nuclear costs « nuclear-news

It could be the water problem that finishes off the nuclear industry

“The best alternatives from a water perspective are wind and photovoltaics, that require effectively no water.”

Water Adds New Constraints to Power, NYTimes.com By ERICA GIES May 17, 2010 “……In the United States, thermoelectric power generation — mainly coal, nuclear and natural gas — accounted for 41 percent of U.S. freshwater withdrawals in 2005, U.S. Geological Society data show………..

But there is a growing awareness in California and throughout the United States that the use of water for energy generation may be reaching its limits.

California has extensive experience with water shortages, resulting in its adoption of a policy, included in the energy commission’s 2003 Integrated Energy Policy Report, that discourages freshwater use for power plant cooling…….“If you want to build a big central power plant, whether it’s oil, gas or nuclear, you can’t take the water for granted.” Continue reading →

May 18, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, water | antinuclear, AUSTRALIA, climate change, global warming, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, reactors, renewable energy, renewables, solar, uranium, water, wind | Leave a comment

UK’s nuclear plans hit by one blow after another

Another blow to nuclear plans, Ruscombe Green, 17 May 2010, “….new uncertainty over new nukes following the appointment of anti-nuclear Energy Secretary Chris Huhne. He has strengthened his assertion that new nuclear build will not receive any Government subsidies including in the event of a nuclear accident…….
Nuke-waste subsidy?
Chris Huhne may also be under pressure from anti-nuclear Lib-Dem colleagues to examine other potential aspects of Government subsidy Continue reading →

May 16, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Nuclear fuel cycle requires huge energy, and emits huge C02

Some estimate that the energy requirements of mining and milling lean ores may surpass the energy produced in a nuclear reactor.

5 Questions Iowans Should Answer Before Accepting Nuclear Power, Blog for Iowa, by Paul Deaton, 17 May 2010,” .… 2. Do you accept the socialization of nuclear power? In a recent study in Idaho, Warren Buffet’s MidAmerican Energy found that there is no financial return on investment in nuclear power without substantial government subsidies. Our open market system of capitalism won’t support nuclear power without government subsidies. Continue reading →

May 16, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, climate change | antinuclear, climate change, global warming, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear weapons, uranium | Leave a comment

Switch from uranium mining to wind farming in New Mexico

VIDEO NM uranium capital turns to wind energy

NM uranium capital turns to wind energy | Mount Taylor, N.M. | KRQE News 13

KRQE News 13, 16 May 2010, MOUNT TAYLOR, N.M. (KRQE) – A part of New Mexico that was once one of the world’s major sources of uranium is about to become a major supplier of wind energy……The Cibola County Commission officially endorsed the project this week. Continue reading →

May 16, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, USA | antinuclear, climate change, energy efficiency, nuclear, nuclear costs, reactors, renewable energy, renewables, uranium, wind | Leave a comment

UK’s opportunity for alternatives to nuclear power

In fact more nonnuclear generation is already under construction and will come on-line by 2015 than is scheduled to go off-line.

Another blow to nuclear plans, Ruscombe Green, 17 May 2010, Alternatives to nukes Last month a PricewaterhouseCoopers study showed that Europe could meet all its electricity needs from renewable sources by 2050 by using a “super-smart” grid powered by solar farms in North Africa, wind farms in northern Europe and the North Sea, hydro-electric from Scandinavia and the Alps and a complement of biomass and marine energy Continue reading →

May 16, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | renewable, UK | antinuclear, climate change, energy efficiency, nuclear costs, renewable energy, renewables, solar, wind | Leave a comment

Nuclear power: far from a done deal in UK

Nuclear or no nuclear….the first dispute for the UK’s newly elected Cameron-Clegg coalition, The Energy Collectiev, 14 May 2010,”……….. A major dispute already facing our new parliament in the first day of office is that of nuclear energy. Whilst the Tories are supportive of building nuclear power stations, the Liberal Democrats are against this. Simon Hughes, energy spokesperson for Liberal Democrats states that “A new generation of nuclear power stations will be a colossal mistake, regardless of where they are built. They are hugely expensive, dangerous and will take too long to build.”(Source: Guardian Environment, 11-May-10)

Nuclear or no nuclear….the first dispute for the UK’s newly elected Cameron-Clegg coalition

May 15, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear spin, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

The myth of nuclear power’s “rebirth” in USA

Nuclear Loan Guarantees Will Meet State Resistance, Connecticut News, May 13, 2010 , by Jonathan Kantrowitz It was front-page news across America this February when the Vermont Senate voted to shut down the troubled Vermont Yankee reactor in 2012. But what most Americans don’t know is that the nuclear industry also lost all of its seven other major state legislative pushes this year – going 0-8 and putting yet another nail in the coffin of the myth of the “nuclear renaissance” in the United States, according to an analysis by the Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS). Continue reading →

May 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear technology, reactors, renewable energy, renewables | Leave a comment

UK’s Liberal Democrats might still prevent new nuclear power

LibDem U-turn on nuclear power?, peezedtee, 13 May 2010 “……The coalition government’s policy on new nuclear power stations is being reported as a U-turn for the LibDems.I………. Nuclear power is fantastically expensive if you include all the building and decommissioning costs. .. main concern was that it should not be subsidised by the taxpayer (as it always has been up to now). And that proviso remains, it seems, in the new government’s approach. If they stick with that, the likelihood is that no nuclear power stations will get built in any case, so this “U-turn” looks a bit like a distinction without a difference.

May 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes | Leave a comment

Nuclear power plants might be shut down in Germany

Poll defeat may hamper Merkel’s nuclear extension plans Deutsche Welle, 13.05.2010 Reuters Editor: Sonia Phalnikar Chancellor Merkel’s center-right government may have to rethink plans to extend the lifecycle of Germany’s nuclear plants after a defeat in a key regional election. Chancellor Angela Merkel’s coalition government of Christian Democrats (CDU) and the Free Democratic Party (FDP) may be forced to reassess plans to run Germany’s nuclear power plants well past their scheduled shutdown dates.A defeat in a regional election in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia last Sunday robbed Merkel of a majority in the upper house of Germany’s parliament. That limits the chancellor’s ability to extend the lifespan of nuclear-power plants. Poll defeat may hamper Merkel’s nuclear extension plans | Environment & Development | Deutsche Welle | 13.05.2010

May 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, politics | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, reactors | Leave a comment

Nuclear reactor shuts down

Calvert Cliffs reactor shuts down, Breaking News Blog, Maryland and Virginia 14 May, 2020, A spokesman for the Calvert Cliffs nuclear power plant says one of its two reactors has shut down automatically after the unit’s link to the regional power grid apparently failed.Spokesman David Fitz said the reactor at the Southern Maryland nuclear plant shut down shortly before 2 p.m. Wednesday. He said the incident was under investigation, and it was not known how long it would take to bring the unit back online.

Post Now – Calvert Cliffs reactor shuts down

May 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, reactor | Leave a comment

Britain’s nuclear power huge investment needed without govt subsidy

Mr Huhne yesterday reiterated his sceptical position about new reactors, telling BBC News that they would go ahead only if energy companies were prepared to invest without any new government subsidy, and warning: “No new nuclear power station has been built without new public subsidy for a very long time.”

Billions likely to be spent on nuclear power, FT.com, By Ed Crooks, Energy editor May 14 2010 Tens of billions of pounds of investment in new nuclear power stations can still go ahead, in spite of the appointment of the Liberal Democrats’ Chris Huhne as energy secretary, industry executives said yesterday. Continue reading →

May 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, UK | antinuclear, energy efficiency, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, reactors | Leave a comment

Nuclear industry rebuffed: Arizona, Illinois, Kentucky, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin

In practice, affordable power and long-term waste disposal are two requirements that nuclear power is incapable of meeting

Nuclear Loan Guarantees Will Meet State Resistance, Connecticut News, May 13, 2010 , by Jonathan Kantrowit “…….The following is an overview of the nuclear industry’s failed state legislative efforts in 2010:

• Arizona. SolarCity, Kyocera Solar, Inc. and Suntech Power Holdings joined with other solar energy providers in February to warn that if Arizona House Bill 2701 (HB 2701) was passed into law, it would have jeopardized Arizona’s entire renewable energy industry. Continue reading →

May 14, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA | antinuclear, energy efficiency, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactors, renewable energy, renewables | Leave a comment

Uranium mining ‘rush” could be a ‘crash’ for Africa

Uranium ‘Rush’ Or ‘Crush’ for Erongo?, allAfrica.com: Adam Hartman 11 May 2010 “…………there are also elements that could turn this positive outlook into a uranium ‘crush’, with serious social, economic and environmental implications.One element is government’s non consideration to re-invest uranium revenue back into the environment and communities effected by the rush. Another element is an unforeseen event that destabilises uranium prices and the global uranium market, resulting in mines ‘turning off the lights and walking away’. Continue reading →

May 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Namibia, politics international | antinuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, uranium | 1 Comment

Nuclear industry resuscitation threatened by European politics

Uranium threatened by political shake-ups FP Trading DeskMay 12, 2010, by Peter Koven It has been a week of political overhaul in Europe, and one of the victims in the fallout could be the continent’s nuclear renaissance. Continue reading →

May 13, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | EUROPE, politics | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear technology, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Conventional uranium mining threatened by lack of milling facilities

Proposed Mt. Taylor uranium mine faces new obstacle « New Mexico Independent, By Marjorie Childress 10 May 2010,”…….There is only one mill in the United States that is currently operating–the White Mesa Mill in Utah, which has its own environmental problems.The lack of milling facilities makes the resumption of widespread conventional mining problematic. Continue reading →

May 11, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, uranium | Leave a comment