New Nukes
Letter Stefan Schurig: I wonder why Ted Nordhaus and Michael Shellenberger ignored the long list of problems of nuclear power. The deadly risk of nuclear radiation would be reason enough to quickly abandon this type of electricity production. But the unsolved question of nuclear waste, the threat of a global spread of highly radioactive material and the tremendous costs compared with the same amount of renewable energy makes it simply a non-option. When it comes to Germany, Messrs Nordhaus and Shellenberger miss the point. The reason why Germany can actually afford to shut down nuclear power plants as a consequence of the Fukushima disaster is mainly because it has developed its renewable energy from a 3 per cent to a 15 per cent share within the past decade. Renewable energy (mainly wind and small hydro) are currently contributing a larger part to the total energy demand than nuclear. Also it bears mentioning that various studies have proven evidence that the accessible renewable energy potential could easily cover the worlds future demand for energy at lower costs.
FT 13th May 2011 more >>
Radhealth
A NEW report by government health watchdogs has cleared nuclear plants such as Sellafield of causing childhood leukaemia. Comare the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation carried out a study of 13 British nuclear plants and failed to find one with a statistically significant cluster of childhood cancers among families living nearby.
Whitehaven News 12th May 2011 more >>
Nuclear Regulation
The head of the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR), Mike Weightman, has written to all nuclear site licence holders to consult them on amendments that the ONR is considering making to certain licence conditions attached to nuclear site licences. The changes to licence conditions are required to fully implement the obligations of the Nuclear Safety Directive (NSD) 2009/71/Euratom. The letter and annexes set out the details of the proposed amendments. A separate impact assessment is also available. The consultation is also being highlighted in the ONR’s e-bulletin network to alert other interested parties to the proposed changes and provide them with the opportunity to comment.
HSE 12th May 2011 more >>
GDA Progress Report to March 2011.
HSE 12th May 2011 more >>
Nuclear Safety
The safety plan for any nuclear power plant reads like a doomsday book. Earthquakes, floods, airplane crashes, mass evacuations, terrorist attacks, hurricanes, tornadoes all are disaster scenarios deemed a risk to reactor safety. The most likely threat, however, involves none of these headline cataclysms. Fires regularly occur at the 104 U.S. nuclear plants nearly 10 times a year on average. About half the accidents that threaten reactor cores begin with fires that can start from a short circuit in an electric cable, a spark that ignites the oil in a pump, or an explosion in a transformer. Even a small fire could trigger a chain of events that threatens a meltdown, and some have come close. Just a year ago, a South Carolina nuclear plant suffered two fires in a single day ironically on the 31st anniversary of the nations worst nuclear accident at Three Mile Island. The seven-hour crisis escaped much national notice even though it left half the plant without adequate power or a reliable supply of cooling water for its reactors, a situation worsened by workers unfamiliarity with the proper safety response.
iWatch News 11th May 2011 more >>
Companies
RWE AG (RWE), Germanys second-largest utility, said first-quarter profit slid 7.5 percent as power prices declined and income at its natural-gas business fell. Recurrent net income, which the utility uses to calculate its dividend, fell to 1.61 billion euros ($2.3 billion) from 1.74 billion euros a year earlier, Essen, Germany-based RWE said today in a statement. That beat the 1.48 billion-euro average estimate of 14 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. While the utility still expects a decline of about 30 percent in recurrent net this year, pending political decisions on the future of nuclear energy in Germany will determine whether RWE will face additional burdens, it said.
Bloomberg 12th May 2011 more >>
Terror
I recently returned from a seminar on nuclear policy in Vienna, Austria where presenters included some of the leading experts on the spread of nuclear weapons, nuclear power, nuclear disarmament and nuclear terrorism. I came away convinced that the term “naïve” could only be used to describe those who believe that we can continue to live in a world still bristling with nuclear weapons without endangering our very existence.
Huffington Post 12th May 2011 more >>
Hinkley
THE top priorities for West Somerset over the next four years have been outlined by Conservative and former district authority leader Tim Taylor. He said the councils finances and the proposed new nuclear build at Hinkley Point were the burning challenges facing the authority.
This is the West Country 12th May 2011 more >>
Sellafield
THE Celtic League has said, despite a terrorist scare at Sellafield last week, an accident at the plant is still the biggest threat facing the island. And the pressure groups director of information, Bernard Moffatt, has claimed accidental releases of radiation at plants around the Irish Sea occur on a regular basis. Five men were arrested under the Terrorism Act last week after they were seen taking photos outside the Sellafield plant. They were later released without charge. Last weeks Manx Independent tackled the issue with a front page story examining what contingencies were in place in the island to cope with an incident at Sellafield.
Isle of Man Today 13th May 2011 more >>
Europe
Fractious talks on testing the safety of European nuclear reactors broke down Thursday as calls to include terror attacks and other man-made disasters in the tests faced resistance from powerful nuclear lobbies in London and Paris. “No final decision has been taken,” the European Commission said after some six hours of talks in Brussels broke up with fresh discussions among the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) set for next week, May 19 and 20, in Prague.
AFP 12th May 2011 more >>
EU Business 12th May 2011 more >>
European nuclear experts stood poles apart from safety campaigners as talks began Thursday on whether so-called ‘stress tests’ on nuclear reactors would cover terror and other man-made disasters.
EU Business 12th May 2011 more >>
Plans to subject Europes nuclear reactors to a common safety test have hit a snag amid disputes over whether facilities should be examined for their ability to withstand aeroplane crashes and other possible terrorist attacks. Günther Oettinger, Europes energy commissioner, had promised to announce rules for the nuclear stress tests on Thursday a first step before member states could start examining the 143 plants across the bloc. Mr Oettinger is to submit a report to European leaders in December. But that timetable was called into question after the UK and other member states argued at a meeting in Brussels that the scope of the tests should be limited to natural disasters, such as earthquakes and floods.
FT 13th May 2011 more >>
The “stress tests” are a set of additional safety criteria drawn up in the light of the nuclear accident in Fukushima. These EU wide criteria will be in addition to safety standards already being in place at national level. Their aim is to assess whether the safety margins used in the licensing of nuclear power plants were sufficient to cover unexpected events.
Wired.gov 12th May 2011 more >>
MINISTERS will today face pressure from the European Union to hand over the secrets of anti-terrorist measures at Britains nuclear power stations. Officials at an EU meeting on atomic safety will press for new safety standards to be enforced across the 27-nation union in response to the nuclear crisis at Fukushima following the Japanese earthquake. But Whitehall insiders last night insisted the British Government will resist the move on the grounds that UK national security could be compromised by Brussels snooping on nuclear energy sites. Energy Minister Charles Hendry recent clashed with EU Energy Commissioner Gunter Oettinger over the issue.
Express 13th May 2011 more >>
Stress tests of Europe’s nuclear power plants have to be strict and consider threats from both natural disasters and criminals, the EU’s energy commissioner said ahead of talks to set the rules of an upcoming review.
Reuters 12th May 2011 more >>
Japan
Japan’s government has agreed to set up a fund to compensate victims of the nuclear crisis to prevent operators of the damaged power plant from financial collapse. The government will issue special-purpose bonds to finance the scheme, which will be set up with taxpayer money, in a bid to allow Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) to compensate victims but avoid financial ruin. Residents unable to return to their homes indefinitely, fishermen and farmers whose livelihoods have been destroyed and businesses suffering from food safety fears are among tens of thousands expected to be eligible for compensation.
Telegraph 13th May 2011 more >>
BBC 13th May 2011 more >>
FT 13th May 2011 more >>
Uranium fuel in at least one of the six reactors at Fukushima has melted, the operator of the crippled nuclear plant has said. The admission effectively torpedoes a plan to flood the overheating fuel with water and bring a quick end to the worst nuclear crisis since Chernobyl. Observers fear that Reactor 3, which contains MOX plutonium fuel, may have also suffered a meltdown, and the situation inside Reactor 2 is still shrouded in mystery.
Independent 13th May 2011 more >>
Tokyo Electric Power Co.(TEPCO) on Thursday said holes had been created at the bottom of the No. 1 reactor’s pressure vessel because a large part of the fuel melted after being fully exposed.
IB Times 12th May 2011 more >>
IB Times 12th May 2011 more >>
Despite the lack of coverage in the international media, the situation at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant in Japan remains, in the words of the International Atomic Energy Agencys weekly bulletin, very serious. The continuing crisis was underscored yesterday when the plants operator, the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), reported that the reactor 1 had been far more seriously damaged than believed and its fuel rods had undergone a meltdown.
World Socialist Web 13th May 2011 more >>
In a development that is likely to delay efforts to bring the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station under control, the plants operator said Thursday that one reactor, No. 1, had sustained much more damage than originally thought and was leaking water. The company released a plan last month to bring the plant into a relatively stable state in six to nine months, but that was predicated on the notion that it could efficiently cool the fuel in several reactors a harder task if water is leaking out. The company had long suspected that the containment vessels at two other reactors were breached and leaking, but it had hoped the No. 1 reactor was intact and therefore easiest to bring under control. The company, Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, was able to better assess the reactor on Thursday because workers had recently been able to get close enough to fix a water gauge. It showed that the water level in the reactor was much lower than expected despite the infusion of tons of water since a devastating earthquake and tsunami knocked out the plants crucial cooling systems. One of the most startling findings announced Thursday was that water levels in the reactor vessel, which houses the fuel rods, appeared to be about three feet below where the bottom of the fuel rods would normally stand.
New York Times 12th May 2011 more >>
BBC 12th May 2011 more >>
Telegraph 12th May 2011 more >>
Japanese companies play key roles in the worldwide geothermal boom, yet development is conspicuously absent within Japan due to cultural reverence for hot springs, a lack of incentives and the historical reliance on nuclear power and fossil fuels for electricity. Since the 9.0-magnitude earthquake and tsunami on March 11 crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear reactors, causing radiation leaks and blackouts, there have been renewed calls to develop Japans abundant geothermal fields.
Renewable Energy World 11th May 2011 more >>
The levels of radiation accumulated in soil near the crippled nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan far exceeded the level of radiation the then-Soviet Union had used as a criterion for urging people to evacuate at the time of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, threatening to plague local residents for a lengthy period. Using aircraft, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology checked the cesium-137 (half life of about 30 years) and cesium-134 (half life of about two years) accumulated in soil in collaboration with the U.S. Department of Energy in April. Cesium-137 that has longer effects, ranging from 3 million to 14.7 million becquerels per square meter, was detected in Namie, Futaba, Minamisoma, Iitate and Katsurao, northwest of the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant, in Fukushima Prefecture. The levels far exceeded 550,000 bacquerels per square meter, the level the then-Soviet Union had used as a criterion for urging people to evacuate at the time of the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.
Mainichi 11th May 2011 more >>
The operator of Japan’s ageing Hamaoka nuclear plant, located near a tectonic faultline southwest of Tokyo, on Friday began shutting down one of its two running reactors, a plant official said. Chubu Electric Power started installing control rods into the number four reactor of the power plant early Friday, the first procedure in the operation, said Kazuhide Enoo, an official at the plant.
AFP 12th May 2011 more >>
Following the recent announcement from Naoto Kan, the prime minister, that Japan would “start from scratch” with regard to future nuclear power expansion, we can be sure that there is plenty of paddling in Tokyo. This will be especially true within the network of electricity companies and government officials that make up Japan’s “nuclear village”. The foreign media have interpreted Kan’s statement as the government abandoning the construction of new nuclear power plants. But Japanese newspapers did not report it as such, and Kan’s exact words “we need to go back to the drawing board and have a debate” are characteristically vague. After all, one can go back to the drawing board and draw roughly the same picture.
Guardian 12th May 2011 more >>
Japan has announced plans to cull all surviving livestock and poultry within 20km of the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said farmers were no longer in a position to feed their livestock after the government designated the area a no-go zone amid ongoing fears of radiation leaks from the plant in Fukushima Prefecture.
Agra Europe 12th May 2011 more >>
US
Despite repeated assurances that American nuclear plants are better equipped to deal with natural disasters than their counterparts in Japan, regulators said Thursday that recent inspections had found serious problems with some emergency equipment that would have made it unusable in an accident.
New York Times 12th May 2011 more >>
Some safety equipment at US nuclear plants did not work during inspections evaluating emergency preparedness, regulators said on Thursday. But no significant issues have been uncovered during the review, according to the taskforce examining the safety of the nations 104 nuclear reactors following the crisis at Japans Fukushima Daiichi plant, the worst since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
FT 12th May 2011 more >>
Sweden
Officials say a small fire broke out in Swedens Ringhals nuclear power plant earlier this week as workers carried out maintenance on a reactor containment unit.
Washington Post 12th May 2011 more >>
India
India, aiming to increase atomic- energy generation capacity 13-fold in the next two decades, is in talks with Kazakhstan, Niger and Namibia to acquire uranium mines, the head of the nations nuclear program said.
Bloomberg 12th May 2011 more >>
Germany
A draft report on the future of nuclear energy in Germany has come to the conclusion that all the country’s reactors should be shut down by 2021. But while setting a deadline might be a political necessity, German commentators argue that Chancellor Angela Merkel’s government should focus on the changeover to renewables.
Dr Spiegel 12th May 2011 more >>
Protest
The successor to the original Rainbow Warrior, which was blown up by the French intelligence service while in harbour in New Zealand in 1985, the schooner is currently monitoring radiation levels near Fukushima, although the Japanese Government refused it permission to operate within its territorial waters. With the shockwaves from the Japanese nuclear crisis still felt across the globe, Greenpeace has responded with protest actions. In France last week, 55 activists blockaded the site of a new pressurised reactor being built in Flamanville. Despite the adverse publicity of Fukushima yesterday, Rainbow Warriors crew recorded high radiation levels in se aweed samples up to 40 miles out to sea many argue that if global warming is to be contained, nuclear energy is the only credible option. With those such as Stephen Tindale, a former Greenpeace executive director, speaking up for atomic power, the green lobby seems to be caught between a rock and a hot place but Greenpeace remains dogmatic in its pursuit of a renewable energy solution. Our DNA is nuclear, thats where our founding fathers began and its always been a core issue, says John Sauven, the current UK executive director, but climate change is now deeply tied in with it. Its not enough to oppose nuclear power stations, you have to have a solution. We have to be seen to win the renewable argument. This is Greenpeaces greatest challenge as it embarks on its fifth decade but its far from the only one.
Times 13th May 2011 more >>
Test Veterans
A trailblazing widow has vowed to never give up her legal battle against an alleged Government cover-up into British citizens being killed from radiation poisoning.
Local Guardian 12th May 2011 more >>
Renewables
A pioneering scheme to harness the power of waves on an industrial scale on Orkney has moved closer to reality after it was selected by the UK Government for consideration as part of a major European funding initiative. If successful, it would be a major boost to Pelamis and Aquamarine Power, two Edinburgh-based companies that design and manufacture wave energy machines. The scheme is backed by three major electricity companies: ScottishPower Renewables, Scottish & Southern Energy Renewables and E.ON.
Times 13th May 2011 more >>
Climate
Ed Miliband has written to the prime minister saying it is a “question of trust” that David Cameron implement the advice of independent climate change advisers and adopt in full a fourth carbon budget.
Guardian 12th May 2011 more >>
