Blackouts and Worse: Dems Policies Killing New England

Blackouts and Worse: Dems Policies Killing New England

By Tom Borelli
The progressive elite war against coal energy producers is playing out like a chapter in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. In a case of delicious irony, the liberal New England region is getting slammed for its lack of energy diversity.
New England’s energy mess stems from its overreliance on natural gas and an insufficient transportation network to carry the fuel. Just like the Aristotelian axiom of A=A, liberals are now learning they are not immune to the law of supply and demand.
The loss of coal-fired power, long urged by local activists, has greatly contributed to the region’s energy imbalance.http://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2014/03/06/blackouts_and_worse_dems_policies_killing_new_england_107570.html

Smoking gun – Antinuclear talking points coined by coal interests

Smoking gun – Antinuclear talking points coined by coal interests
Some of the earliest documented instances of opposition to the development of commercial nuclear power in the United States originated from designated representatives of the coal industry. They were the first people to mount sustained opposition to the use of taxpayer money to support the development of nuclear power stations. They testified against the implied subsidy associated with nuclear fue

Nuclear News Round Up (3rd – 7th Mar 14)

Nuclear News Round Up (3rd – 7th Mar 14)
3rd Mar 2014 Where next for the UK nuclear industry? 4th Mar 2014 How France is disposing of its nuclear waste 3 Chinese state firms looking to build nuclear plants abroad 6th Mar 2014 100 tonnes http://energyandnuclear.com/2014/03/07/nuclear-news-round-up-3rd-7th-mar-14/

The NRC and Nuclear Power Plant Safety in 2013

The NRC and Nuclear Power Plant Safety in 2013
On March 11, 2011, I was on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC to brief Congressional staffers on the inaugural issue in a planned series of reports on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and nuclear power plant safety. We had scheduled this event several weeks in advance, but an unplanned event in Japan occurred earlier that day kept many staffers in front of TV sets and internet monitors. T

A Fukushima Third Anniversary “What If” Scenario




A Fukushima Third Anniversary “What If” Scenario
If Naoto Kan had not interfered with the emergency actions of the trained and experienced staff at Fukushima Daiichi, the situation today, three years after the fact, would be very different and much less gloomy…no hydrogen explosions, no massive evacuations, and a much shorter time for F. Daiichi recovery.

Friday, March 7, 2014

Fukushima Commentary 3/7

Fukushima Commentary –
A Fukushima Third Anniversary “What If” Scenario
If Naoto Kan had not interfered with the emergency actions of the trained and experienced staff at Fukushima Daiichi, the situation today, three years after the fact, would be very different and much less gloomy…no hydrogen explosions, no massive evacuations, and a much shorter time for F. Daiichi recovery.

Waterworld: How Worried Should We Be About Fukushima?

Waterworld: How Worried Should We Be About Fukushima?


http://thediplomat.com/2013/12/waterworld-how-worried-should-we-be-about-fukushima/

Reddit Ask Me Anything session re: Fukushima

submitted ago by ConcernedScientistsUnion of Concerned Scientists
Hi Reddit! We recently published Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster, a book which chronicles the events before, during, and after Fukushima. We're experts in nuclear technology and nuclear safety issues.
Since there are three of us, we've enlisted a helper to collate our answers, but we'll leave initials so you know who's talking :)
Proof
Dave Lochbaum is a nuclear engineer at the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS). Before UCS, he worked in the nuclear power industry for 17 years until blowing the whistle on unsafe practices. He has also worked at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), and has testified before Congress multiple times.
Edwin Lyman is an internationally-recognized expert on nuclear terrorism and nuclear safety. He also works at UCS, has written in Science and many other publications, and like Dave has testified in front of Congress many times. He earned a doctorate degree in physics from Cornell University in 1992.
Susan Q. Stranahan is an award-winning journalist who has written on energy and the environment for over 30 years. She was part of the team that won the Pulitzer Prize for their coverage of the Three Mile Island accident.
Check out the book here!
Ask us anything! We'll start posting answers around 2pm eastern.
Edit: Thanks for all the awesome questions—we'll start answering now (1:45ish) through the next few hours. Dave's answers are signed DL; Ed's are EL; Susan's are SS.

http://www.reddit.com/r/science/comments/1zpsxh/were_nuclear_engineers_and_a_prizewinning/

House passage of HR 3826 good news for coal

House passage of HR 3826 good news for coal




The coal industry today has reason to feel more positive about the future of coal fuel power, as the U.S. House of Representatives has passed HR 3826, "The Electricity Security and Affordability Act." HR 3826 requires greater transparency for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) rulemaking process and safeguards against the agency's standards for both new and existing power plants.
Credit: Dr. G. Schmitz/Wikimedia Commons
Credit: Dr. G. Schmitz/Wikimedia Commons
The legislation was spearheaded by Representative Ed Whitfield (R-Ky.) and Senator Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.).
"At a time of such political polarization, Representative Whitfield and Senator Manchin should be commended for their bipartisan leadership in the fight against EPA's costly, overreaching regulations. President Obama has made it clear that he will 'go at it alone' by wielding executive order without regard for congressional input or oversight of his administration's rulemaking process," said Mike Duncan, president and CEO of the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity (ACCCE). "The Electricity Security and Affordability Act ensures Congress retains its rightful role in creating policy and institutes safeguards to protect American consumers from attacks on affordable, reliable coal-fueled power."
While HR 3826 focuses primarily on EPA's New Source Performance Standard (NSPS), proposed in September 2013, the bill also requires that the EPA Administrator report to Congress on the cost and other impacts of any greenhouse gas standards proposed by EPA for existing plants. Further, the bill states that regulations on existing plants shall not take effect unless Congress enacts a federal law specifying the effective date.
Some estimates show that because of looming regulatory restrictions, a large portion of the nation's coal-fired plants would be shuttered over the next six years, which could weaken the reliability of the power grid and increase the price of energy.
NSPS governs new power plants and will require on-site carbon capture and storage (CCS), a technology that remains underdeveloped and unproven on a commercial scale, as well as prohibitively costly. One estimate forecasts that implementing this technology could increase the wholesale price of electricity by up to 80 percent.
A draft of the agency's rules for existing power plants is due in June.
For more:
- see this report http://assets.fiercemarkets.com/public/sites/energy/reports/electricsecurityreport.pdf
Related Articles:
Coal: More upside than down
CATF claims "common sense" proposal to carbon pollution rule
More fallout from re-proposed NSPS
DOE forms CCS research partnerships

Fuel cycle roundup #21

Fuel cycle roundup #21
• NRC issues Ross SEIS • Powertech-Azarga merger agreed • Temrezli feasibility study funded • Toro seeks additional Wiluna approval • Quaterra bows out of uraniumhttp://www.world-nuclear-news.org/ENF-Fuel-cycle-roundup-21-0703147.html

Progress in Sellafield pond clearance

Progress in Sellafield pond clearance
The first 100 tonnes of contaminated equipment that has laid for decades in the Pile Fuel Storage Pond at the Sellafield site in the UK has been retrieved for final disposal.http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/WR-Progress-in-Sellafield-pond-clearance-0703144.html

Penn Energy's Top Power Headlines 3/7

Top Power Headlines
Transparent, color solar cells fuse energy, beauty
Colorful, see-through solar cells invented at the University of Michigan could one day be used to make stained-glass windows, decorations and even shades that turn the sun's energy into electricity. (Video)
Full Article

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Spillway crack discovered at Wanapum Dam initiates drawdown
Grant PUD implements drawdown of the Columbia River as a stabilizing measure after divers discovered a 2-inch wide horizontal crack across one of the Wanapum Dam’s 65-foot spillways.
Full Article

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Most Popular Power News This Week
Geothermal plant declared safe following explosion scare
Ghana to house Africa's largest utility scale solar plant
Alstom reaches milestone at combined-cycle power plant
ARPA-E projects attract over $625MM in private funding
Argentina's first fully coal-fired plant nears completion
UIL to acquire Philadelphia Gas Works in $1.86B deal
GE tech extends DC transmission to offshore installations
Smart grid for electric vehicle fleet
Technip wins FEED contract for Peterhead CCS project
NRG, Boeing break ground on Guam's first solar facility
Calpine buys gas-fired Guadalupe power plant for $625MM
Austin approves $558MM wind power purchase agreement
EnBW plans closure of two coal power plants
Siemens delivers world's first vegetable oil transformer in 420 kV range

PennEnergy Blogs
All Energy: The Future is Now
Right now, sitting gingerly in a faux-leather holder a few inches in front of my computer screen, is my cell phone. A glorious piece of technology, it gives me information at the push of a button. Actually, buttons are going out of style; my phone gives me information at the slide of a fingertip.
Full Article

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Black Swan: Imagine no possessions - I wonder if you can?
Would any of us really want to try and live with "no possessions"? I don't think so. And yet there are social changes afoot that are heading in that general direction.
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Power Engineering's Top Stories 3/7

op Stories
Judge fails to act on SDG&E wind farm contract
Montana District Judge Brenda Gilbert kept a temporary injunction in place against San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) as it attempts to void a contract with the Rim Rock wind farm in Montana.
Read More

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USEC files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
USEC Inc. (NYSE: USU) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware as part of a financial restructuring plan. USEC said it expects to emerge from bankruptcy in 90 to 120 days.
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President requests more than $1bn for EPA to address climate change
The Obama Administration proposed a fiscal year 2015 budget of $7.89 billion for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including more than $1 billion to address climate change and carbon dioxide emissions from power plants.
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Video: Byron Nuclear Power Plant spurs controversy, reactions
Exelon (NYSE: EXC) is denying allegations that the Byron Nuclear power plant could shut down.
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The Week's Most Read Articles
Ukraine wants international help in securing nuclear power plants against Russia
Ukraine's parliament called for global assistance to ensure that Russia does not move in on the country's energy supply, the article said. Russian troops moved into Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula over the weekend.
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Coal-fired emissions control project costs rise to $345M
Wisconsin Public Service Corp. has upped the price tag of a planned emission controls project on a coal-fired power unit by 25 percent, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
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Judge rules coal fired power plant did not violate Clean Air Act
Luminant won a court battle against over alleged Clean Air Act violations at the Big Brown coal-fired power plant in Texas.
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Recovery at Kingston
A look at the engineering challenges of the cleanup and closure of the failed ash dredge cell in Tennessee.
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SONGS equipment to be auctioned off
Non-radioactive equipment inside the shuttered San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in California is being auctioned off.
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More Headlines
UIL Holdings to acquire Philadelphia natural gas operations
California ISO names new VP, corporate officer
NYC natural gas projects to begin construction
Ercot peak electricity demand breaks 2002 record
Xcel Energy announces several large-scale solar projects
Piece of metal is lodged in nuclear reactor vessel in Michigan
Nine Mile Point Nuclear Unit 2 shuts down after loss of off site power
America's 1st offshore wind farm could be operational by 2016
Appalachian Power files acquisition request for coal-fired power plant
NRC requests more than $124mn for FY 2015 budget
Limerick Nuclear Unit 1 shut down for repairs
B&W sued over faulty coal-fired boiler
Comanche Solar Project to provide 120 MW to Xcel
National Hydropower Association appoints new board members officers
Interim Commisioner of Reclamation announced
Coal company reaches $27.5M settlement over Clean Water Act violations

Industry Trends
Henry Hub Average Natural Gas Spot Prices
The Henry Hub is the pricing point for natural gas futures contracts. Here's a look at how prices have changed up to Feb. 27, 2014.
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Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas' Economic Indicators
The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas offers a glimpse into how the markets are doing domestically and internationally.
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