Nuclear Proliferation In South Asia: The Power Of Nightmares -- The Economist
China’s proposed sale of nuclear reactors to Pakistan will intensify nuclear rivalry with India. But the damage will go far wider.
AT FIRST sight, China’s proposed sale of two civilian nuclear-power reactors to Pakistan hardly seems a danger sign. Pakistan already has the bomb, so it has all the nuclear secrets it needs. Next-door India has the bomb too, and has been seeking similar deals with other countries.
Yet the sale (really a gift, as Pakistan is broke) has caused shudders at the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), an informal cartel of countries who want to stop their advanced nuclear technology getting into the wrong hands. They are meeting in New Zealand, for what was supposed to be a quiet and nerdish rule-tightening session. But their efforts may now fall victim to China’s rivalry with America.
Read more ....
http://www.economist.com/node/16426072?story_id=16426072&source=hptextfeature
Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire - Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry. Nuclear Activities
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Friday, June 25, 2010
Blog - MIT Study Sites Cheap Way to Cut Emissions
Blog - MIT Study Sites Cheap Way to Cut Emissions
from Technology Review: Q&A: Mark Little, Head of GE Global Research
Requiring utilities to use existing natural gas plants fully could markedly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Today MIT unveiled a long-awaited report on natural gas, which considers how much there is, how it can reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and what environmental and technical problems need to be solved with further R&D. The findings aren't surprising. If carbon dioxide emissions are taxed or capped, it concludes, utilities will find natural gas far more attractive than coal, which emits roughly twice as much carbon dioxide.
from Technology Review: Q&A: Mark Little, Head of GE Global Research
Requiring utilities to use existing natural gas plants fully could markedly reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
Today MIT unveiled a long-awaited report on natural gas, which considers how much there is, how it can reduce carbon dioxide emissions, and what environmental and technical problems need to be solved with further R&D. The findings aren't surprising. If carbon dioxide emissions are taxed or capped, it concludes, utilities will find natural gas far more attractive than coal, which emits roughly twice as much carbon dioxide.
Carbon savings from nuclear restarts
Carbon savings from nuclear restarts
from World Nuclear News by Jeremy Gordon
The return to service of Kashiwazaki Kariwa units 6 and 7 helped Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) to cut its carbon emissions by 11% in 2009. The company cited a decrease in electricity consumption due to the economic slowdown, plus the restart of the two units, as enabling it to reduce its fossil fuel consumption and thereby lower its emissions. The two 1315 MWe advanced boiling water reactors (ABWRs), offline since the Niigata Chuetsu offshore earthquake of 16 July 2007, restarted in May 2009. The 107.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted for the period allowed Tepco to redeem 16.8 million tonnes of carbon credits for the year ending 31 March 2010. The total for the previous year had been 24.9 million tonnes.
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/IT_Carbon_savings_from_nuclear_restarts_2406107.html
from World Nuclear News by Jeremy Gordon
The return to service of Kashiwazaki Kariwa units 6 and 7 helped Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco) to cut its carbon emissions by 11% in 2009. The company cited a decrease in electricity consumption due to the economic slowdown, plus the restart of the two units, as enabling it to reduce its fossil fuel consumption and thereby lower its emissions. The two 1315 MWe advanced boiling water reactors (ABWRs), offline since the Niigata Chuetsu offshore earthquake of 16 July 2007, restarted in May 2009. The 107.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emitted for the period allowed Tepco to redeem 16.8 million tonnes of carbon credits for the year ending 31 March 2010. The total for the previous year had been 24.9 million tonnes.
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/IT_Carbon_savings_from_nuclear_restarts_2406107.html
GE, Hitachi consider changing their alliance
GE, Hitachi consider changing their alliance
Hitachi and General Electric are considering changes to their nuclear energy partnership to give the Japanese group a bigger role in exploring markets outside the U.S. and Japan, said Hiroaki Nakanishi, Hitachi's president. The Wall Street Journal
Hitachi and General Electric are considering changes to their nuclear energy partnership to give the Japanese group a bigger role in exploring markets outside the U.S. and Japan, said Hiroaki Nakanishi, Hitachi's president. The Wall Street Journal
Alstom proposes partnership in India's nuclear expansion
Alstom proposes partnership in India's nuclear expansion
French engineering company Alstom hopes that India's Atomic Energy Commission will soon approve a proposed joint venture with Bhel and Nuclear Power Corp. of India. The deal will help Alstom take part in India's planned nuclear expansion during the next 10 to 15 years. The Economic Times (India)
French engineering company Alstom hopes that India's Atomic Energy Commission will soon approve a proposed joint venture with Bhel and Nuclear Power Corp. of India. The deal will help Alstom take part in India's planned nuclear expansion during the next 10 to 15 years. The Economic Times (India)
N.C. storage site for spent fuel is nearly done
N.C. storage site for spent fuel is nearly done
The construction of a dry-cask storage facility designed to hold used nuclear fuel at Progress Energy's Brunswick plant in North Carolina is nearly complete -- about three years ahead of schedule. The transferring of used fuel to the site is slated to start this fall, said Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.)
The construction of a dry-cask storage facility designed to hold used nuclear fuel at Progress Energy's Brunswick plant in North Carolina is nearly complete -- about three years ahead of schedule. The transferring of used fuel to the site is slated to start this fall, said Roger Hannah, a spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.)
U.S. Considered Nuclear Option over Spy Plane
U.S. Considered Nuclear Option over Spy Plane
By Chris Green
[2010-06-24 18:00 ]
A set of newly declassified documents from the U.S. National Security Archive at George Washington University show that the U.S. considered, but ultimately rejected, a range of military responses to the downing of a reconnaissance aircraft by North Korea in the late-1960s.
On Kim Il Sung's birthday, April 15th, 1969, two North Korean Mig-17 fighter aircraft intercepted and shot down the U.S. Navy EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft somewhere over the East Sea in the vicinity of Chongjin.
North Korea claimed the aircraft had entered the North's sovereign airspace, while the U.S. government maintained that the aircraft had been under strict orders not to get any closer than 50 nautical miles from the coast of North Korea, and deemed the action provocative.
Following the shooting, the Nixon administration reviewed a range of possible responses.
The set of 16 documents, entitled “How Do You Solve A Problem Like Korea?” show that the Nixon national defense team took into consideration one option of performing between 12 and 47 tactical nuclear strikes against a range of targets in the North.
However, the documents, which were released yesterday, show that the U.S. concluded that while a “positive and deliberate response by the United States to an act of aggression will indicate the resolve of the United States to take measured punitive action against an aggressor,” even non-nuclear air strikes against military targets in North Korea “will be a deliberate act of war” and, as a result, “North Korea may respond by launching air strikes against US/ROK forces.”
In the end, therefore, Nixon chose to restart the reconnaissance missions in short order to show its strength of will, and ordered a show of naval power in the East Sea, a response then-National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger later termed “weak, indecisive and disorganized.”
http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=6534
By Chris Green
[2010-06-24 18:00 ]
A set of newly declassified documents from the U.S. National Security Archive at George Washington University show that the U.S. considered, but ultimately rejected, a range of military responses to the downing of a reconnaissance aircraft by North Korea in the late-1960s.
On Kim Il Sung's birthday, April 15th, 1969, two North Korean Mig-17 fighter aircraft intercepted and shot down the U.S. Navy EC-121 reconnaissance aircraft somewhere over the East Sea in the vicinity of Chongjin.
North Korea claimed the aircraft had entered the North's sovereign airspace, while the U.S. government maintained that the aircraft had been under strict orders not to get any closer than 50 nautical miles from the coast of North Korea, and deemed the action provocative.
Following the shooting, the Nixon administration reviewed a range of possible responses.
The set of 16 documents, entitled “How Do You Solve A Problem Like Korea?” show that the Nixon national defense team took into consideration one option of performing between 12 and 47 tactical nuclear strikes against a range of targets in the North.
However, the documents, which were released yesterday, show that the U.S. concluded that while a “positive and deliberate response by the United States to an act of aggression will indicate the resolve of the United States to take measured punitive action against an aggressor,” even non-nuclear air strikes against military targets in North Korea “will be a deliberate act of war” and, as a result, “North Korea may respond by launching air strikes against US/ROK forces.”
In the end, therefore, Nixon chose to restart the reconnaissance missions in short order to show its strength of will, and ordered a show of naval power in the East Sea, a response then-National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger later termed “weak, indecisive and disorganized.”
http://www.dailynk.com/english/read.php?cataId=nk00100&num=6534
U.S Prepared Plans To Nuke North Korea In 1969 After Military Showdown -- Wire Update
U.S Prepared Plans To Nuke North Korea In 1969 After Military Showdown -- Wire Update
WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- The United States prepared plans to nuke North Korea in 1969 after a spy plane had been shot down, according to a declassified dossier released on Wednesday.
The dossier said that the U.S. developed contingency plans that included selected use of tactical nuclear weapons against Pyongyang’s military facilities and the possibility of a full-scale war.
Read more ....
http://wireupdate.com/wires/6820/u-s-prepared-plans-to-nuke-north-korea-in-1969-after-military-showdown/
WASHINGTON, D.C. (BNO NEWS) -- The United States prepared plans to nuke North Korea in 1969 after a spy plane had been shot down, according to a declassified dossier released on Wednesday.
The dossier said that the U.S. developed contingency plans that included selected use of tactical nuclear weapons against Pyongyang’s military facilities and the possibility of a full-scale war.
Read more ....
http://wireupdate.com/wires/6820/u-s-prepared-plans-to-nuke-north-korea-in-1969-after-military-showdown/
Dubai to include nuclear in energy-sufficiency plan
Dubai to include nuclear in energy-sufficiency plan
The United Arab Emirates' Dubai state is planning to expand its sources of power generation to guarantee a stable electricity supply and reduce emissions through 2030, according to the emirate's Supreme Energy Council. The council recently underwent a two-day workshop with advisers from McKinsey & Co. to prepare a strategy that would include "clean" coal, nuclear and renewable-energy sources. Bloomberg Businessweek
The United Arab Emirates' Dubai state is planning to expand its sources of power generation to guarantee a stable electricity supply and reduce emissions through 2030, according to the emirate's Supreme Energy Council. The council recently underwent a two-day workshop with advisers from McKinsey & Co. to prepare a strategy that would include "clean" coal, nuclear and renewable-energy sources. Bloomberg Businessweek
* Vietnam ramps up plan to expand its use of nuclear power
* Vietnam ramps up plan to expand its use of nuclear power
Vietnam is aiming to build 13 nuclear reactors by 2030, according to a development blueprint approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Construction on the first reactor is slated to begin in 2014. The Wall Street Journal
Vietnam is aiming to build 13 nuclear reactors by 2030, according to a development blueprint approved by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Construction on the first reactor is slated to begin in 2014. The Wall Street Journal
Alstom opens manufacturing facility in Tenn.
Alstom opens manufacturing facility in Tenn.
Alstom has officially opened a plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., that is designed to manufacture the world's biggest steam and gas turbines for nuclear power plants. "It definitely positions Chattanooga well if it has a major facility for building some of the large components," said Mitch Singer of the Nuclear Energy Institute. Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tenn.)
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/jun/24/city-a-bigger-dot-on-us-atom-map/?business
Alstom has officially opened a plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., that is designed to manufacture the world's biggest steam and gas turbines for nuclear power plants. "It definitely positions Chattanooga well if it has a major facility for building some of the large components," said Mitch Singer of the Nuclear Energy Institute. Chattanooga Times Free Press (Tenn.)
http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2010/jun/24/city-a-bigger-dot-on-us-atom-map/?business
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The Inevitable Nuclear Iran Benjamin Kerstein, The New Ledger
The Inevitable Nuclear Iran
Benjamin Kerstein, The New Ledger
It is now all but certain that the American administration has more or less resigned itself to a nuclear Iran. At the very least, it appears to have decided to take no military action against the Iranian nuclear program, nor even to support or encourage – publicly or discreetly – the Iranian popular opposition to the Ahmadinejad regime. The Obama administration will likely continue to pursue its policy of promoting engagement, either out of cynicism or naiveté, while simultaneously busying itself with the diplomatic give and take of arranging...
Benjamin Kerstein, The New Ledger
It is now all but certain that the American administration has more or less resigned itself to a nuclear Iran. At the very least, it appears to have decided to take no military action against the Iranian nuclear program, nor even to support or encourage – publicly or discreetly – the Iranian popular opposition to the Ahmadinejad regime. The Obama administration will likely continue to pursue its policy of promoting engagement, either out of cynicism or naiveté, while simultaneously busying itself with the diplomatic give and take of arranging...