Saturday, March 29, 2014

New Jersey to Make Grid Smarter, More Flexible with Energy Storage

http://breakingenergy.com/2014/03/28/new-jersey-to-make-grid-smarter-more-flexible-with-energy-storage/?utm_source=Breaking+Energy&utm_campaign=3ae4921307-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f852427a4b-3ae4921307-407304281

History of Women at the Energy Department

http://breakingenergy.com/2014/03/28/history-of-women-at-the-energy-department/?utm_source=Breaking+Energy&utm_campaign=3ae4921307-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_f852427a4b-3ae4921307-407304281

Can Europe Achieve a Clean, Affordable Power Balance?

Can Europe Achieve a Clean, Affordable Power Balance? *by Nigel Blackaby, Power Engineering International* \| March 27, 2014 \| 5 Comments
	Change is sweeping the European power industry as the integration of renewables gains pace. How Europe eventually navigates through these dramatic changes will fascinate power decision makers globally. The debate over whether rene... Full Articlehttp://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/03/maintaining-the-power-balance-in-europe?cmpid=SolarNL-Saturday-March29-2014

Is the Ukraine Crisis Compromising Germany's Renewable Energy Future?

Is the Ukraine Crisis Compromising Germany's Renewable Energy Future? *by Geir Moulson, Associated Press* \| March 28, 2014 \| 1 Comment
	The crisis in Ukraine has added an extra dose of uncertainty to German Chancellor Angela Merkel's biggest domestic project: shifting the country from nuclear to renewable energy sources. Full Articlehttp://www.renewableenergyworld.com/rea/news/article/2014/03/is-the-ukraine-crisis-compromising-germanys-renewable-energy-future?cmpid=SolarNL-Saturday-March29-2014

3 Chinese state firms looking to build nuclear plants abroad

State Nuclear will consider various financing options to help potential customers as it targets opportunities in Brazil, UK and South Africa

http://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/1439934/3-chinese-state-firms-looking-build-nuclear-plants-abroad

Xi and Obama Meet on Sidelines of Security Summit

http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2014/03/obama-xi-michelles-diplomacy-high-level/

Obama, Xi Meet at Nuclear Security Summit

The leaders discussed North Korea, cybersecurity, maritime disputes, and Crimea – but not nuclear security.

http://thediplomat.com/2014/03/obama-xi-meet-at-nuclear-security-summit/

Secrets about suspected Israeli theft of U.S. weapons-grade nuclear material declassified - IRmep

On March 18, 2014 ISCAP, the highest declassification authority in the U.S., released 84 pages (PDF) of formerly secret information about investigations into the illegal diversion of weapons-grade nuclear material from a Pennsylvania plant into the clandestine Israeli nuclear weapons program.

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/secrets-about-suspected-israeli-theft-of-us-weapons-grade-nuclear-material-declassified---irmep-252658041.html

DOE Officials Highlight Challenges Facing Baseload Nuclear Power

http://www.nei.org/News-Media/News/News-Archives/DOE-Officials-Highlight-Challenges-Facing-Baseload

"Nuclear Kingdom: Saudi Arabia's Atomic Ambitions"

Policy Brief, Washington Institute for Near East Policy
March 27, 2014
Authors: Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Simon Henderson
http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/24061/nuclear_kingdom.html

Rosatom buys into Fennovoima

Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom has acquired a 34% stake in Fennovoima, the company proposing to build the Hanhikivi nuclear power plant in Finland. The plant is to feature a Russian-supplied reactor.
http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/C-Rosatom-buys-into-Fennovoima-2803144.html

94% of Electricity in 2013 Came from Reactors, Dams and Fossil Fuels

- See more at: http://cnsnews.com/news/article/94-electricity-2013-came-reactors-dams-and-fossil-fuels#sthash.xyItlG05.dpuf

94% of Electricity in 2013 Came from Reactors, Dams and Fossil Fuels
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/94-electricity-2013-came-reactors-dams-and-fossil-fuels

China, France vow to boost financial, nuclear cooperation

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-03/27/c_133217490.htm

Russia, Kuwait discuss prospects for nuclear energy peaceful use

http://en.itar-tass.com/world/725734

China to use Russian nuclear reactor as prototype

"MOSCOW - China will use Russia's evolutionary third generation nuclear pressurized water reactor as a prototype, announced Russia's Rosatom on Friday.
According to a statement by Russian energy company Rosatom, a delegation composed of Chinese National Nuclear Energy Company and Jiangsu Nuclear Energy Council officials paid a visit to nuclear engineering company Atomenergoproekt located in St Petersburg.
Jiangsu Nuclear Energy Council Deputy Director Lyu Dzhaohua said they discussed the delivery of the 3rd and 4th unit to the Tyanvan Nuclear Plant, the largest nuclear plant in mainland China, built with Russian cooperation.
While Chinese National Nuclear Energy Company Deputy Director Yuy Peygen said they also negotiated a plan to use Atomenergoproekt's "AES-2006" energy facility project as a prototype for the 5th and 6th units of the nuclear plant.
AES-2006 is a third generation evolutionary pressurized water reactor based on Russian VVER plants, which were developed by OKB Gidropress, a Rosatom subsidiary."
http://www.turkishpress.com/news/397824/

Company stumbles have Energy Dept., Capitol Hill worried about $450 million nuclear program

http://washingtonexaminer.com/companies-have-energy-dept.-capitol-hill-worried-about-nuclear-program/article/2546434

Countering Moscow: Europe's Nuclear Options

Projects such as the U.K.'s planned Hinckley Point C are critical to energy security. Brussels must not get in the way.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304418404579465172040371470

Thyroid cancer prevalence not increased near nuclear power plants

http://www.healio.com/endocrinology/thyroid/news/online/%7Bebb78803-2d0e-4ce3-9ee0-c008eb418b44%7D/thyroid-cancer-prevalence-not-increased-near-nuclear-power-plants

Dubai to secure nuclear power from Abu Dhabi

The emirate rules out - for now - plan to build a nuclear power plant

http://www.emirates247.com/news/emirates/dubai-to-secure-nuclear-power-from-abu-dhabi-2014-03-28-1.543385

Watts Bar staff swells to 5,000 as nuclear power backers say more reactors help jobs

http://timesfreepress.com/news/2014/mar/29/watts-bar-staff-swells-to-5000nuclear-power/

Vermont board OKs plans to close down Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant by end of year

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2014/03/vermont_board_oks_plans_to_clo.html

Texas nuclear power plants seek new workforce

http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/texas-nuclear-power-plants-seek-new-workforce/article_097683b8-b6c6-11e3-ae76-001a4bcf6878.html

"What Did We Learn From Three Mile Island?"

From ANS Nuclear Cafe:

"What Did We Learn From Three Mile Island?"

Rod Adams on the 35th anniversary of the accident at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station -- lessons learned and lessons still being learned

http://ansnuclearcafe.org/2014/03/25/what-did-we-learn-from-three-mile-island/

Guest Post by Llewellyn King: Always His Own Man: a Rembrance of Jim Schlessinger

This is the obit running in The Energy Daily

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: White House Chronicle
Date: Sat, Mar 29, 2014 at 11:22 AM
Subject: Re: Schlesinger

Always His Own Man: a Remembrance of Jim Schlesinger

By Llewellyn King

James Rodney Schlesinger was assistant director of the Bureau of the Budget, chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, director of the CIA, secretary of defense, secretary of energy , chairman of The MITRE Corporation, managing director of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., and my friend. He was a colossus in Washington; a great Sequoia who towered in the forest.

Schlesinger, who died on Thursday, more than anyone I've known in public life including presidents, prime ministers and industrial savants, knew who he was. From that came a special strength: he didn't care what people thought of him. What he did care about were the great issues of the time.

He was a man of granite, steel and titanium and he could take abuse and denunciation – as he did, most especially, as the first secretary of energy. He also had extraordinary intellectual ability. No name, time or date evaded him, and he understood complex issues, from geopolitical balances to the physics of the nuclear stockpile.

Les Goldman, a key member of Schlesinger's circle in government and in life, said his genius was in capturing huge quantities of information and synthesizing it into a course of action. He also had phenomenal energy, going to work very early in the morning and staying up late at night. During his tenure at the Department of Energy, he had to testify on Capitol Hill almost daily, so he checked in at 5 a.m. to get the work done. His relaxation was birdwatching.

Schlesinger was a great public servant; someone who venerated public service without regard to its rewards. He drove a VW Beetle for years and lived in a modest house in the suburbs. Even as secretary of defense, a post from which he could order up airplanes, ships and limousines, he kept an extraordinary modesty. Pomp was not for him.

But he was a tough customer. Schlesinger spared none with his invective and regarded the creation of enemies as part of the normal course of getting things done.

And getting things done was what he was good at -- rudely awakening somnolent bureaucrats, angering whole industries and unsettling cliques, as he did at the CIA. Wherever he was in charge, he applied his boot to the sensitive hind regions of the complacent, the lazy and the inept. He punctured the egos of the self-regarding and kept military men waiting, tapping their feet and examining their watches.

Once at the CIA, Schlesinger and I were engaged in a long conversation about the British Empire – a favorite subject – when his aide, who had been hovering, came back for the second or third time and said, “Sir, the admiral has been waiting for an hour already.” “Good,” said Schlesinger. Then, as an aside to me, he said, “It's good for admirals to wait.”

On another occasion, when I was part of a press party traveling with Schlesinger after the opening of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve site in a salt cavern in Louisiana, Schlesinger sent his trusted and well-liked press chief John Harris back to the reporters to say that Schlesinger wanted to talk to me. I went forward to the executive cabin, where the secretary of energy was playing the harmonica.

“I'm taking requests,” he said.

I blurted out the few songs I knew, and he played on -- and on and on.

After about half an hour, Harris came forward again to say that the other reporters, including Steve Rattner, who was to become a billionaire Wall Street investor, but was then a reporter with The New York Times' Washington bureau, wanted to know why I was getting an exclusive interview.

They wouldn't be mollified with the assurance that I was listening to the great man play the harmonica. Rattner in particular, believed that I had some big story that I'd publish in The Energy Daily and embarrass him and The Times.

The Energy Daily, too, had involved Schlesinger. I reported on nuclear power for the trade publication Nucleonics Week, which is how I had met him at the Atomic Energy Commission. But at night, I worked as an editor at The Washington Post. Quite suddenly, President Richard Nixon nominated Schlesinger to replace Richard Helms as director of the CIA, and The Post op-ed pages were flooded with articles about Helms, but not a word about the new man in Langley. I asked Meg Greenfield, the storied editorial page editor, why she didn't publish something about Schlesinger. No one, she said, knew anything about Schlesinger.

I avowed as I did, and the result was a longer-than-usual piece that she published on a Saturday. It became the “go to” archival resource for a generation of journalists writing about Schlesinger. But it cost me my day job, as my editor didn't think I should be writing in The Washington Post. So I started what became The Energy Daily.

The trick to friendship with James Schlesinger was disputation. He'd like people he could talk to and especially argue with. I argued -- over Scotland's most famous product -- about American exceptionalism; the uses of force; the limits to power; the Gulf War; the Saudis; obscure points of grammar, as he was strict grammarian who always found time to telephone me, and later e-mail me, to correct my slippages.

We argued for more than 40 years and loved every syllable of it.

We also argued vigorously over Bill Clinton. I was Schlesinger's guest at the legendary Alfalfa Club dinner in Washington and I fell into conversion with the president, Bill Clinton. When I returned to the table, looking pleased, Schlesinger exclaimed, “You've been talking to him!” -- as though this was some huge betrayal.

He also didn't like Henry Kissinger and Gerald Ford, the latter having fired him.

Schlesinger admired what he called “intellectual structure.” But I could never get him to define it.

Close to the end of Schlesinger's life, my wife, Linda Gasparello, and he were engaged in a complicated and loving dispute over Henry II and Eleanor of Provence. He loved that kind of thing.

Journalists are ill-advised to care too deeply for the men they write about. Schlesinger was my treasured exception.

Llewellyn King is executive producer and host of “White House Chronicle” on PBS. His e-mail is lking@kingpublishing.com.

Friday, March 28, 2014

An energy stock for the data-center boom

This company is partnering with tech giants to build facilities all over the country, and its shares have jumped 168% in the last year.

http://money.msn.com/top-stocks/post--an-energy-stock-for-the-data-center-boom

Energy Economist: The battered state of EU-Russia energy relations

http://blogs.platts.com/2014/03/28/russia-eu-ukraine-energy/

James R. Schlesinger, Willful Aide to Three Presidents, Is Dead at 85 By ROBERT D. McFADDEN

James R. Schlesinger, Willful Aide to Three Presidents, Is Dead at 85

By ROBERT D. McFADDEN
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/28/us/politics/james-r-schlesinger-cold-war-hard-liner-dies-at-85.html?_r=0

Could Ukraine crisis spur new forms of nuclear energy?

http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/could-ukraine-crisis-spur-new-forms-of-nuclear-power/

MOX Project: Important Part of the U.S. Nonproliferation Program

http://us.arevablog.com/2014/02/24/mox-project-important-part-of-the-u-s-nonproliferation-program/

School Science Project Reveals High Levels Of Fukushima Nuclear Radiation in Grocery Store Seafood

http://www.infowars.com/school-science-project-reveals-high-levels-of-fukushima-nuclear-radiation-in-grocery-store-seafood/

In Memoriam: James R. Schlesinger

Mar 27, 2014 07:00 pm | The Editors and Publishers

The Editors and Publishers

Jim Schlesinger passed away on March 26 due to complications from pneumonia. In addition to a remarkable career in government that included service in three cabinet posts—Secretary of Defense, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, and the first Secretary of Energy—Jim held a series of central roles at The National Interest and its parent institution, the Center for the National Interest. He was most recently Chairman of The National Interest’s Advisory Council and was earlier its Publisher for many years. The Center might not exist without him, as he was among a small group of informal advisors to former President Richard Nixon who recommended its creation in its prior incarnation as The Nixon Center. He was the first Chairman of the Center’s Executive Committee and was a member of the Board of Directors for two decades.
Schlesinger’s brand of high-minded realism—combining strategic thinking, pragmatism, and a commitment to America’s principles as a source of strength and leadership—continues as Center’s and The National Interest’s defining philosophy today. We will greatly miss him, and especially his penetrating analysis and wise counsel, which have been essential in our work. Nevertheless, Jim’s legacy will continue to shape everything that we do in trying to understand today’s uncertain world.http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/memoriam-james-r-schlesinger-10141

Utilities eye more non-nuclear power output

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/03/26/business/utilities-eye-more-non-nuclear-power-output/#.UzWjFhlXBDQ

Sendai nuclear plant only one to pass requirements for NRA screening before summer

http://japandailypress.com/sendai-nuclear-plant-only-one-to-pass-requirements-for-nra-screening-before-summer-2846469/

China working on uranium-free nuclear plants in attempt to combat smog

Beijing brings forward deadline for world's first thorium-fuelled facility in attempt to break reliance on fossil fuels

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/19/china-uranium-nuclear-plants-smog-thorium

PGE to focus on customer-side resources

PGE to focus on customer-side resources http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/pge-focus-customer-side-resources/2014-03-28?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Power Engineering's Top Stories 3/28

Top Stories

GHG permit issued for natural gas-fired power plant
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a greenhouse gas (GHG) permit for El Paso Electric’s planned natural gas-fired power plant in Texas.
Read More
Share:

Crystal River Nuclear Plant's unused fuel assemblies to be sold by Duke Energy Florida
Duke Energy Florida (NYSE: DUK) will sell 76 unused nuclear fuel assemblies from its retired Crystal River Nuclear Plant.
Read More
Share:

U.S. lawmakers ask for passage of wind energy PTC, ITC
Members of both the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate have signed letters asking for the extension of the wind production tax credit (PTC) and the investment tax credit (ITC).
Read More
Share:

Black Hills Corp. retires coal-fired power plant in Wyoming
Black Hills Corp. closed down a 22-MW coal-fired power plant in Wyoming due to federal environmental regulations.
Read More
Share:

The Week's Most Read Articles

Mitsubishi Hitachi signs $77.8 million deal for 501J gas turbine
A deal to build what may be the most efficient combined cycle power plant in the U.S. was finalized last week in Tulsa, Okla.
Read More
Share:

Duke contemplates retiring additional coal-fired capacity in response to coal ash spill
Duke Energy is considering closing units at two coal-fired plants in response to the coal ash spill at Dan River in North Carolina, according to a report from the Charlotte Business Journal.
Read More
Share:

Video: Island Station coal-fired power plant imploded
Demolition crews imploded the Island Station coal-fired power plant on Sunday, near the Mississippi river, in St. Paul, Minn.
Read More
Share:

Natural gas-fired combined cycle project gains EPC contractor
The Louisiana Energy and Power Authority (LEPA) signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with Robins & Morton to build a 64-MW combined cycle power plant in Morgan City, La.
Read More
Share:

More Headlines
• NRG Energy enters joint venture for gas-to-liquids, renewable fuels
• Swinerton awarded contract for 40 MW of Duke solar power projects
• EIA: U.S. coal inventory low due to cold temperatures
• Dragonfly Solar, SolarWorld to deliver solar power to utility co-ops
• $1.3bn contract signed for hydroelectric power plant in Canada
• Capstone to install CHP technology at LA health care facilities
• Watts Bar nuclear reactor taken offline for refueling
• France’s decision on price for nuclear competitors delayed
• Susquehanna Nuclear Power Plant Unit 2 reconnected after maintenance
• U.S., Czech Republic open nuclear energy research center
• Wind Coalition releases energy study for Oklahoma
• Report: Global wind industry installs 20% less capacity in 2013
• Iowa wind farm to relocate
• Cape Wind secures $400M more in financing for offshore project
• Duke Energy releases plans for coal ash basins
• Areva installs I&C system in U.S. nuclear power plant
• Offshore wind farm could supply power to Long Island

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 March 20, 2014.
Read More
Share:

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.
Read More
Share:

White Papers

Study and Design Considerations of HRSG Evaporators in Fast Start Combined Cycle Plants
The ability of horizontal HRSGs cyclic operation has been discussed and
widely reported in literatures and studies. However, the operation and design life of HRSGs become more important when the system is operated with fast startup times.
Read More
Share:

Lean Duplex Stainless Steel Within the Oil & Gas Industry
Two white papers within this document address the stress corrosion cracking that occurs as a result of the conjoint action of mechanical loading in a corrosive environment, like offshore rigs
Read More
Share:

Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire