reactors « nuclear-news

New charges and fuel tax burden on Germany’s nuclear plants

Financial demands before German nuclear operators, World Nuclear News, By Rumyana Vakarelska, 31 August 2010 In addition to the introduction of a new €2.3 billion ($2.9 billion) annual windfall tax, the German government has now demanded nuclear firms pay a contribution towards the development of renewable energy.A number of measures expected to be brought in during September are likely to see the introduction of a tax on nuclear fuel that will help shore up German finances in return for allowing nuclear operators to continue their businesses. This could come at the same time as austerity measures, when additional billions in tax from nuclear firms would be particularly welcome. Financial demands before German nuclear operators

September 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Germany, politics | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, reactors | Leave a comment

India’s new Nuclear Liability Bill upsetting ambitions of USA’s nuclear salesmen

Flawed’ liability bill threatens Indo-US nuclear deal: Expert, The Times of India Sep 1, 2010, WASHINGTON: Terming passing of the civil nuclear liability bill by the Parliament as “flawed”, an eminent American expert on South Asian affairs has said the US policy makers and industrial leaders have been taken off guard by this and it threatens to cast a pall over the historic Indo-US civilian nuclear deal. Continue reading →

September 1, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, reactors | Leave a comment

Hot summer causing costly cutbacks of nuclear power

Last week, TVA violated its permit with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management when the river temperature topped 90 degrees……..

Hot river forces costly cutback for TVA | Chattanooga Times Free Press, By: Dave Flessner 23 Aug 2010, The Tennessee Valley Authority has lost nearly $50 million in power generation from its biggest nuclear plant because the Tennessee River in Alabama is too hot. Unless the summer cools down, TVA could lose millions of dollars more, pushing up fuel costs and consumer electric bills even after seven consecutive monthly increases. Continue reading →

August 31, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, USA | antinuclear, climate change, global warming, nuclear, nuclear costs, reactors | Leave a comment

More delays, more costs, with AREVA’s new reactor in France

EDF was asked for modifications of the control platform on the reactor, which is delayed and will cost more than expected.

French Nuclear Watchdog Says EDF Has Problems With Flamanville EPR Liner – Bloomberg, By Tara Patel – Aug 30, 2010 Electricite de France SA, Europe’s biggest power producer, experienced renewed problems with welding quality at the EPR nuclear reactor being built in Normandy, according France’s nuclear safety agency. Continue reading →

August 31, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, technology | antinuclear, AREVA, EDF, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

Germans keen for renewable energy, not nuclear

Merkel faces uphill nuclear energy battle, THE PoliJAM TIMES, BERLIN, Aug. 30 (UPI) –– Opposition is growing to plans announced by German Chancellor Angela Merkel to extend the life of the nation’s nuclear power plants, protests indicate. Nearly 200 supporters of the environmental group Greenpeace protested Merkel as she toured nuclear power plants across the country last week.

Groups opposing nuclear power plans for the country said they would have large-scale protests Sept. 18 in Berlin, the Platts news service reports……
Merkel last week was met with opposition by lawmakers who said the nuclear plants weren’t needed to expand the renewable energy sector for Germany. Critics say energy efficiency measures could reduce consumption in the country by as much as 2 percent per year, cutting emissions by nearly 100 million tons through 2020……..Merkel faces uphill nuclear energy battle

August 31, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | AUSTRALIA, energy efficiency, nuclear, nuclear costs, reactors | Leave a comment

“Temporary” nuke waste disposal becoming Permanent, and expensive

If the plant closes in 2012, it would be mothballed, or put into SAFSTOR, until its decommissioning fund reaches the level necessary to clean up the site, which could take up to 60 years.

NRC considers long-term on-site storage of waste, Brattleboro Reformer, By JOSH STILTS, Aug. 30 2010 BRATTLEBORO – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted earlier this month to explore the option of storing nuclear waste at decommissioned sites past the current 30-year standard……. Continue reading →

August 31, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | decommission reactor, USA | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

A new anti-nuclear wave

the increased support for nuclear energy will melt away when utilities announce where they intend to build. No one..wants to live near a nuclear plant.”The groundswell (against nuclear power) will come when they announce the nuclear sites

Older activists, younger crowd team to fight nukes. Google Hosted News, 29 Aug 2010, By MELANIE S. WELTE (AP) – MOINES, Iowa — It’s been 33 years since Raye Fleming’s arrest outside Southern California’s Diablo Canyon nuclear plant, near the height of the anti-nuclear power furor.That was the first arrest of many and, Fleming believed, such actions paid off as a generation of Americans turned against nuclear power. Continue reading →

August 31, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | general | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear technology, reactors | Leave a comment

Indian government’s dangerous rush to get nuclear power

the Indian government tried to limit liability to only if it could be proved that a supplier had done an act ‘with the intent to cause nuclear damage’. This astounding insertion left a huge loophole for contractors doing shoddy work to wriggle out of paying any damages if things go wrong………Given India’s pervasive culture of poor management and corruption, Mr Singh’s government should think carefully before plunging headlong into a risky track from which there is no going back.

Dangers in India’s path to nuclear energy, THE BUSINESS TIMES, By YOGI AGGARWAL, August 31, 2010, THERE have been few acts by the Indian government in recent months that have given rise to as many misgivings as its attempt to push through the nuclear liability Bill. Continue reading →

August 31, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, politics | antinuclear, AREVA, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactors, Westinghouse | Leave a comment

Farmers in India fight to keep their land from nuclear power plant

Fatehabad farmers see nuclear plant as a liability, The Hindu, 30 Aug 2010, , The agitating farmers of Gorakhpur-Kumharia village of Haryana have decided to stage an indefinite dharna outside the mini secretariat at Fatehabad, over 300 km from here, to protest against the acquisition of over 1,400 acres by the government for a nuclear power plant there…..Apart from a section of farmers not ready to part with their land at any cost, there are many whose objection is to the price being offered. “In the proposed power plant, over 500 acres of land which is ‘most fertile’ and fetches over Rs. 20 lakh per acre in market but the government rate is Rs. 11.65 lakh per acre which is unfair…
“There is only one important demand — land should be compensated by providing land and employment. No matter how much money is given, it will vanish after a generation.” The Hindu : News / National : Fatehabad farmers see nuclear plant as a liability

August 30, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | India, opposition to nuclear | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, reactors | Leave a comment

India’s nuclear deal to create financial burden for India in the future

Today, nobody in India including Dr. Manmohan Singh would know what would be the exact investment cost in the nuclear power projectsand what would be the cost of generated nuclear power that the country would get , after investing thousands of crores of rupee in the nuclear power projects and importing the machinery and fuel at a price that would be dictated by the overseas business houses.

India has now a nuclear burden to carry, by N.S.Venkataraman Chennai, Sri Lanka Guardian) August 27, 2010 Indian Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has realized his single point agenda of passing nuclear bill in parliament and bringing nuclear power projects to India at any cost. While he may be happy and satisfied man now, the burden caused due to his single point agenda has to be carried on by his country men for long period after Dr. Manmohan Singh would cease to be the Prime Minister of India. Continue reading →

August 28, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, India | antinuclear, nuclear costs, reactors | Leave a comment

Growing resistance to radioactive waste shipments on the Great Lakes

In addition to the radiological risks of one of these barges sinking — including stigma impacts on economic sectors such as Great Lakes tourism and fisheries, even if there is not a radioactive release — there is also the precedent setting nature of this proposal.

Resistance builds to radioactive waste shipments on Great Lakes, Beyond Nuclear, 26 Aug 2010, The Great Lakes United (GLU) Nuclear-Free/Green Energy Task Force has taken the lead in shining a spotlight on the proposal by Bruce Nuclear Power Complex in Ontario to barge 16 radioactive steam generators out the Great Lakes, and across the Atlantic, to Sweden for “recycling” the metal for un-restricted re-use in consumer products. Continue reading →

August 28, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, environment | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear spin, nuclear wastes, radiation, radioactive, reactors | Leave a comment

USA nuclear firms worried about becoming liable for nuclear accident costs

Lawmakers in New Delhi approved a bill last night that makes suppliers and builders of atomic reactors potentially liable in the event of an accident…..None of India’s biggest prospective suppliers, including GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy or Westinghouse Electric, are likely to sign contracts if they can be held liable for third-party damages,

India Risks Nuclear Power Isolation With Break From Post-Chernobyl Accord, Bloomberg, By Natalie Obiko Pearson – Aug 26, 2010 India’s push to end a three-decade ban on buying nuclear equipment from abroad may founder on laws passed by its own parliament. Continue reading →

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, India | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear renaissance, nuclear spin, nuclear technology, radiation, radioactive, reactors, uranium | Leave a comment

Way behind schedule – UK’s planned nuclear reactors

the companies behind the designs – French consortium Areva, EDF and US firm Westinghouse – had been repeatedly submitting information which was incomplete and late………we could be faced with the farcical situation where the government is letting utilities press ahead with building work for reactors that haven’t been given safety approval.”

UK’s nuclear reactor programme falls behind schedule. Regulator and builders blame each other for construction hold-up as designs await approval Tim Webb , guardian.co.uk, , 25 August 2010 Continue reading →

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | technology, UK | antinuclear, EDF, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear secrecy, nuclear spin, reactors, Westinghouse | Leave a comment

UK’s French built nuclear plants to cost $9 billion

EDF, RWE May Spend $9.3 Billion Per New Nuclear Plant in U.K., Hendry SaysBy Fred Pals and Kari Lundgren – Aug 26, 2010 Utilities building new nuclear power plants in the U.K. may have to spend as much as 6 billion pounds ($9.3 billion) on each plant, according to Charles Hendry, the country’s minister of state for energy…………

EDF, RWE May Spend $9.3 Billion Per New Nuclear Plant in U.K., Hendry Says – Bloomberg

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, UK | antinuclear, EDF, nuclear costs, reactors | Leave a comment

Climate change effects could stop nuclear industry

.the effects of climate change could make it to impossible to run nuclear reactors.

The Nuclear Industry Needs A Cap On Carbon To Survive, Wonk Room 26 Aug 2010, “……..the effects of climate change could make it to impossible to run nuclear reactors. For example, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has drastically reduced power generation at the Browns Ferry nuclear plant this summer: The Tennessee Valley Authority has lost nearly $50 million in power generation from its biggest nuclear plant because the Tennessee River in Alabama is too hot Continue reading →

August 26, 2010 Posted by Christina Macpherson | climate change, USA | antinuclear, climate change, global warming, nuclear renaissance, nuclear wastes, reactors, water | 1 Comment