Blogpost by jmckeati
- May 12, 2010 at 2:56 PM Add comment Today's
big stories from the nuclear industry:
‘DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Russia may help build
a nuclear power plant in Syria, Russia's
energy minister said on Tuesday, a step
that could upset the West due to unresolved
allegations Damascus tried to construct
a potential nuclear weapons facility in
secret. In 2007,
Israel bombed to rubble what Washington
said was a nascent, plutonium-producing
nuclear reactor in Syria's desert and a
U.N. nuclear watchdog probe to determine
what the target was has stalled due to Syrian
non-cooperation, diplomats say. On the first
state visit to Syria by a Kremlin chief
since the Bolshevik Revolution, Russian
President Dmitry Medvedev played up prospects
for nuclear power cooperation and said Washington
should work harder for peace in the Middle
East. "Cooperation on atomic energy
could get a second wind," Medvedev
said at a news conference with Syrian President
Bashar al-Assad after their talks. Assad
said he and Medvedev "talked about
oil and gas cooperation, as well as constructing
conventional or nuclear powered electricity
stations." Asked whether Russia would
build an atomic power plant in Syria, Russian
Energy Minister Sergei Shmatko told Reuters:
"We are studying this question."’
Political slip-ups risk
stalling Europe’s nuclear revival
‘A series of significant political developments
in Germany, Italy and Britain in the past
week have thrown a serious spanner in the
works of Europe’s attempts to revive its
nuclear industry. On Sunday, Chancellor
Angela Merkel’s ruling coalition was defeated
in a crucial regional poll in Germany’s
most populous state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
This robs the chancellor of a majority in
the country’s upper chamber and in so doing
her ability to extend the lifespan of Germany’s
17 nuclear reactors. Exactly a week ago,
Claudio Scajola, the Italian industry minister,
was forced to resign over corruption charges
he denies. He has been accused of paying
for a luxury apartment overlooking Rome’s
Colosseum six years ago with money illegally
provided by a property developer arrested
in February. As industry minister he had
been spearheading the Berlusconi government’s
ambitious plans to re-launch Italy’s nuclear
sector. Now Britain, with its hung parliament,
risks facing a protracted period of political
turmoil that could in turn undermine its
nuclear ambitions. The French are worried.
The state-controlled EDF utility has invested
a bundle in the UK power sector - as much
as 50bn euros ($64bn) - to capitalise on
Britain’s nuclear revival. So has Areva,
the state-owned nuclear group, that has
looked upon the UK as a prime market for
its new-generation EPR nuclear reactors.’
North Korea boasts success
in nuclear fusion
‘SEOUL - North Korea announced Wednesday
it has successfully carried out a nuclear
fusion reaction in what it called a breakthrough
towards developing new energy sources. The
report in Rodong Sinmun, newspaper of the
ruling communist party, made no mention
of using the claimed new technology for
the North's atomic weapons programme. Nuclear
fusion reactions can be employed to make
hydrogen bombs. "The successful nuclear
fusion marks a great event that demonstrated
the rapidly developing cutting-edge science
and technology of the DPRK (North Korea),"
the paper said. It said scientists worldwide
were studying nuclear fusion as a way of
obtaining "safe and environment-friendly
new energy" but the North's experts
had worked hard to develop the technology
their own way. As part of the process, "Korean
style thermonuclear reaction devices were
designed and manufactured, basic researches
into nuclear fusion reaction completed and
strong scientific and technological forces
built to perfect the thermonuclear technology
by their own efforts".’
Nuclear waste in Australia
a terror risk: Expert
‘Radioactive wastes being transported to
a proposed waste dump in Australia's Northern
Territory could be targeted by terrorists
for making "dirty" bomb, a nuclear
expert has warned. John Large, a Britain-based
nuclear risk expert, said that waste that
will be taken to disused Muckaty cattle
station is suitable for a "dirty"
radioactive bomb. Experts acknowledge a
home-made radioactive bomb is the most likely
nuclear terrorist threat. Transportation
of waste was prone to accident, open to
malicious acts and required extra handling
for transportation and packaging, Large
told The Age. Large's comments came after
a Labor-led Senate committee last Friday
upheld the move by federal Resources and
Energy Minister, Martin Ferguson, to locate
Australia's first national radioactive waste
dump at Muckaty, 120 km north of Tennant
Creek. The Northern Territory government
and many Aboriginal traditional owners have
objected to the plan, the latter challenging
the right of one clan to offer a 1.5-square-km
site in return for at least $11 million
and access to services.’
+ More
Nuclear power and coalition
government
Blogpost by jmckeati
- May 12, 2010 at 3:01 PM 2 comments Things
have got very interesting for the future
of the nuclear ‘renaissance’ in Europe in
the last few days. Suddenly, things don’t
look so optimistic for the nuclear industry.
In Germany on Sunday,
Angela Merkel’s coalition government lost
its majority at the regional elections in
North Rhine-Westphalia. This means her government
no longer has the power in the Federal Council
needed to extend the lifetime of Germany’s
aging fleet of nuclear reactors. Merkel’s
coalition was looking to repeal the law
requiring all the reactors to be closed
by 2020. That is now in doubt.
In the UK yesterday,
the Conservative and Liberal Democratic
parties formed a coalition government after
last week’s national election. The Conservatives
are for nuclear power and the Liberal Democrats
are against it. So what will happen? Right
now, it’s thought the Liberal Democrats
will speak against new nuclear reactors
but stay out of any nuclear vote in Parliament.
Also, Liberal Democrat Chris Huhne has been
made the minister in charge of energy and
climate change policy in the new government.
Huhne has an impressive record of opposition
to nuclear power. As the BBC's business
editor Robert Peston puts it…
In the end, as I understand,
nuclear power is one of those areas where
the two have agreed to disagree, which creates
considerable uncertainty for the two big
companies, EDF and Centrica, that are hoping
to roll out a series of enormous new nuclear
power stations.
Next is Belgium. On
June 13th there will be national elections
and it is very possible that the anti-nuclear
Greens and Flemish social democrats will
join the government. The Greens have already
said they will only join a new government
if it keeps the country’s nuclear phase-out
law. According to this law, created in 2003,
Belgium’s reactors will have to close after
their 40-year lifespans (that is, between
2015 and 2025).
Meanwhile in Italy last
week, Industry Minister Claudio Scajola
was forced to resign from Silvio Berlusconi’s
coalition after allegations of corruption.
‘Mr Scajola had been an important driver
behind Italy's revival of nuclear energy’.
All in all, bad news
for the supposedly resurgent nuclear ‘renaissance’.
Has anyone seen it recently?
+ More
Nuclear News: UK coalition
sets out plans on runways and nuclear
Blogpost by jmckeati
- May 13, 2010 at 3:47 PM 1 comment UK coalition
sets out plans on runways and nuclear
‘The UK's new coalition government has cancelled
controversial plans to build a third runway
at London Heathrow airport. On nuclear,
the parties have agreed a deal which is
supposed to allow the Conservative majority
to push through new nuclear stations through
the energy department which will be run
by Chris Huhne from the Liberal Democrats
who have an historic opposition to nuclear.
It is likely the Tories will frame policy
and the Liberal Democrats will be allowed
to abstain on the nuclear vote, although
they may speak against. Labour will support
nuclear, though, so the stations will get
built - if conditions are met. This is a
key proviso. The Conservative leadership
is not so quite so firmly wedded to nuclear
as Labour (The nuclear industry had direct
access to Gordon Brown through his brother,
head of media for the French firm EDF.)’
Local protests hit India's
power generation plants
‘NEW DELHI, May 12 (Reuters) - India will
miss its power generation target by a bigger
margin than previously estimated as local
people are opposing new projects, Home Minister
Palaniappan Chidambaram said on Wednesday.
"As I speak to you, there are 16 plants
in deep trouble as local people do not want
power plants in their area," he said.
The northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh
and Punjab, western states of Gujarat and
Maharashtra and southern Andhra Pradesh
state are among those that have witnessed
local protest against power plants, the
minister said. India had initially planned
to add 78,000 megawatts of capacity in five
years to March 2012, but the target was
lowered to 62,000 megawatts, Chidambaram
told a business conference. Protests and
controversies have dogged several projects
including dams, steel plants and mines in
India as local people, including tribesmen
in remote regions, are reluctant to surrender
their land or they demand a higher compensation.
"They do not want to give away lands...are
against nuclear power plants, against thermal
power plants and (hydropower) plants,"
Chidambaram said.’
Pyongyang's announcement
based more on politics than scientific significance:
Experts
‘Beijing - Pyongyang said on Wednesday it
has successfully produced a nuclear fusion
reaction - a claim doubted by many - while
Chinese experts believe the political significance
of the announcement far outweighs its scientific
value. Rodong Sinmum, the official newspaper
of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea
(DPRK), said the technology is for "obtaining
safe and environment-friendly new energy".
"The successful nuclear fusion marks
a great event that demonstrates the rapidly
developing cutting-edge science and technology,"
it said. The paper also said the success
coincided with the birthday of Kim Il-sung,
the DPRK's late founder, on April 15. Laboratory
demonstrations of nuclear fusion reactions
are not new but if carried out in real fields
- something the world's scientists are still
striving for - it could provide a tremendous
supply of clean energy and leave little
radioactive residue. "In terms of science
and the military, the news doesn't have
much value because it can't be verified,"
said Zhang Liangui, an expert on Korean
affairs at the Party School of the Central
Committee of Communist Party of China in
Beijing.’
Ukrainian security services arrests uranium
sellers
‘Yesterday at 20:17 | Interfax-Ukraine May
12 - The Ukrainian Security Service has
detained six Ukrainians in Slavyansk, Donetsk
region, after allegedly attempting to illegally
sell three slabs of depleted uranium weighing
in total two and a half kilograms, the Ukrainian
State Committee for Nuclear Regulation said
in a statement on its website. The arrest
was carried out almost two months ago on
March 17, with the authorities reporting
the arrest on May 12."The power of
the exposure dose on the surface of the
seized nuclear material is over 1.2 millirem
per hour, which is 100 times the natural
background level," the statement said.
At the same time, no damage to the population
and environment has been detected.’
Syria must disclose
its intentions in case of Russia nuclear
deal, U.S. says
‘Russia must take into account Syria's problematic
nuclear stance before considering a cooperation
in that field, a top U.S. official said
Wednesday, following recent reports that
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and his
Syrian counterpart Bashar Assad had discussed
the possibility of nuclear collaboration
in Damascus earlier this week. Speaking
to reporters on Tuesday, Medvedev said that
"cooperation on atomic energy [with
Syria] could get a second wind," while
providing no further details on what nuclear
cooperation were discussed with Assad. Russian
news agencies quoted Assad as saying that
he had discussed with Medvedev the possibility
of building power plants, including nuclear
ones, in Syria. On Wednesday, State Department
spokesman Philip J. Crowley told reporters
Washington was cautious in regards to any
nuclear collaboration which included Syria.’
+ More
Nuclear News: US nuclear
power plans hit by waste dispute
Blogpost by jmckeati
- May 14, 2010 at 2:25 PM Add comment US
nuclear power plans hit by waste dispute
‘The Obama administration’s efforts to foster
a renaissance in nuclear power in the US
are coming up against an old dilemma - what
to do with the waste. The climate bill before
the Senate envisages the construction of
the first US reactors in more than three
decades as a solution to both global warming
and the country’s addiction to oil; an expansion
supported by President Barack Obama and
Republicans at a time of new concerns about
the safety of oil drilling. But the issue
of spent fuel storage is haunting US nuclear
ambitions. In March, Mr Obama announced
that Yucca Mountain, the country’s only
prospective nuclear waste repository, would
be shut before ever opening. The 20-year-old
facility outside Las Vegas has cost the
government about $9bn (7.1bn euros, £6.1bn).
Mr Obama promised during his election campaign
that he would kill the project on the urging
of Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in
the Senate, whose Nevada constituency opposes
it. The closure has shaken the nuclear power
industry during what some are calling its
long-awaited revival. The largest nuclear
power company, Exelon, has said it will
not construct new plants until progress
is made on storage. ‘This is a major impediment
to the development of new nuclear sites,’
said John Rowe, Exelon’s chief executive.’
Carbon Plan’s Price
Controls May Hurt Nuclear, Barclays Says
‘May 13 (Bloomberg) -- Measures to prevent
price spikes in a proposed U.S. carbon market
may hold back construction of new nuclear-power
plants and thwart the development of technologies
that capture emissions from coal-fired plants,
London-based Barclays Plc said. Senators
John Kerry and Joseph Lieberman unveiled
legislation yesterday that aims to cut the
emissions that scientists have linked to
climate change 17 percent from their 2005
levels by 2020. Power plants and factories
would be regulated by a cap-and-trade program
in which companies buy and sell a declining
number of carbon dioxide allowances. Kerry,
a Massachusetts Democrat, and Lieberman,
a Connecticut independent, have proposed
a minimum price of $12 an allowance and
a maximum of $25 in 2013. The ‘price collar’
for allowances, which each represent one
metric ton of carbon dioxide, would rise
over time. ‘When you’re looking to make
some pretty big reductions in your carbon
emissions, there needs to be the promise
of fairly good carbon prices,’ Trevor Sikorski,
director of carbon market research at Barclays
Capital, said today on a conference call
with reporters. If lawmakers want to motivate
power companies to build nuclear or carbon-capture
plants, ‘then having a price collar on the
price of carbon is not going to do it,’
Sikorski said.’
Britain's nuclear industry
wakes up to an explosive problem as Chris
Huhne moves in
‘A potentially explosive problem is brewing
for the nuclear industry now that the Department
of Energy and Climate Change has gone yellow.
Companies from EDF to Centrica are likely
to be privately rattled by the announcement
of Chris Huhne as Britain’s new energy minister.
It is a highly surprising choice by the
Prime Minister given fervent Liberal Democrat
opposition to a cornerstone of Tory energy
policy: ten new nuclear power stations in
the next couple of decades to ensure security
of supply and a zero-carbon source of electricity.
This is what Cameron and Clegg have to say
about the policy clash in their agreement:
‘Liberal Democrats have long opposed any
new nuclear construction. Conservatives,
by contrast, are committed to allowing the
replacement of existing nuclear power stations
provided they are subject to the normal
planning process for major projects (under
a new national planning statement) and provided
also that they receive no public subsidy.’
However, there remains a sizeable threat
that the Liberals could force a time-consuming
and costly public inquiry that delays the
new build. The idea that Chris Huhne will
have to formulate regulatory policy and
set out a timetable for nuclear is likely
to be a considerable worry. Most destabilising
is the fact that policy will probably not
be clear for some time, for Mr Huhne is
going to have to square his Department’s
theoretical support for nuclear with his
own views (in a previous speech on energy)
that: ‘No private sector investor has built
a nuclear power station anywhere in the
world without lashings of government subsidy
since Three Mile Island and Chernobyl. The
World Bank refuses to lend on nuclear projects
because of the long history of overruns.
Our message is clear, No to nuclear, as
it is not a short cut, but a dead end.’
