It would be helpful if Chris made this point – but I can see why he doesn’t, because he advocates more investment in nuclear power. This is the biggest problem as far as Chris Goodall’s commentary is concerned. He should clearly re-think his support for building more nuclear power before he starts to implicitly criticise wind power for its variability.
US nuclear regulation expert says Japan needs a national debate on nuclear dangers
Japan needs a national debate on nuclear risks, ex-U.S. regulator says, Japan Times, KYODO OCT 9, 2014 Japan needs to hold a national debate on what nuclear power-related risks are acceptable before it restarts reactors idled after the 2011 Fukushima meltdowns, a former top official with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.
“There has to be a national dialogue on the level of risk acceptable for people, because in the end, the people of any country determine” what risks they are willing to accept, said Charles Casto, who advised Japan on behalf of the U.S. government in the wake of the March 2011 Fukushima No. 1 meltdown crisis.
“The elected officials may believe they have control of that, but . . . the people will stand up if they don’t accept the level of risk,” he told a press conference in Tokyo on Wednesday.
All of Japan’s 48 commercial reactors are offline, but the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is eager to restart them…….http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/10/09/national/japan-needs-national-debate-nuclear-risks-ex-u-s-regulator-says/#.VDw_wWddUnl
Japan’s electricity utilities aim to slow the growth of renewable energy
Please! No more solar! Japanese utilities want to slow the rush to renewables Smart Grid News, Oct 10, 2014 “……Japan’s electric utilities are putting the brakes on renewable energy, reports Daniel Cusik at EENews.net. Solar power is creating an oversupply problem for some regions while stressing the grid.
Five of the country’s 10 major utilities have announced they will no longer accept new renewable energy for the time being until they can strengthen their grid.
In the wake of Fukushima, the Japanese government adopted a generous feed-in tariff to encourage renewable energy. The result, says Cusik, “has been a glut of new mostly solar photovoltaic (PV) arrays coming online over the last 24 months.” And no wonder — current feed-in tariffs, excluding taxes are 29 cents per kilowatt-hour for solar PV for large customers and 34 cents residential customers. And those high prices are guaranteed for 10-20 years!
The high tariffs have fueled 11,000 MW of new solar capacity since 2012 with another 72,000 MW in the pipeline. But Japanese energy experts say the surge in solar power threatens to overwhelm the country’s transmission and distribution systems, which serve 10 distinct distribution areas and are not bound together by a robust transmission system.http://www.smartgridnews.com/artman/publish/Technologies_DG_Renewables/Please-No-more-solar-Japanese-utilities-want-to-slow-the-rush-to-renewables-6809.html/#.VDnU2WddUnk
Britain’s people have been shafted in the EDF Hinkley nuclear deal
The EDF Hinkley Deal: We Have Been Shafted, City Unslicker 10 Oct 14“………..And now we find that UK plc has fallen for the same trick, but on a scale with so many noughts added, I’m not sure they can be counted. The EDF Hinkley deal, which the EC socomprehensively demolished 9 months ago, has been passed because of a small alteration which makes it just fine: an upside sharing device for the UK to claw back a bit of the gargantuan subsidies, in the event EDF’s profits are above a certain exorbitant level.
Ah yes. Profit on the construction and long-term operation of nuclear power plants, operated by an arm of the French state. Does anyone on the planet reckon that the books which will be presented in due course will bear any relation to reality?
For many years now I have been predicting the French will get the rest of Europe to pay for its nuclear industry as surely as we all pay for their agriculture: and so it has come to pass. The gormless gits in Whitehall have served it up on a platter. There are some early rumours as to how the political fix was achieved, but we may never really know. Will the Germans and Austrians really block it at the eleventh hour ? I’m not pinning much hope on that.
This ‘French Tax’ on UK plc will run for 35 years, and will end up being an identifiable percentage of GDP. Countries have gone to war for less. The ‘deal’ (which, incidentally hasn’t yet been signed) needs to be repudiated fast: I might even join UKIP if they make it part of their manifesto. http://www.cityunslicker.co.uk/
EU approval for Hinkley plant a complete sellout to the nuclear industry
EU backing for plant ‘a total sell-out to nuclear industry’Paul Melia Irish Independent 09/10/2014 |THE European Commission has given the green light to a controversial plan by the British Government to underwrite the €21bn cost of building a nuclear power plant just 240km from Ireland. And it has emerged that Ireland’s outgoing EU Commissioner, Maire Geoghegan Quinn, was not present for the crucial vote on the matter.
A spokesman said she had committed to attending a conference in Turin, Italy yesterday, and did “feed into” the decision – but was not present for the vote……..
The move provoked fury among environmental groups, while the Austrian Government has warned it may take legal action against the commission.
This was because the decision set a “bad precedent”, as guaranteed payments had previously been reserved for renewable forms of energy.
The Department of the Environment here has also raised concerns, saying it had written twice since 2009 to the UK Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change outlining concerns about potential environmental impacts in Ireland and in the Irish Sea.
“The key issues of concern include the assessments by the UK of effects on the environment, management of radioactive waste, and the rationale underpinning the proposed justification decision for new nuclear facilities,” it said.
A spokesman added it was awaiting the full, written decision of the commission before deciding if any further action would be taken…….
Greenpeace said the Commission had “cleared a path for taxpayers” to heavily subsidise the construction of nuclear power plants, adding it was a “total world record sell-out” to the nuclear industry.
“It’s such a distortion of competition rules that the Commission has left itself exposed to legal challenges,” legal adviser Andrea Carta said.
“There is absolutely no legal, moral or environmental justification in turning taxes into guaranteed profits for a nuclear power company whose only legacy will be a pile of radioactive waste.
“This is a bad plan for everyone except EDF.”
The Green Party also expressed concern, with leader Eamon Ryan saying that competition rules had been broken by allowing “massive state subsidies” for nuclear power.
“There is no accounting for the security risks that come with the building of such a plant, and no apportioning of the massive clean up costs that will come when the plant has to be decommissioned,” he said. http://www.independent.ie/irish-news/news/eu-backing-for-plant-a-total-sellout-to-nuclear-industry-30650482.html
Hinkley Point C nuclear power station – all too close to Irish coast
Nuclear plant 240km from Irish coast approved RTE News, 8 Oct 14, The European Union has approved Britain’s ambitious €20 billion plan to build its first nuclear plant for a generation.
The Hinkley Point C power station, which will be built with French and Chinese help, is 240km from the Irish coast…….
Critics have complained that there are insufficient plans for the removal of the nuclear waste that the plant will produce.Concerns about the project have also been raised by An Taisce and the Department of the Environment. An Taisce today said: “The state aid investigation by the European Commission raises totally different issues to those raised by An Taisce’s ongoing legal action.
“An Taisce’s case is against the UK Government on the grounds that we believe they did not apply international law, EU law and English law correctly … in that they failed to consult with their neighbours, the people of Ireland, prior to granting permission for Hinkley Point C.”
The department said it had concerns about the effect on the environment, the management of radioactive waste, and the “rationale underpinning the proposed justification decision for new nuclear facilities”.
It said it had discussions at ministerial and official level over several years about Hinkley Point C……….
Greenpeace has criticised the commission’s decision and said it could well face legal challenges. It claimed the decision was a sellout to nuclear interests and that European taxpayers would have to pay the cost.
Meanwhile, the Austrian government has said it would bring legal action against the commission’s decision to the European Court of Justice.Chancellor Werner Faymann and Vice Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner said Hinkley Point set a “bad precedent” because guaranteed payments had previously been reserved for renewable forms of energy.
They said they were opposing the commission’s decision on economic and environmental grounds, claiming nuclear power was not a sustainable form of energy, was a mature technology and was not an option for combating climate change.
Other member states have voiced concerns that the project makes a mockery of the union’s stated policy to promote solar and wind power.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive arm, launched the inquiry in late 2013, delving closely into the project’s elaborate price guarantee system that critics claim will prove hugely expensive to British consumers for decades to come…….. http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/1008/650789-edf-somerset/
UK ‘s Hinkley nuclear plant plan – by no means a done deal
This is by no means a done deal
not just this government, other governments, lobbied by the nuclear industry.
It’s a long way from being settled and this test case is sure to fire up many more passions before it’s over.
EU clears the way for UK nuclear plant Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC Lateline Broadcast: 09/10/2014 Reporter: Mary Gearin A controversial ruling by the EU has paved the way for a 30 billion dollar nuclear power station to be built in Britain, the first in the UK since the 1990’s
Transcript
EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: “……..The project, by French company EDF, would create 25,000 jobs and replace a fifth of Britain’s aging nuclear infrastructure. But it’s conditional on getting a fixed, guaranteed price for the electricity it would generate. It wants more than £92, or about $170, per megawatt hour for 35 years. That’ll need government subsidies because the current market rate is less than half that – £41.50, or about $75.
European regulators have ruled the subsidies are compatible with EU trade rules; but now comes the fallout. Continue reading
2015 Global investor summit on renewable energy – India
India to host global investor summit focused on renewable energy in 2015 Blue & Green October 6th, 2014 By Ilaria Bertini India is set to host a meeting of international investors willing to pour billions into realising the country’s great clean energy potential, after India’s energy minister promised to turn the nation into a ‘renewable superpower’.
In February, the Renewable Energy Global Investors Meet and Expo – ‘RE-INVEST’ will take place in New Delhi, with the aim of raising finance for India’s renewable energy projects.
The initiative was launched by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, which was created after the election of prime minister Narendra Modi.
Modi pledged to boost India’s solar sector, in order to capitalise the country’s 300 sunny days each year, and bring electricity to the 400 million Indians currently without reliable power. He also unveiled plans to build the world’s largest floating solar array.
The summit hopes to attract large-scale investment – quantified as around $35 billion (£21bn) per year – and it will be held each year for the next five years, or until 900 MW of clean energy capacity has been developed.
So far, the World Bank has announced a $775 million (£452m) investment in Indian renewable energy sector…….http://blueandgreentomorrow.com/2014/10/06/india-to-host-global-investor-summit-focused-on-renewable-energy-in-2015/
Building more nuclear power stations will simply waste more wind power
How more nuclear will waste wind power http://realfeed-intariffs.blogspot.co.uk Dr David Toke 7 Oct 14 As noticed by Chris Goodall, in his column in the Guardian environment network, wind power production has for the first time exceeded nuclear. See http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/oct/06/uk-wind-power-bests-nuclear-power-for-a-few-symbolic-minutes
But what Goodall misses, it seems completely, is that building more nuclear power stations will simply waste more wind power. He seems to claim that ‘all’ the investment in wind power will be ‘wasted’ unless we build a lot more interconnectors etc to accommodate fluctuating wind power supplies. Well, we do need more balancing of a variety of types, including demand response, interconnectors and as it gets cheaper, various types of storage, but it is an exaggeration to say that ‘all’ wind investment will be wasted.The big waste comes with the nuclear investment. The problem with the ability of the electricity system to absorb more variable wind power supplies lies with the inability, and unwillingness, of nuclear operators to turn down their production when there is more wind power. So obviously building more nuclear power stations (which are more expensive, MWh for MWh anyway than onshore wind for example) will only make the situation worse – more wind power will be wasted than will otherwise be the case without the nuclear power.
Military complex in Iran rocked by explosion – two killed
NYTimes: “Enormous orange flash” seen around suspected nuclear site as mysterious explosion rocks one of world’s largest cities — US Gov’t: We are “monitoring the situation closely” — Reports: Windows broken 9 miles away, all trees burned over large area (PHOTO) http://enenews.com/nytimes-enormous-orange-flash-reported-suspected-nuclear-site-mysterious-explosion-rocks-one-worlds-largest-cities-govt-monitoring-situation-closely-photo?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ENENews+%28Energy+News%29
Islamic Republic News Agency (Iran’s official news agency) Oct 6, 2014: Fire at explosives factory in eastern Tehran — Defense Industries Organization reported on Monday that fire broke out in an explosives producing factory in eastern Tehran [23rd most populatedurban area in world]… Two workers were killed… Continue reading
India’s unwise gamble with nuclear safety
India is caught in an escalating cycle of increased nuclear and conventional military expenditures with no net gain in defense capability against the most likely threat contingencies. Internationally India has shifted from being a disarmament champion to a nuclear-armed state. While the former was informed by a strategic vision, the latter has been ad hoc and episodic.
India’s nuclear risks and costs BY RAMESH THAKUR OCT 7, 2014 This is the second of a two-part series on India’s nuclear weaponization.
A nuclear catastrophe was averted during the Cold War as much owing to good luck as wise management. The number of times that we have come frighteningly close to nuclear holocaust is simply staggering.
According to one study by a U.S. nuclear weapon laboratory in 1970, more than 1,200 nuclear weapons were involved in accidents from 1950 to 1968 because of security breaches, lost weapons, failed safety mechanisms or accidents resulting from weapons being dropped or crushed in lifts, etc………. Continue reading
Alert at Wolf Creek Nuclear Plant due to fire
Fire Puts Wolf Creek Nuclear Plant On Alert http://www.wibw.com/home/headlines/Fire-Puts-Wolf-Creek-Nuclear-Plant-On-Alert-278301841.html BURLINGTON, Kan. (KVOE) 6 Oct 14 –– Wolf Creek was under alert earlier Monday due to a fire. The fire was reported around 1:30 p.m., in one of two emergency diesel generator rooms. The plant’s on-site fire brigade successfully extinguished the fire before Coffey County firefighters arrived. Wolf Creek returned to normal operations around 3:45pm.
Non-essential plant personnel were evacuated, but have since been allowed back on-site. The alert issued is their second-to-lowest emergency classification.
The plant is stable at 100 percent, and there was no release of radiation due to this event. No injuries were reported.
The extent of the damage to the emergency diesel generator is unknown. It’s one of two backup generators that provide power in the case of a loss of both on-site and off-site power. As per regulation, the plant is now required to restore the emergency generator to operable status within 72 hours, or bring the plant offline.
Cracks in Hunterston B nuclear power station indicate aging of UK reactor fleet
Cracks found at reactor at Hunterston B nuclear power station By David Miller BBC 7 Oct 14 Scotland environment correspondent New cracks have been found in one of the reactors at Hunterston B nuclear power station in North Ayrshire. Two of about 3,000 graphite bricks in the core of reactor four are affected.
Plant operator, EDF Energy, said the cracking was predicted to occur as the station aged and it would not affect the safe operation of the reactor. Deputy First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said the issue was “hugely concerning” to the public and that the Scottish government was seeking reassurances.
“The Scottish government is seeking the information we need to assure the public about safety, because safety is absolutely paramount and cannot be compromised,” she said……..Anti-nuclear groups said the issue called in to question the future of nuclear power.
WWF Scotland director Lang Banks said: “These cracks are a sign that we can expect these nuclear facilities to become increasingly unreliable in the future.
“As Scotland continues to grow its renewables capacity we can look forward to a day when we can switch off nuclear power for good.”
Peter Roach, editor of the No to Nuclear Power website, told Radio Scotland that it was time the gas-cooled reactors were retired.
“These reactors are getting too old to keep going for much longer,” he said.
“They’re about 40 years old and there’s definitely a problem with the cracking in the graphite blocks that one nuclear engineer has described as gambling with public safety.” http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-29502329
A Sense of Urgency as a Spur to Climate Action
We must act quickly and effectively while we still have a fighting chance. There is no more time for delay.
Feeling the Touch of the Goad: A Sense of Urgency as a Spur to Climate Action TruthOut , 05 October 2014 10:12By Ven. Bhikkhu Bodhi, “……..Too much is at risk for us to proceed on the hypothesis that climate change might be a false alarm. If we fail to take the momentous steps required of us, we risk losing nothing less than the Earth as we have known it, along with the human civilization that has evolved on its surface over thousands of years. We risk making huge tracts of the planet virtually uninhabitable. We risk condemning small island-nations to rising seas and more violent typhoons. We risk turning verdant land abundant with crops – our grain belts and rice bowls – into barren deserts. We risk mass extinctions, famines, droughts and floods, unpredictable epidemics and large-scale deaths. And we risk kindling more ethnic, religious and cross-border strife, thereby creating more climate refugees, more mass migrations, and more destructive eruptions of terrorism.
The second factor that should provoke the sense of urgency and raise it exponentially is the recognition that the window of opportunity is closing. We may be about to lose our chance to avert the worst. Continue reading
Safety of Hinkley Point nuclear plan in question – shrouded in secrecy
The nuclear industry still has its secrets
The cold war may be over but many players are far from open or transparent in their dealings The Guardian, Sunday 5 October 2014 One of the nuclear industry’s promises for the future is that it will turn its back on its cold war past and be more open and transparent about its dealings. So news last week that at least two of the officials assessing the safety case for new reactors at Hinkley Point C were on the pension roll of the scheme’s developers, EDF, was not encouraging.
The design assessment of the new European pressurised reactor (EPR) developed by EDF and its nuclear specialist Areva is important, because it is key to determining whether the public accepts the safety of Hinkley. It is disturbing that the few detailed answers obtained about who exactly undertook that review had to come by way of a Freedom of Information request, not by an immediate and voluntary statement from the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR)………
- Unsurprisingly, independent experts question how thorough the oversight really was – and whether a whole load of problems have been parked to one side to be tackled later on. A senior inspector at the Finnish nuclear regulator STUK, which has been struggling for much longer to assess an EPR reactor for a domestic plant, says pointedly: “I don’t know how they (the ONR) did it so fast.”
- And for such fast movers, it is odd that the ONR could not provide data on whether any of its inspectors had previously worked for EDF or Areva on the groundsbecause the files were in “deep storage”. That excuse would not have passed muster during the cold war. http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/oct/05/nuclear-industry-secrets-edf
Small Modular Nuclear reactors irrelevant to climate needs, and COSTLY
Nuclear Power Costs Billions More Than Promised By Conan Milner, Epoch Times | October 1, 2014 “……Smaller Scale Other types of power plants are at risk of time and cost overruns as well, but experts say nuclear plants are particularly vulnerable to this problem. They require an enormous investment upfront and take longer to bring on line.
For the past 50 years, the nuclear industry has pushed for bigger units in an effort to spread costs over a larger number of kilowatt hours. But some are calling to shrink the scale with small modular reactors: compact, factory-fabricated designs that require less initial investment, and are easier to assemble than conventional units.
The United States has approved small reactor designs, but Bradford is not impressed.
“There really is no basis for optimism,” he said. “The only cost studies—they hardly even deserve the name studies. They’re provided by the vendors.”
Schneider said these smaller reactors might be a better fit for the changing electricity market, which increasingly favors a horizontally integrated system and a more eclectic approach to energy generation.
“It’s hard to imagine a huge plant whatever the source, but especially nuclear in such a new environment,” he said. “But it’s very clear the biggest problem the nuclear industry has besides cost is the time factor. Small modular reactors will not be available for a long time—for decades. We need solutions in the short term—the next 20 years.”
“It’s very interesting to see the Financial Times reporting about the U.S. market saying that wind and solar can now compete without subsidies with gas. Where is nuclear in that comparison? And that is now, not something that we have to develop over decades.”http://m.theepochtimes.com/n3/990670-nuclear-power-costs-billions-more-than-promised/
1 This Month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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