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Evacuation plan is still unworkable | LoHud.com | The Journal News
Congratulations to Rob Astorino, who won the county leadership position by a large margin. The new county executive has been a strong supporter of Indian Point, and in his unsuccessful bid for the office in 2005, he tried to convince residents that the Kensico Dam was a larger threat than Indian Point if terrorists attacked. That argument did not play well and Mr. Astorino lost.
While these are different times, one thing is certain. The evacuation plan for Indian Point will not work if it is needed, and has unfixable shortcomings. Those were the findings of the 2003 Witt Report, and then-Gov. George Pataki publicly endorsed the report’s findings. That is why since then, neither Westchester County nor the State of New York have certified the evacuation plan as workable; and that is also why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been suggesting that "sheltering in place" rather than trying to evacuate is advised.
France faces tough choices on Areva T&D sale | Deals | Reuters
France may have painted itself into a corner by pushing state-owned nuclear power group Areva to sell its most profitable unit, and could end up weakening the very domestic industries it is trying to champion.
The government, which owns 93 percent of Areva, must choose between three bids for the Areva's electricity transmission & distribution (T&D) business -- from GE, Toshiba, and a French consortium of Alstom and Schneider Electric -- each of which potentially hurts French economic interests in different ways.
Should the government choose GE or Toshiba for the business, valued at 4 to 5 billion euros ($5.9-7.4 billion), it would in either case end up strengthening a company that competes with Areva in its core nuclear segment.
AFP: Turkey scraps nuclear power plant tender
Turkey on Friday scrapped a 2008 tender won by a Russian-led consortium to build the country's first nuclear power plant -- a process that had been under threat of being invalidated by a court decision.
In a brief statement, the state-run electricity wholesaler TETAS said its board of directors decided "unanimously" to cancel the tender, citing an article in the bid specification that gave it the authority to scrap the process without any liability.
A consortium led by Atomstroyexport, Russia's state nuclear giant, had been the only bidder in the tender to build four nuclear reactors with a total capacity of 4,800-megawatts at Akkuyu, in the Mediterranean province of Mersin.
TETAS's decision comes ten days after a top administrative court suspended parts of the regulation governing the tender before moving on to review a demand by a civil society of engineers to cancel the process.
Ottawa boosting liability limit for nuclear companies - The Globe and Mail
Claims will now top out at $650-million, up from the previous $75-million ceiling
If something goes terribly wrong at a nuclear power plant, how much liability should the operator bear?
The federal government is introducing a new limit of $650-million for damages that can be claimed from nuclear companies after an accident at one of their stations. The amount represents a massive leap from the previous $75-million ceiling, which anti-nuclear groups called a hidden subsidy.
Questions remain, however, as to whether the new amount would cover all the claims due to the psychological trauma of living through such a mishap, the health impacts of being showered with radiation and damage to property.
Doubts raised on nuclear industry viability
The investment in nuclear power has been growing around the world over the last few years, being viewed as a means for countries to control their energy security, avoid the price fluctuations of other energy sources, and reduce their carbon dioxide emissions, but concerns are now being raised.
A scientist from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology predicts that supplies of uranium are running out and countries relying on imports of uranium may face shortages by 2013, while a New York Times journalist suggests new nuclear power plants are an "abysmal" investment that will never pay for itself without government financial support.
Dr Michael Dittmar, a physicist with CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research), said in the fourth and final part of an essay on the world's nuclear industry published this week that civilian stockpiles of uranium could be depleted by as early as 2013.
Nuke critics renew campaign against re-licensing
Vermont Yankee critics are gearing up for another campaign aimed at persuading state lawmakers to turn thumbs-down on the plant's request for a 20-year license extension.
A coalition of groups including Vermont Public Interest Research Group and former Gov. Phil Hoff are announcing the campaign Thursday. It's aimed at getting more Vermont towns to pass resolutions on Town Meeting Day opposing Vermont Yankee's bid to remain operating past its scheduled 2012 closing.
Last year, 36 towns passed such a measure.
Sick worker advocates seek rules changes | knoxnews.com
According to info distributed by the Alliance of Nuclear Worker Advocacy Groups, ANWAG and the action groups at Linde Ceramics are petitioning NIOSH and the Dept. of Labor to make rules changes in the administration of the sick nuclear worker compensation program.
"Congress never intended this program to develop into the ongoing and overwhelming burden it has become for sickened nuclear weapons workers or their survivors," Terrie Barrie of ANWAG said in a statement. "Congress was well aware when they passed EEOICPA that the Department of Energy did not keep adequate exposure records, particularly for chemicals and heavy metals. Yet, DOL requires claimants to provide proof of exposure where none exists. It is long past due to return this program to the original intent of the law."
Who Will Dare to Invest in Nuclear Power?
Will there be a nuclear power renaissance in the United States, as a host of rosy-glassed prognosticators have predicted? Not as long as it remains such an abysmal investment opportunity, Matthew Wald writes in Technology Review’s November-December issue.
Wald, a New York Times reporter, contends that nuclear has come a long way in reliability and efficiency but still carries some serious financial baggage. “As the possibility of an accident that panics or injures the neighbors has diminished,” he writes, “the likelihood has grown that even a properly functioning new reactor will be unable to pay for itself.”
Wald cites three factors, all in flux, that make nuclear a huge financial risk. One is the sheer cost of building a new reactor, $4,000 per kilowatt of capacity using optimistic math, which is more than coal ($3,000) and far more than natural gas ($800). Another is the future competitive landscape in energy, and thus the price of electricity. And finally, no one is certain of the future price of fossil fuels, especially natural gas, which could change the whole equation.
Calvert Cliffs nuclear expansion criticized | delmarvanow.com | The Daily Times
As Maryland closes in on the construction of a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, an environmental organization has released a report calling nuclear power a step backward in the nation's race to reduce pollution.
The Environment Maryland Research and Policy Center report, released Tuesday, calls nuclear power "too slow and too expensive," an energy source that makes little economic sense in combating climate change.
While nuclear power might be preferable to fossil fuel-based energy sources, it is "diverting and delaying action," said economist John Howley, who was part of a panel convened by Environment Maryland.
Nuclear Power Called a Step Backward - Southern Maryland Headline News
As Maryland closes in on the construction of a third reactor at Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant in Lusby, an environmental organization has released a report calling nuclear power a step backward in the nation's race to reduce pollution.
The Environment Maryland Research and Policy Center report, released Tuesday, calls nuclear power "too slow and too expensive," an energy source that makes little economic sense in combating climate change.
While nuclear power might be preferable to fossil fuel-based energy sources, it is "diverting and delaying action," said economist John Howley, who was part of a panel convened by Environment Maryland.
Howley, who writes Maryland Energy Report, believes that financing nuclear power will come at the expense of cleaner energy sources, such as solar or wind power.
Miliband grilled over nuclear power - Times Online
Environmental activists yesterday took David Miliband to task over Britain’s renewable energy resources and his support for nuclear power.
The Foreign Secretary faced searching questions from the British Council’s Scottish young climate change champions at the organisation’s office in Edinburgh, as well as from their Japanese equivalents, who joined the debate via a video link.
Ahead of the Copenhagen talks, they questioned Mr Miliband over energy mixes, the viability of a profitable low carbon economy and the ability of the EU member states to work together on the issue.
DOE's Chalk: Managing Billions of Dollars in Clean Energy Stimulus Funding - washingtonpost.com
At the Department of Energy (DOE), Steven Chalk has experienced the economic crisis as an opportunity, a chance to push energy efficiency.
A career public servant, Chalk manages the distribution of nearly half the $36.7 billion in economic stimulus funds Congress granted DOE this year -- money issued for home weatherization, energy efficient buildings, plug-in hybrid vehicle technology, solar, wind and geothermal power.
Nuclear 'Renaissance' Held Up by Fight Between DOE and OMB - NYTimes.com
The awards of $18.5 billion in federal loan guarantees for new nuclear plant projects remain held up by an ongoing dispute within the Obama administration over the financial risk the new reactors pose for the government and taxpayers, according to industry and government officials.
The struggle pits the Energy Department against the Office of Management and Budget, agencies that have been at odds since the loan guarantee program was approved in 2005. DOE will make the final decision on nuclear project loan guarantee requests. OMB has a pivotal say in determining the risk of loan defaults if the projects suffer cost overruns or cannot be completed.
Waste fees subsidizing general state operations - Salt Lake Tribune
Industry » Legislature should close loophole that pumps waste fees into general fund, group says.
It's been a long-standing principle in Utah to have hazardous waste operators cover the cost of state oversight. But with the economic slump and waste fees lagging, the self-supporting fund for hazardous waste regulation is short some $2.3 million.
An industry group has been looking since spring for a way to stanch the flow, and its focus has landed on the Utah Legislature. Turns out lawmakers have been reaching into the fund, called the Environmental Quality Restricted Account, for millions to cover other programs, some unrelated to the environment.
"The bottom line for us," said Bill Sinclair, deputy director of the Utah Department of Environmental Quality, "is, if we can't meet our revenue needs through fees, there will be consequences."
Antinuclear group gets funding - Peterborough Examiner - Ontario, CA
A local anti-nuclear group, Safe and Green Energy Peterborough, will get $37,000 from a federal agency to review its study for the proposed Darlington nuclear plant expansion, the group announced yesterday.
"SAGE is extremely proud of this recognition and achievement, as it is a true community group that has been challenging the intent of the Ontario government to expand nuclear supply when the alternatives of renewable energy and conservation are safer, more community oriented and less costly," the group states in a release.
John Etches, with Safe and Green Energy, couldn't be reached for comment yesterday.
The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency participant funding program approved five applications worth a total of $155,927.
There were eight applications for a total of $314,242.
Markey: No Nuclear Loan Guarantees Without COLs :: POWER Magazine
Loan guarantees for new nuclear power plants in the U.S. should not be awarded until the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has fully reviewed plans for a proposed project and granted it a combined construction and operating license (COL), Rep. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) told Energy Secretary Steven Chu last week.
“Otherwise valuable taxpayer support would be set aside for a project that may not pass regulatory review,” the chair of the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee said in a letter (PDF) to Chu.
The congressman’s concerns were raised by the NRC’s Oct. 16 notice to Westinghouse Electric Co. that it had not adequately demonstrated the structural strength of certain components of its AP1000 reactor design, specifically for the shield building. The shield building protects the reactor’s primary containment from severe weather and other events, but it also provides a radiation barrier during normal operation and supports an emergency cooling water tank.
The Free Press - The reactor relapse takes 3 hits to the head
The much-hyped "Renaissance" of atomic power has taken three devastating hits with potentially fatal consequences.
The usually supine Nuclear Regulatory Commission has told Toshiba's Westinghouse Corporation that its "standardized" AP-1000 design might not withstand hurricanes, tornadoes or earthquakes.
Regulators in France, Finland and the UK have raised safety concerns about AREVA's flagship EPR reactor. The front group for France's national nuclear power industry, AREVA's vanguard project in Finland is at least three years behind schedule and at least $3 billion over budget.
And the Obama Administration indicates it will end efforts to license the proposed radioactive waste repository at Yucca Mountain, Nevada. After more than fifty years of trying, the nuclear industry has not a single prospective central dump site.
"If history repeats itself as farce, then the nuclear power industry represents the most incompetent jester of all time," says Michael Mariotte of the Nuclear Information & Resource Service. It "seems intent on repeating every possible mistake of its failed past—from promoting inadequate, ever-changing reactor designs to blowing through even the largest imaginable budgets. If the computer industry followed the practices of the nuclear industry, we’d still be waiting for the first digital device that could fit in a space smaller than a warehouse and cost less than a family’s annual income."
U.A.E. Nuclear Program May Send Region Into Arms Race - Bloomberg.com
The United Arab Emirates, which plans to award the Persian Gulf’s first nuclear power contracts this year, may start a regional arms race as its neighbors seek similar technology, according to a Chatham House report.
“Risks from nuclear proliferation cannot be eliminated entirely” from the U.A.E.’s program, Ian Jackson wrote in “Nuclear Energy and Proliferation Risks: Myths and Realities in the Persian Gulf,” published today. “It is possible that the genuine desire of Gulf states to engage in civil peaceful nuclear power could possibly tip the region into a nuclear arms race, especially if state intentions are misunderstood.”
The U.A.E., the fourth-biggest OPEC producer, is turning to nuclear power because it doesn’t produce enough natural gas to meet demand. The government has an atomic-energy agreement with the U.S., a necessary step to awarding construction contracts, and will prohibit the enrichment of uranium on U.A.E. soil.
A French group including Areva SA and Electricite de France SA is competing for U.A.E. power-plant contracts against groups led by General Electric Co. and Korea Electric Power Corp.
Letters: The cost of nuclear doesn't add up | Environment | The Guardian
Government plans to fast-track major projects pose a real threat to their action plan on global warming (UK's nuclear future is mapped out as race to tackle climate change hots up, 10 November). Reports on the government's national policy statements have predictably focussed on the controversial issue of new nuclear reactors, but a fundamental flaw in the proposals, which has gone largely unreported, threatens to undermine UK targets for tackling climate change.
Under the Climate Change Act, the UK has been set legally binding "carbon budgets", setting limits on how much carbon the UK can emit, over five-year budget periods, for the next 15 years. Some of the projects covered by the national policy statements, such as new coal and gas-fired power stations, are likely to have a significant impact on UK emissions – but bizarrely the effect that these developments would have on UK carbon budgets is missing from the proposals, and this issue won't be considered by the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC).
IEA says no emissions deal will double bills - Telegraph
The independent body said the huge price of tackling climate change will eventually be overtaken by the cost of remaining dependent on fossil fuels, which are becoming more difficult and expensive to extract.
It estimates that Europe's annual energy bill will more than double to $500bn (£300bn) by 2030, as the oil price is likely to reach $100 per barrel by 2015 and $190 by 2030.
Publishing its annual World Energy Outlook, the IEA was also forced to defend its reputation as the world's leading provider of statistics on fossil fuels, following claims that it exaggerated oil resources under pressure from the US.
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