Fukushima
Japan insists its nuclear crisis was caused by an unforeseeable combination of tsunami and earthquake. But new evidence suggests its reactors were doomed to fail. How much damage did the 11 March earthquake inflict on the Fukushima Daiichi reactors before the tsunami hit? The stakes are high: if the earthquake structurally compromised the plant and the safety of its nuclear fuel, then every similar reactor in Japan may have to be shut down. With almost all of Japan’s 54 reactors either offline (in the case of 35) or scheduled for shutdown by next April, the issue of structural safety looms over any discussion about restarting them. Throughout the months of lies and misinformation, one story has stuck: it was the earthquake that knocked out the plant’s electric power, halting cooling to its six reactors. The tsunami then washed out the plant’s back-up generators 40 minutes later, shutting down all cooling and starting the chain of events that would cause the world’s first triple meltdown. But what if recirculation pipes and cooling pipes burst after the earthquake before the tidal wave reached the facilities; before the electricity went out? This would surprise few people familiar with the 40-year-old reactor one, the grandfather of the nuclear reactors still operating in Japan. No one knows how much damage was done to the plant by the earthquake, or if this damage alone would account for the meltdown. But certainly Tepco’s data and eyewitness testimony indicates that the damage was significant.
Independent 17th August 2011 more >>
Operators of Japan’s damaged nuclear power plant were warned about poorly repaired pipes and problems with its cooling system for years before the March 11 earthquake and tsunami. One anonymous maintenance engineer who was at the Fukushima complex on the day of the earthquake, told The Independent: “I personally saw pipes that had come apart and I assume that there were many more that had been broken throughout the plant.” The circumstances surrounding the Fukushima plant’s triple meltdown following the March 11 disaster remain of significant importance as the earthquake-prone nation considers the future of its 54 nuclear power plants, 35 of which are currently off-line. The investigation findings came to light as Tepco admitted that its initial goal of achieving a cold shutdown between October and January is appearing uncertain, according to reports in the Nikkei.
Telegraph 17th Aug 2011 more >>
New Nukes
Areva has signed an agreement with EDF Energy to manufacture forgings for the first EPR reactor to be built at Hinkley point, South-West England. The accord is a key step towards the construction of the United Kingdoms first two EPR reactors planned by EDF. The Areva group is also in commercial discussions with Horizon Nuclear Power and NuGeneration for the supply of up to 6 additional EPR reactors in the United Kingdom.
Nuclear Engineering International 16th Aug 2011 more >>
Electricity Market Reform
European antitrust rules may delay legislation on U.K. electricity market reform and put back investment in nuclear and wind power, according to a former government adviser. The U.K. proposed a shift in energy policy to rein back the market structure put in place over two decades ago to help replace about a quarter of Britains power stations preparing to close. Chris Huhne, energy secretary, recommended guaranteeing long-term prices for low-carbon energy such as nuclear and wind power, setting a minimum price for CO2 emissions and providing payments for back-up power stations. The proposed changes may fall foul of European Union rules restricting state aid, Tom Burke, a co-founder of environmental lobby E3G, said in an interview in London. Burke has advised the U.K. on international climate change policy. The European Union can take up to 18 months to grant consent under state aid rules, he said. A spokesman for the U.K.s department of energy and climate change, who declined to be identified citing government policy, didnt immediately comment.
Bloomberg 11th Aug 2011 more >>
Sellafield
The NDA together with Sellafield Ltd and Nuclear Management Partners (NMP) have published a new Performance Plan for the site. It sets out how NMP will apply their global experience to improve operations, generate efficiencies and deliver detailed programmes of work with the aim of accelerating decommissioning and providing value for money.
NDA 3rd Aug 2011 more >>
Hinkley
Nuclear energy has been under rapid fire from industry experts this year and the public perception has been shaken in the fission technology since the Fukushima disaster early this year. EDF Energy has been given permission to build “Hinkley Point C” on the Somerset Coast in the UK.
Earth Times 16th Aug 2011 more >>
Decommissioning
Within the next 15 years as many as 100 industry standard 900 MW nuclear reactors, concentrated in the “old nuclear’ countries will have to be decommissioned, dismantled and made safe – unless the sinister farce of reactor operating lifetime extensions goes on playing. In some countries, especially Germany, Switzerland and probably Japan this farce has already ended or could end very soon. When it does, nuclear debt will go into overdrive from its already high gear shift setting. Nuclear power is capital intensive, lives on subsidies, thrives on false hopes and dies in debt.
Market Oracle 16th Aug 2011 more >>
Terror
Countdown to Zero: We are apparently at real risk from terrorists obtaining a bomb, a nuclear accident or from the actions of rogue nations. Experts from former CIA operatives to big names such as Jimmy Carter and Tony Blair spell out the impending doom.
More 4 16th August 2011 more >>
Electricity Prices
Some 3.3 million Npower customers were today facing higher energy bills after the company became the latest utility provider to hike its prices. Average tariffs for gas will increase by 15.7% and electricity by 7.2% from October 1, Npower said, meaning the average monthly direct debit dual-fuel customer will see bills increase by 12.2% – an additional £134 a year.
Independent 16th Aug 2011 more >>
Times 16th Aug 2011 more >>
Scotsman 17th Aug 2011 more >>
EDF has apologised and reimbursed nearly £200,000 to tens of thousands of customers after identifying a fault with its automated telephone meter reading system.
Independent 16th Aug 2011 more >>
Telegraph 16th Aug 2011 more >>
IAEA
The UN atomic agency has outlined a series of measures in a draft action plan to help improve global nuclear safety. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) draft document outlined measures in 10 areas to help improve nuclear safety after the Fukushima crisis in Japan. While stressing that atomic energy safety was primarily a national responsibility, it signalled a strengthened role for the IAEA and its expert missions to review compliance with international reactor and regulatory standards.
Engineering & Technology Magazine 15th Aug 2011 more >>
Japan
On the afternoon of March 12, 24 hours after a tsunami crippled Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex, some 700 residents of the coastal town of Namie were gathered at an elementary school just outside the government’s 6.2-mile evacuation zone. Children played in the schoolyard, adults walked their dogs and volunteers cooked rice balls and soup outdoors. With cellphones knocked out and no television, few had any inkling of the rapidly escalating threat posed by the nearby plant. Back in Tokyo, however, red flags were popping up inside a nondescript office building outside of the central business district, home to one of Japan’s nerve centers for responding to a nuclear disaster. A computer system there, called Speedi, used real-time weather data to predict how radiation would spread in the event of an accident, spitting out maps for the government to use to get people out of harm’s way.
Wall Street Journal 16th Aug 2011 more >>
After a third explosion rocked Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex on March 15, the weather took a worrisome turn. A wind that had been blowing steadily out to sea shifted to the northwest, carrying plumes of radiation up a river known locally as the “corridor of wind.” That evening, a late-winter snow began falling on this mountain village. Residents awakened the next day to a blanket of white over their homes, roads, cow pastures and pine forests. They stepped outside and began shoveling. Back in Tokyo, officials had information suggesting that the snow carried radiation to this community 17 miles from the stricken plant, well outside the government’s evacuation zone. Nevertheless, a week passed before government officials gave residents any clear indication that their town of 6,000 had become a nuclear “hot spot,” and even then they were hesitant to order residents to get out.
Wall Street Journal 16th Aug 2011 more >>
The Japanese government has agreed to set up a main nuclear regulatory agency and move it to the environment ministry from the trade ministry. The new agency will integrate the Cabinet Office’s Nuclear Safety Commission, Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, and some nuclear-related duties. It will be responsible for handling other nuclear-related activities, including emergency response, radiation monitoring and dealing with the threat of nuclear terrorist attacks. The minister in charge of the nuclear crisis Goshi Hosono said that the government will work immediately to create a preliminary panel this month to oversee the formation of the agency.
Energy Business Review 15th Aug 2011 more >>
Japan is planning to join the US-led global nuclear compensation treaty to avoid the excessive overseas damage claims related to nuclear accidents. The treaty Convention on Supplementary Compensation for Nuclear Damage has been agreed by the US, Romania, Morocco and Argentina, but it needs at least five countries to come into effect, Reuters reported.
Energy Business Review 15th August 2011 more >>
Iran
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad welcomed on Tuesday a Russian attempt to revive talks with six world powers that view its uranium enrichment programme as a potential pathway to nuclear weapons, but was vague about what the agenda should be.
Reuters 16th Aug 2011 more >>
Turkey
Turkey’s energy regulator Enerji Piyasasi DuZenleme Kurulu (EPDK) has made the necessary arrangements for the construction of a nuclear power plant in southern Turkey.
EPDK has set rules for the letter of bank guarantee to be given by a Russian company which will construct the nuclear power plant. With respect to the construction of the facility, Russia will set up a company with a minimum capital of TRY1.4bn ($787m), which will oversee the construction activities.
Energy Business Review 15th Aug 2011 more >>
Jordan
The Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) has received financial bids for the construction of the country’s first nuclear reactor.
Energy Business Review 15th Aug 2011 more >>
US
The near-term prospects for an expansion in the use of nuclear energy in the USA “will be miserably hard and extremely challenged by economics,” according to the head of Exelon, the country’s largest nuclear utility. Speaking at the American Nuclear Society’s 2011 Utility Working Conference in Hollywood, Florida, on 15 August, Exelon chairman and CEO John Rowe said that the renaissance of the US nuclear industry is being limited by economics rather than technology.
World Nuclear News 16th Aug 2011 more >>
