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Move to ban charging customers in advance for future nuclear plants

Prepaid Plants, Capitol News Service, January 26th, 2011 by Whitney Ray Progress Energy customers paying for a nuclear power plant that hasn’t been built yet may soon get a refund. State Senator Mike Fasano has filed legislation banning power companies from charging customers extra money on their bills for future projects. Fasano says shareholders, not the customers should pay for the company’s infrastructure.
It should be the stockholders; it should be the company itself paying from those nuclear power plants, not passing those costs on to the consumer,” said Fasano. Right now Progress Energy customers are paying five dollars more a month to build a nuclear plant in Levy County. Florida Power and Light is asking the Public Service Commission to allow them to begin collecting money for several nuclear projects….Capitol News Service » Blog Archive » Prepaid Plants

January 27, 2011 Posted by | politics, USA | Leave a comment

Unpopular in South Carolina: fee increases for regulating “low level” radioactive waste

SC legislators balk at low-level nuclear material fee increase tied to tougher fed security,  latimes.com,  JIM DAVENPORT Associated Press January 25, 2011, COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Some South Carolina lawmakers don’t like proposed fee increases for regulating low-level nuclear material tied to tougher federal security requirements. Continue reading →

January 26, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, USA | Leave a comment

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant for sale, radioactive leaks and all

A couple days ago, still more tritium was discovered in the reactor’s pipelines, some 150 to 200 feet north of the plume previously found to be leaking toxins……

Decrepit Nuclear Power Plant Still for Sale…Despite Another Radioactive Discovery, Change.org, by Nikki Gloudeman January 24, 2011 In its attempted sale of the decrepit Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, Entergy has had a rough go of it. Continue reading →

January 25, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

USA keen to market its nukes, so easing sanctions on India’s defence firms

US eases sanctions on Indian space and defence firms, BBC News, 25 January 2011 US eases sanctions on Indian space and defence firms he US has removed sanctions imposed on nine Indian space and defence organisations after India carried out nuclear tests.The list includes the state-run Indian Space Research Organisation and Defence Research Development Organisation. President Obama had promised to lift sanctions on these firms during his November visit to India.The decision comes a week before a US trade delegation, led by Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, visits…….BBC News – US eases sanctions on Indian space and defence firms

January 25, 2011 Posted by | India, politics international, USA | Leave a comment

Renewable energy jobs increasing in California

The “Many Shades Of Green” report from Next 10 shows the “Core Green Economy” now accounts for 174,000 jobs in California

Green Job Creation Sets A Cracking Pace In California, Renewable Energy News : by Energy Matters, 24 Jan 2011, Green jobs in CaliforniaJobs in California’s green sector grew more than three times faster than total employment in the state for the period January 2008 – 2009; and many were related to renewable energy. Continue reading →

January 23, 2011 Posted by | employment, renewable, USA | 1 Comment

More green collar jobs for Vermont

In the face of a tough economic climate, this past year saw significant progress for renewable energy in Vermont…….

Martha Staskus: A Renewable Jobs Future in Vermont 23 Jan 2011,  The Burlington Free Press 23 Jan 2011, Vermont is poised at a watershed moment in our history. Already recognized for our ingenuity and innovation, we have the potential to lead the nation in renewable energy—creating jobs and the added value of fostering a sustainable local industry. Continue reading →

January 23, 2011 Posted by | renewable, USA | Leave a comment

Stuxnet slowing Iran’s nukes, but it’s a mixed blessing

If Stuxnet was responsible for slowing Iran’s nuclear development, then it accomplished over a period of a few months what the United States and its allies have failed to do in years of talks, threats and sanctions. It also achieved that goal without a shot being fired, buying more time for negotiators to try to persuade Iran to stop its bomb-making efforts.

Will the cyber worm turn?,  latimes.com, 23 Jan 2011, Stuxnet reportedly set back Iran’s nuclear program. That’s the good news. But what about threat to us?The tale of the Stuxnet worm is one of those seemingly good-news stories that grows more worrisome over time. Continue reading →

January 23, 2011 Posted by | safety, technology, USA | Leave a comment

Koch brothers take anti-renewable energy deception to Canada

Americans are likely familiar with this bogus study, as it was used extensively by conservative climate skeptics in the media to fight the Obama administration’s 2010 budget proposal to create tax incentives for clean-energy programs, as well as to oppose many other recent efforts to promote the growth of the renewable energy industry.

Kochs Invade Canada, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Chris Genovali, 24 Jan 2011 After losing their fight for Proposition 23 in California, one might have hoped the world would be safe from oil-rich climate deniers Charles and David Koch for a little while.

But unfortunately their misinformation campaign is drifting over the border into Ontario, Canada where renewable energy is once again under fire from the “forces of yesterday.” Continue reading →

January 23, 2011 Posted by | Canada, spinbuster, USA | 2 Comments

Blue Ribbon nuclear waste commission has the power to not make things worse

Not making things worse would be a reasonable, responsible accomplishment for the “Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future”,…A nuclear “time out” -until technical problems are solved- is far preferable to an unaffordable, unsustainable and irrational “try it all over again” recommendation – one blind to the history of the proven negative consequences.

A blue-ribbon, “nuclear” bus ride Mountain Xpress,Ned Ryan Doyle, 21 Jan 2011 “….The members of the President’s Commission are talented, intelligent people handed a lofty mandate to address these problems. It’s unreasonable, however, to think they could really solve these intractable problems with policy recommendations, due in draft form July of 2011, especially when most of the proposals are from the industry and interests that profit from these ongoing problems. Continue reading →

January 21, 2011 Posted by | USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Nuclear fuel reprocessing will leave tax-payer to pay $trillions for waste disposal

President Carter’s Executive Order banned nuclear fuel reprocessing in the 1970’s. Congress recently – and quietly – passed legislation at the behest of the nuclear industry and utilities that appears to circumvent that decision……Interestingly, by U.S. law, once nuclear waste is removed from the property of the utilities, it then becomes the problem of the federal government and tax payers, and no longer a liability for utilities and corporate shareholders…..Somewhere between two to four trillion in U.S. tax dollars has gone to the nuclear experiment, in all its forms over the decades, but now we face very real fiscal constraints.

A blue-ribbon, “nuclear” bus ride  Mountain Xpress, Ned Ryan Doyle, 21 Jan 2011 “.………It’s no secret that temporary storage facilities for high level nuclear waste at our nation’s nuclear plants are at, or beyond, design capacity. Continue reading →

January 21, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, reprocessing, USA | Leave a comment

Ballooning $billions cost of Uranium Processing Facility

Uranium facility’s cost leaps: Y-12 officials ‘taken aback’ but defend design increases Knoxville News Sentinel, Frank Munger, 20 Jan 2011, OAK RIDGE —A lot of folks were shocked last November when the projected cost of the Uranium Processing Facility jumped from $1.4-$3.5 billion to the current cost range of $4.2 billion to $6.5 billion. Continue reading →

January 21, 2011 Posted by | business and costs, Uranium, USA | Leave a comment

Financial and safety threats in expanding production of plutonium

Some of the intractable challenges facing the President’s Commission -and the public- include some 67,000 metric tons of highly radioactive waste in temporary storage today, the prospect of expanded production of plutonium as both a health and a national security threat, nationwide transportation of highly radioactive waste, to and from, the Savanna River Site over road, rail and waterways and the unresolved problem of finding a secure repository for the long term storage of nuclear waste.

A blue-ribbon, “nuclear” bus ride Mountain Xpress,Ned Ryan Doyle, 21 Jan 2011, How could a nuclear-energy park in South Carolina impact the people of WNC? On January 7th, a “WNC Citizen’s Delegation” chartered a bus to Augusta, GA, for the only public hearing in the Southeast held by President Obama’s appointed “Blue Ribbon Commission on America’s Nuclear Future”… Continue reading →

January 21, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA, wastes | Leave a comment

Questions on earthquake risks to nuclear plant

Is Diablo Canyon Quake Safe? – KVEC, King Harris, 20 Jan 2011, San Luis Obispo, CA — PG&E says Diablo Canyon can withstand any quake the nearby faults can deliver. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission held a meeting in San Luis Obispo last night to discuss the Shoreline Fault and other faults surrounding the nuclear power plant.According to the report, Diablo Canyon was designed to survive a magnitude 7.5 earthquake, and all the local faults are likely to produce a quake no stronger than magnitude 6.5. The Shoreline Fault was discovered in 2008 and has created some concern in the community, especially as the plant moves forward with its proposed license renewal.The Nuclear Regulatory Commission still needs to analyze PG&E’s report. Is Diablo Canyon Quake Safe? – KVEC

January 21, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

The global threat of nuclear terrorism

Congress must get serious about the threat of nuclear terrorism

The Hill, By Sarah Williams and Alexandra Toma – 01/18/11 “………..The fight to prevent nuclear terrorism will be lost without a serious commitment to the goal of securing all vulnerable nuclear material around the globe. Currently, more than 30 countries possess significant amounts of material that could be used to make a nuclear weapon, and much of it is stored in less-than-secure facilities. Continue reading →

January 20, 2011 Posted by | safety, USA | Leave a comment

New book reveals USA’s cyber sabotage of Middle Eastern nuclear programs

Their book, ‘Fallout: The True Story of the CIA’s Secret War on Nuclear Trafficking” examines the U.S.’s investigation of A.Q. Khan……the U.S. and its allies had been intercepting, analyzing and tampering with critical technologies used by nations like Libya and Iran for years….

Expert: Stuxnet Just Latest in U.S. Hacks of Covert Nuke Programs | threatpost, 19 Jan 2011, The author of a new book on the evolution of the world’s first nuclear black market says that Stuxnet is just the latest in a long string of efforts by the U.S. and its allies to slow or stop the creation of nuclear programs by rogue nations. Continue reading →

January 20, 2011 Posted by | secrets,lies and civil liberties, USA | Leave a comment

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