by U.S. Reps. Jason Lewis, R-Minnesota, and John Shimkus, R-Illinois, as well as representatives from the city of Red Wing, Prairie Island Indian Community and Xcel Energy.
Shimkus, who sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, sponsored a bill directing the Department of Energy to begin a program to consolidate and temporarily store the country’s spent nuclear fuel while a permanent storage facility is developed at Yucca Mountain, about 90 miles northwest of Las Vegas in the Nevada desert.
The bill, H.R. 3053, passed in the House by a vote of 340-72 in May. It has been referred to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.
Shimkus said he believes the bill would pass by the same ratio or better as it did in the House if it goes before the Senate for a vote.
Another hurdle is budget appropriations to fund Yucca Mountain licensing work.
Local storage, national issue.……..
Nevada lawmakers and residents have long opposed the Yucca Mountain plan, along with conservation groups, groups opposed to nuclear energy and those concerned about the safety of transporting nuclear waste across the country.
Lewis, who represents Minnesota’s 2nd Congressional District which is home to Prairie Island nuclear plant, said the issue extends beyond his constituents.
“This is a national issue,” Lewis said, noting nuclear waste is being stored at 121 locations across 39 states.
Xcel Energy also owns a nuclear plant in Monticello.
Ratepayers who benefited from nuclear energy had been paying into a government fund to finance the repository project to the tune of about $40 billion over 35 years, according to a House Energy and Commerce Committee report. Legal proceedings have since ceased the collection of funds. The federal government also is on the hook for lawsuits over the failure to dispose of nuclear waste.“We don’t have a choice but to get something done,” Lewis said. “And we are as close as we have ever been.” http://duluthnewstribune.com/business/energy-and-mining/4490010-cautious-optimism-surrounds-nuclear-waste-storage-progress
Murray Power looks to tap into nuclear energy Murray Journal By Shaun Delliskave|s.delliskave@mycityjournals.com Aug 23, 2018 Murray Power is moving forward with plans to tap into the nation’s first small nuclear modular reactor (SMR)—but not without opposition. Murray Power has, so far, committed $15,000 towards NuScale Power’s reactor, which is in development at the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls.Murray’s main power supplier belongs to the Utah Associated Municipal Power Systems (UAMPS) consortium, consisting of several municipally owned power systems in Utah. Murray City has subscribed to a portion of the nuclear plant’s capacity through its partnership with the UAMPS organization…….
NuScale Power is based out of Corvallis, Oregon and recently completed the Phase 1 review of its design certification application by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). NuScale’s reactor is the first and only SMR to ever undergo an NRC review. …….
Diane Turner, chair of the Murray City Council, is leery about Murray’s interest in a reactor using unproved technology. “I have concerns about Murray committing funds to a new energy form that has not yet been proven and is likely to cost billions of dollars. It is my understanding that our initial investment is not that high. However, it is my concern that as we get further into the commitment it will cost much more.”
Watchdog groups have also expressed concerns regarding the new reactor. HEAL Utah, an advocacy group that promotes renewable energy to protect public health and the environment from dirty, toxic and nuclear energy threats, attended a recent city council committee-of-the-whole meeting to advocate for cleaner renewable investments in power and to express their concerns. They argued that renewable energy is more cost-effective and proven technologies already exist……..
radioactive waste generated by reactors remains toxic for thousands of years. The NuScale reactor has space to store waste for 60 years. Nuclear reactors also draw significantly from water resources.
This is one reason for Council Chair Turner’s reservations. “I don’t know that it is in Murray’s best interest to invest in nuclear rather than making further investments in renewable energy that has been determined to be more environmentally and fiscally sound.” http://www.murrayjournal.com/2018/08/23/179014/murray-power-looks-to-tap-into-nuclear-energy
FT 24th Aug 2018 The US Army has increased its investments in solar power and is eyeing
further opportunities to work with the private sector to develop projects,
despite the Trump administration’s scepticism about renewable energy.
Michael McGhee, who leads the US Army’s Office of Energy Initiatives, told
the Financial Times that installing solar panels at army bases could
improve resilience against attacks or natural disasters, and provide
cost-effective electricity supplies.
https://www.ft.com/content/7c23057e-a3cc-11e8-8ecf-a7ae1beff35b
Wind, tidal conditions force Pilgrim plant to half capacity, http://www.patriotledger.com/news/20180823/wind-tidal-conditions-force-pilgrim-plant-to-half-capacity- By Joe DiFazio
The Patriot Ledger PLYMOUTH — The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station entered its fourth day at half capacity Thursday due to wind and tidal conditions.
Sea water helps cool the station and the plant’s spokesperson Pat O’Brien said that wind was blowing the warm water that leaves the station over toward the station’s intake.
The reduced power, he said, keeps the water leaving the station cooler.
“We can only take in water at 75 degrees and we reduce power to stay well below that,” said O’Brien.
Neil Sheehan, spokesperson for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said that tidal conditions also played a factor in the capacity reduction and pointed out that Cape Cod Bay’s water is generally warmer this time of year.
The power reduction, Sheehan said, should not have any impact on New England’s grid.
ISO New England, the region’s grid operator, said that nuclear power made up one quarter of the system’s fuel Thursday afternoon. New England has one other nuclear power plant in Seabrook, New Hampshire.
Pilgrim was offline for 43 days earlier this year to replace a startup transformer, said O’Brien. Winter storms and other repairs also put the station offline for several days.The beleaguered 45-year-old Pilgrim is the only station in the country’s lowest performance category for nuclear power plants due to technical problems and intermittent shutdowns. Pilgrim’s performance triggered additional federal oversight.
The plant is scheduled to go offline June 2019.
More than a dozen local environmental groups from coast to coast have organized the Freedom to Breathe Tour, where journalists, activists, and environmental-justice experts will present vulnerable communities with their case for swift and dramatic action on climate change. The 21-day tour, which begins August 25 and will traverse the entirety of the American South and Southwest, will illustrate the current climate realities for communities of color in the nation’s most marginalized places.
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The Victims of Climate Change Are Already Here With a new global summit approaching, communities in the southern United States are calling attention to the disaster scenarios they currently face., VANN R. NEWKIRK II |
Bailout money could be better used to cover gaps in tax revenue, help workers retrain for new jobs, and fuel economic development in affected communities. GreenTe4cyhMedia, AUGUST 23, 2018 Coal and nuclear facilities are facing a tough economic reality in the United States. Competitive power markets are oversupplied, while natural gas and renewable energy are undercutting coal and nuclear on cost…..
of the week– Nuclear Reactor Information Task Force
14 May – online event From Bombs to Data Centres: the Face of Nuclear Colonialism
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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