Iran's oil exports peaked at a one-year high in the past two months, the International Energy Agency said, as a thaw in relations with the West boosts the troubled economy of the Islamic Republic.

http://stream.wsj.com/story/markets/SS-2-5/SS-2-481261/

Solar power cheaper than natural gas, coal, and nuclear power in Texas!

http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/solar-power-cheaper-natural-gas-coal-and-nuclear-power-texas.html

OIG Report Raises Questions On NRC's Pa. Dump Cleanup

http://www.law360.com/articles/518615/oig-report-raises-questions-on-nrc-s-pa-dump-cleanup

‘Fukushima: The Story of a Nuclear Disaster’ by David Lochbaum, Edwin Lyman, Susan Q. Stranahan, and the Union of Concerned Scientists.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/fukushima-the-story-of-a-nuclear-disaster-by-david-lochbaum-edwin-lyman-susan-q-stranahan-and-the-union-of-concerned-scientists/2014/03/14/474b0890-a87e-11e3-8599-ce7295b6851c_story.html

Texas County Wants to Store Spent Nuclear Fuel

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/A-Texas-County-Wants-to-Store-Spent-Nuclear-Fuel-250461931.html

Terrestrial Energy Integral Molten Salt Reactor Developers is Working with an Oil Sands Partner

http://nextbigfuture.com/2014/03/terrestrial-energy-integral-molten-salt.html
Canada could allow the new Terrestrial Energy
Molten salt reactor to be operational by 2020.
http://nextbigfuture.com/2014/03/terrestrial-energy-integral-molten-salt.html

Japan might restart up to 10 reactors each year and have up to 35 nuclear reactors back online in 2019

Japan might restart up to 10 reactors per year. About 35 reactors
operational in 2019
http://nextbigfuture.com/2014/03/japan-might-restart-up-to-10-reactors.html

China is back to raising nuclear energy build targets after lowering them after Fukushima

China is back to raising its nuclear energy targets for 2020. Perhaps
heading to 70-80GW instead of 58 GW
http://nextbigfuture.com/2014/03/china-is-back-to-raising-nuclear-energy.html

The Red Faces of the Solar Skeptics By NANCY FOLBRE

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/03/10/the-red-faces-of-the-solar-skeptics/?emc=edit_tnt_20140315&nlid=61007721&tntemail0=y

The Red Faces of the Solar Skeptics
By NANCY FOLBRE

Latest EPA Greenhouse Gas Inventory May Not Reflect Full Scope of Oil and Gas Emissions

By Environmental Defense Fund Energy Exchange Blog

British Prime Minister David Cameron Total Oil Depot Visit

The Environmental Protection Agency recently released its draft inventory of annual U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Reporting 2012 data, the inventory estimates methane emissions coming from natural gas and petroleum systems at around 7.6 million metric tons – that’s enough natural gas to provide energy to over 7 million homes annually. This new estimate when compared

Keep reading →http://breakingenergy.com/2014/03/14/latest-epa-greenhouse-gas-inventory-may-not-reflect-full-scope-of-oil-and-gas-emissions/?utm_source=Breaking+Energy&utm_campaign=dcaeb3c395-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f852427a4b-dcaeb3c395-407304281

LNG Exports, Jobs and Security

By Energy Tomorrow Blog

Freezing Temperatures Continue To Grip The Country

In a post last week we discussed the way the Ukrainian crisis is focusing a number of U.S. leaders on the potential foreign policy impacts of surging U.S. energy production. With its vast natural gas reserves, the U.S. could be a leader in the global market for liquefied natural gas (LNG), if we took the steps to make

Keep reading →http://breakingenergy.com/2014/03/14/lng-exports-jobs-and-security/?utm_source=Breaking+Energy&utm_campaign=dcaeb3c395-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f852427a4b-dcaeb3c395-407304281

Energy Quote of the Day: On Pennsylvania Gas-to-Liquids Plant

By Jared Anderson

Oil And Gas Industry Forms Backbone Of Brunei Economy

Shell made big news when it announced plans to construct an ethane cracker in 2011 and subsequently chose to site the plant in Pennsylvania. Recently-announced capital expenditure cutbacks could impact plans to move forward with the project, but nothing has been officially announced. With Marcellus shale gas production surging, the plant would crack ethane produced

Keep reading →http://breakingenergy.com/2014/03/14/energy-quote-of-the-day-on-pennsylvania-gas-to-liquids-plant/?utm_source=Breaking+Energy&utm_campaign=dcaeb3c395-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f852427a4b-dcaeb3c395-407304281

Healthy doses of radiation by Rod Adams

Healthy doses of radiation

http://atomicinsights.com/healthy-doses-radiation/

Friday, March 14, 2014

Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant Weekly Review

http://nuclearstreet.com/nuclear_power_industry_news/b/nuclear_power_news/archive/2014/03/14/fukushima-daiichi-nuclear-plant-weekly-review-031402.aspx#.UyPDiBlXBDQ

MIT energy guru: “A great deal has changed”

http://spectrum.mit.edu/continuum/mit-energy-guru-a-great-deal-has-changed/

Politics The Ukraine Crisis Is Unsettling Decades-Old Nuclear-Weapons Agreements

Politics

The Ukraine Crisis Is Unsettling Decades-Old Nuclear-Weapons Agreements

The acting president of Ukraine has taken to the pages of an American newspaper to warn Russia and other nations.

http://www.nationaljournal.com/politics/the-ukraine-crisis-is-unsettling-decades-old-nuclear-weapons-agreements-20140312

Nader’s nuclear blind spot

http://atomicinsights.com/naders-nuclear-blind-spot/

A Democracy Now segment featuring Ralph Nader and starting with a discussion on climate change rapidly turned into an antinuclear rant. Rod does some fact checking to point out several misinformed statements.

Japan's Nuclear Energy Plants

http://thebulletin.org/onagawa-japanese-nuclear-power-plant-didn%E2%80%99t-melt-down-311

For Russia, natural gas weapon works both ways

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/plugged-in/2014/03/10/for-russia-natural-gas-weapon-works-both-ways/

SMR Content Pack from Nuclear Energy Insider

SMR Content Pack from Nuclear Energy Insider
Nuclear Energy Insider is making an SMR content pack available.

With the race for SMR deployment heating up, Nuclear Energy Insider has put together a complimentary pack with insight from the likes of TVA, Generation mPower, NuScale and FirstEnergy.

Provide your email address here, and we’ll send it right to your inbox - http://bit.ly/SMR-Intel-Pack

The SMR pack includes:
- Updates on all major SMR projects taking place in the US from utility and technology provider perspectives
- Insight into the SMR supply chain and info on the skills needed to make commercialization a reality
- Q&A with leading US SMR decision makers on SMR licensing, procurement and construction

If you have any questions, do let me know.
Best wishes

Siobhan O'Meara
Senior Industry Analyst
Nuclear Energy Insider
+44 (0) 207 375 7512

NASA Study: Climate Sensitivity Is High So 'Long-Term Warming Likely To Be Significant'

http://theenergycollective.com/josephromm/353456/nasa-study-climate-sensitivity-high-so-long-term-warming-likely-be-significant?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=The+Energy+Collective+%28all+posts%29

Emergency Communication System Found Inoperable in Pilgrim Nuclear Plant Control Room

http://nuclearstreet.com/nuclear_power_industry_news/b/nuclear_power_news/archive/2014/03/14/emergency-communication-system-found-inoperable-in-pilgrim-nuclear-plant-control-room-031401.aspx#.UyOvcxlXBDQ

NEI Nuclear Notes: The No-Brainer View of Nuclear Energy

The No-Brainer View of Nuclear Energy

http://neinuclearnotes.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-no-brainer-view-of-nuclear-energy.html

NRC Highlights Safety Enhancements 3 Years After Fukushima, With a Focus on Cumulative Impact

http://www.nei.org/News-Media/News/News-Archives/NRC-Highlights-Safety-Enhancements-3-Years-After-F

Palo Verde NGS celebrating nuclear accomplishments

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/palo-verde-ngs-celebrating-nuclear-accomplishments/2014-03-14?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Nuclear: A not-so-perfect storm

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/nuclear-not-so-perfect-storm/2014-03-14?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

ANS Nuclear Matinee: World’s First AP1000 In Review

Nuclear Matinee: World’s First AP1000 In Review

By ansnuclearcafe on Mar 14, 2014 12:00 am

The world’s first Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactor is scheduled to begin operation later this year at the Sanmen Nuclear Power Station in China. Another AP1000 is scheduled to go online later this year at the Haiyang nuclear power plant … Continue reading →
Read in browser »

FukushimaThird Anniversary Press: The Negative; The Positive

Fukushima Third Anniversary Press: The Negative

Over the past two weeks, there have been numerous Japanese Press articles commemorating the Fukushima nuclear accident. Most news reports continue to emphasize the negative. However, a few have posted a positive article or two, which was not the case at this time last year. The positive will be covered in a subsequent posting. The negative views seem to follow several common themes which are addressed here.

and...

Fukushima Third Anniversary Press: The Positive

Unlike last year’s second Fukushima anniversary Japanese press coverage, there have been a few positive articles on the third anniversary of Fukushima. OK…so I could find only five, and one is actually a Tepco press release. But, this is definitely significant when compared to last year when nothing positive came out of Japan’s Press.

http://www.hiroshimasyndrome.com/fukushima-commentary.html

Russia, Iran discuss further reactors

Russia, Iran discuss further reactors
Russia and Iran have reportedly reached a preliminary agreement for the construction of two more units at the Bushehr nuclear power plant. The first unit at Bushehr, completed by Russia, is already in full operation.http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Russia-Iran-discuss-further-reactors-1403144.html

Toshiba's first PWR component

Toshiba's first PWR component
The core barrel for the first AP1000 to start construction in the USA has been manufactured at a Toshiba facility in Japan, the first time the company has supplied a component for a pressurized water reactor (PWR).http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/C-Toshibas-first-PWR-component-140314st.html

Why the Cancer Cases in Fukushima Aren't Likely Linked to the Nuclear Disaster

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/03/140313-fukushima-nuclear-accident-cancer-cluster-thyroid-chernobyl/

Nuclear Power in the US, Market Outlook to 2025, 2013 Update - Capacity, Generation, Deployment Trends, Investments, Power Plants, Regulations, and Company Profiles

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/we-know-beauty-panel-offers-first-rate-cosmetic-surgery-in-los-angeles-2013-03-13?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Why Russia calls a limited nuclear strike "de-escalation"

NIKOLAI N. SOKOV

Why Russia calls a limited nuclear strike "de-escalation"
Since 2000, Russian military doctrine has included the concept of “de-escalation”—the idea that, if Russia were faced with a large-scale conventional attack, it might respond with a limited nuclear strike. Here's why that's relevant to Ukraine.http://thebulletin.org/why-russia-calls-limited-nuclear-strike-de-escalation

How Beijing can help prevent nuclear terrorism

HUI ZHANG
How Beijing can help prevent nuclear terrorism
China’s nuclear establishment needs a cultural shift.http://thebulletin.org/how-beijing-can-help-prevent-nuclear-terrorism

Five assessments of the Fukushima disaster

CHARLES PERROW
Five assessments of the Fukushima disaster
A survey of books on the catastrophe at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, three years after 3/11.http://thebulletin.org/five-assessments-fukushima-disaster

Guest Post from Michael Shellenberger Ivanpah’s Land Footprint

Ivanpah’s Land Footprint

World's Largest Thermal Project Requires 92 Times the Acreage of Babcock & Wilcox "Twin Pack"

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The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System represents the convergence of excellent resources, electricity network and gas connections, and load – making it a winner for the location of big solar. But even with optimal resources, the thermal project is enormous, requiring 3,500 acres. Consider that a “twin pack” of Babcock & Wilcox small modular nuclear reactors (SMR) only needs 38 acres. The SMR is also capable of producing 242 times the electricity of Ivanpah per unit land. Ivanpah’s land use has had its consequences, too, as the solar project spent more than $56 million relocating desert tortoises for their protection with mixed results. Compared to Ivanpah, then, nuclear is the definition of ‘small is beautiful.’

March 13, 2014 | Ben Heard

The 392 MW, $2.2 billion Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (SEGS) has just started delivering electricity. It does not include any component of energy storage. It is expected to deliver a high (for solar anyway) capacity factor of 31.4 percent. That's thanks to a "remarkably intense solar resource of 2,717 kWh/m2/yr" combined with the dual-axis tracking.
As the map below shows, the areas of deepest red shading are blessed with this remarkably intense level of solar radiation. That's a huge area of land, and the available energy must be mind-bendingly large.

However, the map below shows us this non-portable resource is mostly distant from large loads. Unless we use electricity close to where we generate it, we are stuck with big losses through big transmission infrastructure. These are typically neither cheap, nor popular. This is a traditional criticism of the model of large centralized electricity generation dominated by fossil fuels and nuclear. It applies equally well to large solar.

It turns out Ivanpah was a canny location for SEGS. With proximity to the large loads of California, connection also did not require a brand new line, just the politically, socially, and environmentally simpler upgrade of existing infrastructure at a cost of $446 million to $484 million. Ivanpah also provided access to natural gas connection just 0.5 miles away for the gas back up it requires. Ivanpah represents a convergence of excellent resources, electricity network connection, gas connection, and load. That’s consistent with an economically rational process where the optimal sites are exploited earliest. Ivanpah was a dead-set winner for location of large solar.
Even with optimal resource, however, the system is absolutely enormous, with a quoted area of 3,500 acres.

If this is the future of clean energy, it's safe to say environmentalism has comprehensively rejected "small is beautiful.”
We can get the same amount of electricity with greater reliability, from a much smaller area. Consider the land requirements for the equivalent level of electricity generation for small modular reactors (SMR). I tested this by considering a "twin pack" of Babcock and Wilcox Generation mPower 180 MWe SMRs for a total of 360 MWe, close to the rated capacity of SEGS. This front-running SMR design is currently working through the licensing process in the US. An example design is shown below and discussed in more detail here.
The site footprint for this "Twin Pack" is 38 acres. That, combined with the far higher capacity factor, leads to a remarkable cascade of numbers, shown in the table below.

The small nuclear is capable of producing 242 times the electricity per unit land. Small nuclear is as staggering in scale as large solar, just for the opposite reason.
Some might say, well, who cares? We have the land, let's use it.
There is another criterion that matters when selecting sites for large solar: alternative uses of the land, including biodiversity.
In developing SEGS, the project proponent discovered the place was, literally, crawling with endangered reptiles, including the desert tortoise. The project proponent spent more than $56 million relocating the reptiles for their protection with mixed results. Sadly, it seems the lure of raw resource, utility connections, and proximity to load meant endangered species never really stood a chance. The company version of proceedings reads like genuinely good people within a very large company that can only ever put on a positive spin. The truth seems clear: the fauna would have been best served without the disturbance. That we are speaking of solar rather than fossil or uranium energy really does not matter.

As we further developments in both the most dense and most diffuse sources of energy available to us, extraordinary comparisons will arise. They will present us with profoundly different directions for humanity in the 21^st century. There is a popular supposition that solar developments rule out the need for nuclear power in a rapidly developing world that remains dominated by fossil fuels. That is insupportable. It is every bit the "hallucinatory delusion" that Shellenberger says it is in Robert Stone's Pandora's Promise.
Asking whether we want large solar is an entirely moot question. We have it, we are going to get more of it and to the extent it helps us live more sustainably, so much the better. But if we environmentalists presume to advocate treading lightly on an earth that will be home to 10 billion deserving souls, then it is dense energy, not dilute energy that really shows us a way forward. Maybe small is beautiful after all.

Ben Heard is the director of Decarbonise SA, dedicated to moving South Australia to zero greenhouse gas emissions. Like what you see here? Please subscribe to the blog, Like Decarbonise SA on Facebook and follow @BenThinkClimate on Twitter. Read more about the potential for nuclear power in Australia at Zero Carbon Options.

2013: A Year of Hope and Change for the Environment

December 31, 2013

Tech Breakthroughs Needed to Address Global Warming

February 13, 2013

The Nuclear Power Imperative

February 20, 2014

Der Kohle-Boom

January 29, 2014

Mugged By Reality

July 24, 2013

Environmentalism’s Merchants of Doubt

May 07, 2013

Clean Energy Stagnation

July 09, 2013

Germany’s ‘Energiewende’ Shows Why We Need Nuclear

____________

Michael Shellenberger, President, Breakthrough Institute

436 14th St, Suite 820, Oakland, CA 94612

cell (best): 415-309-4200 :: office: 510.550.8800 x355 :: Skype: Shellenberger

Penn Enerjgy's Top Oil & Gas News 3/14

Top Oil & Gas News

South Korea to spend $1.8 billion to build world's fourth largest oil hub
South Korea plans to construct the world's fourth largest oil hub as it aims to become a major oil trading post with a total capacity of 56.6 million barrels, South Korea's largest news outlet Yonhap News Agency reported. South Korea began expanding its number of oil storage facilities by opening a location in Yeosu in 2013 with the capacity to hold up to 8.2 million barrels of oil.
Full Article
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PennEnergy Video News Update
From Malta's offshore exploration incentives, to oil sands challenges in Utah and Alberta, to Petrobras' billion-dollar investment plan, all of the week's biggest headlines are in the PennEnergy Video News Update.
Full Article
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This Week's Most Popular Oil & Gas News
• BP using mini crude oil refinery to evade export ban
• Malta offers incentives to European offshore exploration companies
• Oil sands development facing legal challenges in Utah and Alberta
• Petrobras raises $8.5 billion for offshore exploration
• The Irony of Fate, Or How I Learned My Brother Doesn’t Love Me
• Shale exploration: Magnum Hunter Resources – A refocus in US shale strategy for sustainable growth
• Seadrill agrees to sell ultra-deepwater drillship
• KrisEnergy expands offshore oil and gas footprint in Bangladesh
• GEA delivers heat exchangers for LNG production to Yamal
• Hess to appoint Terrence J. Checki to Board of Directors
• Gazprom announces gas pipeline milestone in Turkey
• Chevron highlights upstream performance at annual security analyst meeting
• Statoil awards contracts for Barents seismic
• FTTN: Oklahoma oil and gas well on track to meet projections
• RIL announces maintenance at Jamnagar crude oil refinery complex
• APPEA: Greens ignore facts in call to end shale gas development
• Energy Transfer announces open season for Bakken/Three Forks oil pipeline service
• CNPC signs agreement to establish gas pipeline company in Tajikistan

Energy Insights
Black Swan: Imagine no possessions - I wonder if you can? John Lennon's iconic song "Imagine" has been rated #3 on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time". It envisages a world where elimination of some of the major things that divide humanity - religion, nationalism, and materialism - are discarded in order to achieve global peace and harmony. Full Article Share:
Climbing the Mid-Career Mountain Many experienced executives unhappy with their jobs are as afraid of tackling a mid-life career change as they would be planning an ascent of Mt. Everest – both seem distant, difficult, scary and potentially disastrous. Yet in terms of planning and execution, those looking to start a new career have much to learn from mountain climbers. Full Article

Pennenergy's Top Power Headlines 3/14

Top Power Headlines

Prologue to Catastrophe: An Eyewitness Account from Inside Fukushima
To commemorate the third anniversary of the Fukushima disaster, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists shares an eyewitness account from inside the nuclear complex immediately following the massive earthquake and Tsunami.
Full Article
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House votes to block proposed EPA rules for coal-fired power plants
The U.S. House of Representatives have approved a bill to block proposed EPA regulations setting stricter emissions limits for new coal-fired power plants.
Full Article
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Most Popular Power News This Week
• Gas leak suspected in deadly explosion that levels 2 NYC buildings
• Russian occupation in Ukraine raises questions on energy
• NRC issues annual assessments for U.S. nuclear power plants
• Employee Innovations Address Environmental Concerns of CO2 Storage,Carbon Ash
• AES Energy Storage unveils Advancion, a complete battery-based grid resource
• Report urges better cybersecurity for North American electricity grid
• Solvay launches production of torrefied biomass in U.S.
• Xcel fund grants $42MM to 29 renewable energy projects
• Alstom secures first wind turbine contract in Korea
• Westinghouse signs nuclear agreement with Technical University of Sofia

PennEnergy Blogs
All Energy: Cha-cha- cha-Changes One of the biggest shifts to occur over the years was my sudden realization that stuff comes from places and these once elusive places need access to resources to make and deliver said stuff. Seems elementary, but one of the pitfalls of city convenience can often be ignorance. Full Article Share:

Editor's Note 3/14

Dear Readers
I have business meetings today. I will resume posting this evening. Have a good day.
Michele Kearney

Thursday, March 13, 2014

U.S. For International Convention To Resolve Nuclear Liability Issue

U.S. For International Convention To Resolve Nuclear Liability Issue
http://www.indolink.com/displayArticleS.php?id=031214074839

What worries energy execs most?

http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/what-worries-energy-execs-most/2014-03-12?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

ANS Update 3/13 New ANS Awards in Fuel Cycle and Waste Management

Updates from ANS Nuclear Cafe Blog

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New ANS Awards in Fuel Cycle and Waste Management

By ansnuclearcafe on Mar 13, 2014 08:57 am

By Katy Huff In an enthusiastic push to better recognize the outstanding technical work of our colleagues and the extraordinary community contributions of American Nuclear Society members, the Fuel Cycle and Waste Management Division (FCWMD) has established four … Continue reading →
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Saturday, March 15, 2014

Small Modular Reactors Could Provide Safer Nuclear Energy

Time for DOE to Complete Its Part 810 Nuclear Export Reform

War on the Roof: Solar Power Has Grown Up

Column: Termination of MOX will be dangerous step

Nuclear: A surprisingly progressive solution to climate change

US nuclear site fire 'was preventable'

Activists get nuclear-plant science all wrong

Nuclear plant operator wins $19 million over failure to open Yucca repository

New Energy Planned To Replace CA Nuclear

Iran’s Oil Exports Peak After Interim Nuclear Deal

If Boost in Exports Continues It Could Threaten to Exceed Agreed Cap