New Nukes
Using the lever of nuclear power and financial assets generated around them, the intended mechanism featured a massive finance bubble driven by a construction spree of new, industry standard, Chernobyl-sized (900 MW and over) reactors right across the Southern emerging and developing countries, through 2010-2020. The lynchpin target for this socalled Nuclear Renaissance was the entire Mid East and North African region – the Arab world including outlyer countries such as Sudan and the Central Asian muslim republics. As late as midyear 2007, France’s Sarkozy could crow about French success in selling nuclear power to his respected or at least petrodollar flush fellow head of state, received with pomp and circumstance at the Elysee Palace (with tent and gorilla bodyguard), Muammar Gaddafi. Until the Arab youth revolt started sweeping the entire Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in January 2011, the key geographic region for selling nuclear reactors and creating the new nuclear South – was the MENA. Who today in their right mind, 6 weeks later at end-February 2011, would suggest it is still a nice, progessive and productive, secure and useful idea to sell industry standard, Chernobyl-sized nuclear power plants to countries like Libya, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco, Jordan, Syria, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE, Iran, the Central Asian republics, or any other civil war-prone country of the region, like Sudan ?
Market Oracle 26th Feb 2011 more >>
Companies
State regulators slapped Utah nuclear waste processor EnergySolutions Inc. with a fine this week for handling waste that is more radioactive than its license allows. The Utah Radiation Control Board fined EnergySolutions $80,000 on Thursday for burying 23 containers of low-level radioactive waste that exceeded standards.
Bloomberg Business Week 25th Feb 2011 more >>
Nuclear Engineering Services is the latest winner of the Express & Star Excellence in Manufacturing Awards. Professor CARL CHINN reports on the firm’s success. It may seem an unlikely connection between the making of boilers to the provision of specialist equipment for the remote handling of hazardous material, but at Ettingshall in Wolverhampton that bond is made plain by the success of Nuclear Engineering Services Limited. The company is based on a site once dominated by John Thompson’s, boiler makers to the world.
Express and Star 26th Feb 2011 more >>
Uranium
Uranium, the fuel needed to make nuclear power, is completely dependent on oil for the very heavy duty machinery needed for extracting the annual supplies of uranium needed. And it takes a staggering amount of heavy mining equipment to extract the tiny amount of uranium needed.
What’s more, the world is running short of uranium fuel to supply reactors. According to Scientific American in 2009, the World Nuclear Association gives these figures. Every year, each of the 436 nuclear power plants in the world need to mine 143 million pounds of uranium, to extract the usable fuel. The largest mine in the world produces only 18.7 million pounds, or about a quarter of what just the US nuclear power plants need to mine each year.
Green Prophet 21st Feb 2011 more >>
Iran
Iran’s surprise announcement it will have to remove fuel from its first nuclear reactor suggests a new setback for its atomic ambitions, but the reason for the unusual step and how long it may take remain unclear.
Reuters 26th Feb2011 more >>
BBC 26th Feb 2011 more >>
The Iranians have been on record as saying that the Bushehr plant was affected by the Stuxnet computer worm, which is widely believed to have been a joint venture in cyber warfare by the US and Israel. But the initial signs are that Stuxnet has not played a part in this setback. Before Soltanieh spoke, ISIS provided an instant analysis of the IAEA report, saying it had learned that: the unloading may be motivated by concerns about the possible sabotage of the fuel assemblies or defective fuel assemblies.
Guardian Blog 26th Feb 2011 more >>
Test Veterans
A CABINET minister misled Parliament over the appalling illnesses suffered by British nuclear test survivors. Veterans Minister Andrew Robathan apologised after wrongly claiming the courts backed the Government’s battle against 1,000 people seeking compensation. In fact the courts ordered the MoD to a trial to scrutinise new evidence proving their DNA was irretrievably damaged by the test blasts. The MoD admitted he was wrong and apologised “for any confusion caused”.
Sunday Mirror 27th Feb 2011 more >>
Microgeneration
The fallout from the Government’s sudden decision to review feed-in tariffs continues to dominate this week’s Micro Power News. There is also news of Scottish Labour’s plan to have 10,000 more homes producing renewable energy across Scotland in the next four years if they gain power in the Scottish elections in May.
Microgen Scotland 25th February 2011 more >>
