Florida’s new nuclear plants – costs escalating
Rising cost of Florida’s new nuclear power getting scrutiny Customer groups ask state regulators to require FPL and Progress Energy to answer how much new nuclear plants will cost and when they’ll be built, Miami Herald, Mary Ellen Klas, 1 August 11, TALLAHASSEE –– For the past two years, customers of Florida’s largest electric companies have been paying to build new nuclear power plants that have an escalating price tag and no guarantee of completion.Attorneys for consumers and the state’s largest electricity users told the Public Service Commission on Monday to demand answers from the utilities…..
The Office of Public Counsel also wants the PSC to impose stronger standards on how FPL calculates its costs. It said that the cost of expanding its nuclear capacity at its Turkey Point plant has escalated from $1.4 billion to $1.8 billion in the last year, but the company makes the project appear more cost effective by not including what it has already spent on the project……http://www.miamiherald.com/2011/08/01/2340842/rising-cost-of-floridas-new-nuclear.html
Connecting nuclear and renewable energy – not a good idea?
Nuclear permit, renewables issues connected, Columbia Daily Tribune, By RUDI KELLER, August 1, 2011 A forced marriage between nuclear power issues and rules for renewable energy standards seems likely if Missouri lawmakers are to consider — in a special session — whether utility customers will be required to pay for the first step toward building a new nuclear reactor.
Reversal of ruling may affect agenda. On Friday, Cole County Circuit Judge Daniel Green reversed his ruling from late June that had seemingly allowed the two issues to remain separate. That ruling, nuclear power advocates and representatives of industrial ratepayers had said, settled many of the issues that remained from a 2008 initiative setting standards for renewable energy…..
PSC Chairman Kevin Gunn said he sees no reason why the two issues are joined other than as a legislative convenience. “The renewable energy should probably not be married to the early site permit,” he said…..http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2011/aug/01/nuclear-permit-renewables-issues-connected/
Environmental impacts of uranium mining in Colorado for DOE study
DOE opens large-scale review of uranium mining, By Matthew Beaudin, Editor of the Telluride Daily Planet, July 31, 2011 The U.S. Department of Energy will conduct a comprehensive analysis of the environmental impacts of uranium mining and milling in southwestern Colorado after much prodding from environmental groups.
Until now, the DOE reviewed the mining operations piecemeal rather than addressing the cumulative impacts of increased production in the region, which it made possible in 2008 with the renewal of its leasing program in the Uravan Mineral Belt, awarding or renewing 31 leases for mining-related activities over 25,000 acres between Naturita and Moab, Utah.
News : DOE opens large-scale review of uranium mining (Montrose, CO)
USA’s pro nuclear Blue Ribbon Waste Commission rejects nuclear reprocessing
The good news: The BRC rejects reprocessing for now. The report states: “No currently available or reasonably foreseeable reactor and fuel cycle technology developments—including advances in reprocess and recycle technologies—have the potential to fundamentally alter the waste management challenge this nation confronts over at least the next several decades, if not longer.
Waste Commission rubberstamps more nuclear, but rejects reprocessing – for now Beyond Nuclear 30 July 11, A year and a half after its creation, on July 29th Energy Secretary Chu’s “Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future” (BRC) has published its draft report of recommendations for dealing with the mountain of U.S. high-level radioactive waste now nearly 70 years high. Continue reading
USA’s nuclear waste management in a mess
Panel Scorns Nuclear-Waste Policy, WSJ.com, 29 July 11, By RYAN TRACY, A presidential panel Friday scolded the U.S. government for failing to effectively deal with a growing stockpile of radioactive nuclear waste, saying Washington should change course and create a new, independent entity to decide where to dump it.
In a draft of its final report, which is due in January, the Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future said the current policy for dealing with nuclear waste is “all but completely broken down.”
The Obama administration didn’t support or reject the recommendations presented by the panel in the draft…..Panel Scorns Nuclear-Waste Policy – WSJ.com
New York monitoring for potential ‘dirty bombs’
NYPD Testing “Dirty Bomb” Monitoring Network, NTI: Global Security Newswire -July 29, 2011 The New York Police Department is preparing to bring online an innovative monitoring network for detecting the presence of radiological materials that could be part of a “dirty bomb,” the Associated Press reported on Friday (see GSN, April 12).
The system links the 2,000 compact radiation sensors used daily by officers to a command post in lower Manhattan, which would receive an alert if any one of the detectors picked up a trace of a potential radiological weapon. The technology is being tested and federal officials want to see if it could be put into place in other parts of the United States……NTI: Global Security Newswire – NYPD Testing “Dirty Bomb” Monitoring Network
Fish killed by nuclear plant’s hot water release
Oyster Creek nuclear plant pump shuts down, resulting in fish kill, July 29, 2011, By Eliot Caroom/The Star-Ledger Pumps that cool water as it leaves the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant shut down yesterday evening, causing a rise in water temperature and a fish kill in a canal, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said today.
Electricity stopped due to a problem with the Jersey Central Power & Light grid, and the pumps shut down at 8:05 p.m., the a spokesman for the NRC said.
“Oyster Creek reduced reactor power to control discharge water temperatures, but a fish kill was subsequently identified in the canal,” said spokesman Neil Sheehan in an email. Exelon said in a statement that 300 fish were lost due to the temperature rise…..Oyster Creek nuclear plant pump shuts down, resulting in fish kill | NJ.com
Western North Carolina at risk of becoming USA’s nuclear waste host
Specter of nuclear waste dump returns to WNC, Macon County News, , 28 July 2011 by Christopher Carpenter “…– “We’re back to where we started; it’s the same story,” said Olson, a biologist and biochemist by training who has worked with NIRS since 1991. This week the first draft recommendations of a federal commission on nuclear energy are due out. Olson cautioned to be prepared for more flashbacks to come.Unfortunately ‘fabulous’ It was only later that Yucca Mountain became the main focus of federal planners, even though there were many indicators that the site was geologically unsound. The site was crisscrossed with four major fault lines, the porous volcanic bedrock was far from ideal and in the first three years of studying the site, more than 200 earthquakes were recorded registering over 2.5 on the Richter Scale. Twenty years and $10 billion later, the Obama Administration finally conceded that a facility at the site would be destined to leak radiation and decided to walk away from it.
Thirty years ago, Western North Carolina, with its solid granite bedrock, was identified as a possible site for a national nuclear waste repository. The community of Sandy Mush in Leicester (just 23.5 miles from the Buncombe County Courthouse in downtown Asheville) was one of twelve sites in the country that were seriously being studied by the U.S. Department of Energy. Continue reading
Poll shows Californians increasingly oppose nuclear power
Nearly two-thirds of Californians now oppose building more nuclear plants in the state—the lowest level of support ever found ini a PPIC poll. The findings are consistent with a similar PPIC conducted last month……http://calcoastnews.com/2011/07/opposition-to-nukes-in-california-grows/
Dissension in the Nuclear Regulatory Commission over regulatory changes
USA now has the option to turn away from nuclear energy
the options are many. By simply eliminating the energy wasted by inefficient houses lacking proper insulation, by upgrading our appliances and taking other common sense efficiency measures, the country could cut its energy needs in half…….
the country passed a historic milestone recently in which for the first time the cost of electricity per kilowatt generated by solar cells dropped below the cost of nuclear energy. And that is by the industry’s own measures.
Specter of nuclear waste dump returns to WNC, Macon County News, , 28 July 2011 by Christopher Carpenter “…….Nukes: Who needs ’em? According to Olson, the country has reached a crossroad and has several big decisions to make. “Do we build more reactors? Do we shut down the ones we have? Do we keep the waste where it has been produced and where it has been kept for decades? Or do we start moving it around?” Continue reading
Nuclear company moves to ensure that consumers cop their building cost overruns
Consumer, not Georgia Power, would be on hook for potential Vogtle overruns, By Kristi E. Swartz , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 28 July 11, At an energy committee meeting in their downtown Atlanta chambers, Public Service Commission members said they would support only a July 18 deal reached between Georgia Power and the PSC’s advocacy staff, one that removed a recommendation calling for Georgia Power’s profits to be reduced should the costs to build two nuclear reactors at Plant Vogtle exceed budget by $300 million. Additional costs, with PSC approval, would show up in customers’ monthly utility bills.
A consumer watchdog group on Thursday continued to press for an agreement that would make Georgia Power — and not consumers — pay for any major cost overruns at its Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project, but Georgia utility regulators remained resistant. ….
Commissioner Tim Echols was more pointed, saying approval for such a plan would “chill the construction of nuclear plants in the United States.”
Attorney Clare McGuire for Georgia Watch argued that consumers would be left with no protection against bill increases should the project go beyond its budget. “Georgia Power doesn’t want to be held to costs beyond its control,” McGuire said. “The ratepayers have no choice.”….http://www.ajc.com/business/consumer-not-georgia-power-1055562.html
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How Air Force Officers are taught that nuclear bombing is OK with God
the intent of quoting Bible passages was to make officers feel “comfortable” about launching nuclear weapons and signing a legal document stating they had “no moral qualms” about “turning the key” if ordered to do so.
‘Jesus loves nukes’ Bruce Ross’s Blog 27 July 11. “…….Former Air Force Capt. Damon Bosetti, 27, who attended missile officer training in 2006 and was stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana, said he and his colleagues used to call the religious section of the ethics training the “Jesus loves nukes speech.” Continue reading
Fears of Tennessee becoming global radioactive waste dump
Some worry Tennessee town may be world nuclear waste dump, By Tim Ghianni, NASHVILLE, Tenn | Wed Jul 27, 2011, (Reuters) – A new contract to process 1,000 tons of nuclear waste from Germany has environmental activists concerned that the town of Oak Ridge, Tennessee could become a prime destination for the world’s nuclear trash.
The city in east Tennessee was founded by scientists who were developing the atomic bomb during World War II. It continues to be a center for the nuclear industry.
It has processed nuclear waste for decades, including some from Britain and Canada. But the large German contract, its first from continental Europe, marks a significant expansion and has raised eyebrows.
Safer said that even people who are in favor of nuclear power should question importing foreign nuclear waste to a state which he said puts “very little scrutiny” on the industry.
“With current regulatory conditions, there is nothing stopping really great quantities of radioactive waste materials from coming from all over the world to be processed in Tennessee,” says Don Safer, chairman of the board of the Tennessee Environmental Council, said on Tuesday……http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/07/27/us-nuclear-tennessee-idUSTRE76Q6Q020110727
USA Republicans want to cut nuclear weapons spending
Republican Revolution on Nuclear Weapons? Huffington Post, Joel Rubin: 7/25/1, Will Republicans, during these debt-ceiling negotiations, do the unthinkable and support cutting defense spending to avoid raising taxes on the uber-wealthy? The answer is yes, as it should be, and there is an answer to their angst.
The answer is that we should dramatically reduce the nuclear weapons budget. Doing so will do no harm to our national defense. But don’t take my word for it. Take Senator Tom Coburn’s (R-Okla.). His proposal this week to lop off $9 trillion from the national debt over the next decade would halve the total number of nuclear warheads in our combined active and reserve stockpiles from about 5,000 to nearly 2,500.
This would save nearly $80 billion over the next decade. Compare that to our biggest potential threat, China, who has 175 warheads, and the Coburn vision still leaves us with 14 times more warheads…….http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joel-rubin/republican-revolution-nuclear-weapons_b_907533.html
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Shut down the radiation-damaged Heysham nuclear reactors now
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Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
Say No to NASA’s Reckless Nuclear Reactor on the Moon
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