Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire
Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Fukushima Watch: Small Step Toward Cutting Water Flowing Into Site
Fukushima Watch: Small Step Toward Cutting Water Flowing Into Site
http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2014/02/04/fukushima-watch-small-step-toward-cutting-water-flowing-into-site/
What to do with a nuclear plant on a fault line
What to do with a nuclear plant on a fault line
The US and Japan take notably different approaches.
http://arstechnica.com/science/2014/02/what-to-do-with-a-nuclear-plant-on-a-fault-line/
TVO faces two-plant bind
TVO faces two-plant bind
Delays in the construction of the TVO nuclear power utility's new plant unit, Olkiluoto 3, is causing the company growing scheduling problems with plans for a planned fourth unit at the site.
http://yle.fi/uutiset/tvo_faces_two_plant_bind/7065831
Delays in CCS for gas power could necessitate nuclear expansion – IEA
Delays in CCS for gas power could necessitate nuclear expansion – IEA
http://gastopowerjournal.com/markets/item/2948-delays-in-ccs-for-gas-power-could-necessitate-nuclear-expansion-%E2%80%93-iea
Quasar eyes April start-up for Four Mile
Quasar eyes April start-up for Four Mile
Quasar Resources anticipates mining operations starting at the Four Mile uranium mine in South Australia in April, but project partner Alliance Resources has yet to agree on a development plan.http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/ENF-Quasar-eyes-April-startup-for-Four-Mile-0402144.html
Quasar Resources anticipates mining operations starting at the Four Mile uranium mine in South Australia in April, but project partner Alliance Resources has yet to agree on a development plan.http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/ENF-Quasar-eyes-April-startup-for-Four-Mile-0402144.html
Progress at Leningrad II
Progress at Leningrad II
Construction work is moving on at Russia's Leningrad II, with contractor Titan-2 reporting achievements in the turbine building, nuclear island and water treatment plant. There has also been progress on unit 2's containment.http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Progress-at-Leningrad-II-0402147.html
Construction work is moving on at Russia's Leningrad II, with contractor Titan-2 reporting achievements in the turbine building, nuclear island and water treatment plant. There has also been progress on unit 2's containment.http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Progress-at-Leningrad-II-0402147.html
China Can Make Nuclear Power Work
China Can Make Nuclear Power Work
http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/china-can-make-nuclear-power-work-9815
BP's Deepwater Horizon bill rises by $200m as profits fall
BP's Deepwater Horizon bill rises by $200m as profits fall
Latest update on continuing costs of Macondo blowout comes as oil firm reports fall in quarterly and yearly profits
http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/feb/04/bp-deepwater-horizon-bill-rises-profits-fall?CMP=ema_565
Monday, February 3, 2014
Generation IV Nuclear Reactors
Generation IV Nuclear Reactors
(updated July 2013)
- An international task force is developing six nuclear reactor technologies for deployment between 2020 and 2030. Four are fast neutron reactors.
- All of these operate at higher temperatures than today's reactors. In particular, four are designated for hydrogen production.
- All six systems represent advances in sustainability, economics, safety, reliability and proliferation-resistance.
- Europe is pushing ahead with three of the fast reactor designs.
A123’s Path Back to Grid-Scale Battery Business
A123’s Path Back to Grid-Scale Battery Business
http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/a123s-path-back-to-grid-scale-battery-business
Liquid Metal Batteries a Review (Video)
Liquid Metal Batteries a Review (Video)
http://guardianlv.com/2014/02/liquid-metal-batteries-a-review-video/
Two New Products Now Available in the POWER Bookstore

Future Energy: Opportunities and Challenges
America and the world face daunting questions about how we produce energy and how we use it. Conservation and improved energy efficiency can help in reducing energy requirements, but cannot halt the steady increase in energy consumption. Increasing world population and increasing energy appetites in emerging economies will create competition for energy resources for all nations.
The possibilities for future energy production include fossil fuels (oil, natural gas, coal, oil sands, and oil shale), biofuels, solar, wind, hydroenergy, geothermal and nuclear (probably fission and possibly fusion). Each of these sources has relative advantages and disadvantages. The problem is to produce enough sustainable energy while avoiding unacceptable environmental consequences, especially climate change.
In order to evaluate the potential of the various energy options, citizens must understand the basic science that underlies each potential energy source and each energy use technology. This knowledge permits assessment of what is possible and practical and, maybe more importantly, what is impossible or impractical. Fortunately most of the pertinent science is old, well established and, for the most part, quite simple. This science provides a framework into which one can insert real data and draw conclusions. Without such quantitative assessments, claims about capabilities of the various energy options must be viewed as unverified assumptions rather than hard facts. This book presents the essential science in an easy-to-understand, yet comprehensive way.
A big change in the ways that we produce and use energy is inevitable. Informed choices will help avoid waste, avoid unnecessary disruptions in our lives and avoid undesirable environmental effects. The purpose of this book is to help the reader make informed decisions about which energy production technologies to support and which energy use technologies and lifestyle options to implement.
Hardbound, 644 pages.
Order Now
Automation Can Prevent the Next Fukushima
Automation protects against both unsafe conditions and human errors. It is the key to safety in the nuclear power industry. This is the message of this book, written by Béla Lipták, a consultant with more than 50 years’ experience in automation and industrial safety.
After reviewing the Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima accidents, he not only concludes that safety automation could have prevented all three, but also explains why they occurred and what was needed to prevent them.
In this book, he analyzes these accidents and the industry as a whole, concluding that the next Fukushima is unavoidable unless the safety controls of the operating 438 aging plants around the world are updated and fully automated. He believes that extending their operating licenses without adding the safety systems that are described in this book is irresponsible.
Hardbound, 336 pages.
Order Now
Japan Utilities Offset Idled Reactor Losses by Lifting Rates
Japan Utilities Offset Idled Reactor Losses by Lifting Rates
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-02/japan-utilities-see-gains-on-higher-rates-as-reactors-stay-idled.html
Energy efficiency investments reap three times the economic rewards
http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/energy-efficiency-investments-reap-three-times-economic-rewards/2014-02-03?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
For more:
- see this report
http://assets.fiercemarkets.com/public/sites/energy/reports/seeareport1.pdf
Related Article:
Energy efficiency upgrades on tap for Southeast utilities
For more:
- see this report
http://assets.fiercemarkets.com/public/sites/energy/reports/seeareport1.pdf
Related Article:
Energy efficiency upgrades on tap for Southeast utilities
Northeast U.S. leading in energy policy, support and investment
Northeast U.S. leading in energy policy, support and investment
Read more: Northeast U.S. leading in energy policy, support and investment - FierceEnergy http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/northeast-us-leading-energy-policy-support-and-investment/2014-02-03#ixzz2sHXZY5ky
Subscribe at FierceEnergy
http://www.fierceenergy.com/story/northeast-us-leading-energy-policy-support-and-investment/2014-02-03?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal
For more:
- see this report
http://assets.fiercemarkets.com/public/sites/energy/reports/neepreport.pdf
Related Articles:
Aligning regulations with energy efficiency
Mass. takes top efficiency spot two years in a row
States playing increasing energy-efficiency roles thanks to utilities
Energy efficiency deserves attention of utilities
US NRC Blog Update: Earth Scientists Help Assure Nuclear Safety
U.S. NRC Blog |
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Europe lists concerns over Hinkley deal
Details of the European Commission's specific concerns about the UK government's agreement with EDF Energy for Hinkley Point C have been released. The UK maintains its agreement meets EU law on state aid.http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NP-Europe-lists-concerns-over-Hinkley-deal-0302144.html
Fuel loading begins at fast reactor
Fuel loading begins at fast reactor
The first fuel is being loaded into Russia's newest fast breeder reactor, Beloyarsk 4, in preparation for startup of the unit within months.http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Fuel-loading-begins-at-fast-reactor-0302147.html
The first fuel is being loaded into Russia's newest fast breeder reactor, Beloyarsk 4, in preparation for startup of the unit within months.http://www.world-nuclear-news.org/NN-Fuel-loading-begins-at-fast-reactor-0302147.html
Iraq, Iran plot to challenge Saudi domination of OPEC
Iraq, Iran plot to challenge Saudi domination of OPEC
Baghdad (UPI) Jan 29, 2013 - Hussein Shahristani, Iraq's energy chief, says Baghdad is working with Iran to boost oil exports, a move by these two Shiite-majority powers that could lead to a major challenge of Sunni Saudi Arabia and its domination of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Shahristani, Iraq's deputy prime minister for energy, told a conference Tuesday at the Royal Institute of Internatio ... morehttp://www.oilgasdaily.com/reports/Iraq_Iran_plot_to_challenge_Saudi_domination_of_OPEC_999.html
Baghdad (UPI) Jan 29, 2013 - Hussein Shahristani, Iraq's energy chief, says Baghdad is working with Iran to boost oil exports, a move by these two Shiite-majority powers that could lead to a major challenge of Sunni Saudi Arabia and its domination of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries. Shahristani, Iraq's deputy prime minister for energy, told a conference Tuesday at the Royal Institute of Internatio ... morehttp://www.oilgasdaily.com/reports/Iraq_Iran_plot_to_challenge_Saudi_domination_of_OPEC_999.html
Bernard Ingham: If I were Energy Secretary, Brussels would face an electric shock or two...
Bernard Ingham: If I were Energy Secretary, Brussels would face an electric shock or two...
http://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/news/debate/columnists/bernard-ingham-if-i-were-energy-secretary-brussels-would-face-an-electric-shock-or-two-1-6402444
Fukushima Updates 2/3
Fukushima
Updates today -
264 fuel bundles have been moved out
of unit #4 SFP... The Tokyo gubernatorial race is center stage in the Press...
Tepco is looking for more leaks out of units #1-#3 containments... Tepco
will test the use of a Strontium absorber in February... Tepco’s 4th quarter report has
brought praise from two foreign consultants... Incoming Business Federation
Chair Sadayuki Sakakibara says Japan’s nukes need to be restarted as soon as
possible... Japan’s nuclear watchdog told Tepco to lower F. Daiichi's
perimeter radiation levels... The NRA has modified nuclear evacuation
rules... Tokyo wants to get local fisheries to approve releasing uncontaminated
groundwater to the sea.
Volatile Prices in wholesale electricity prices
For those of you who remain students of electricity markets, I recommend
the following article:
Goldman Sachs in Denmark
Denmark’s Dong Energy Adventure
Goldman Sachs in Denmark
by BINOY KAMPMARK
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/03/goldman-sachs-in-denmark/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=goldman-sachs-in-denmark&utm_reader=feedly
We Should Fear the Worst from Fukushima by HARVEY WASSERMAN
50 Reasons Why
We Should Fear the Worst from Fukushima
by HARVEY WASSERMAN
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/02/03/we-should-fear-the-worst-from-fukushima/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=we-should-fear-the-worst-from-fukushima&utm_reader=feedly
Robert Bryce: The Real Climate 'Deniers' Are the Greens
Robert Bryce: The Real Climate 'Deniers' Are the Greens
While renewables subsidies have punished Europe, shale gas has cut U.S. emissions.
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304007504579346774109467020
Nuclear Experts from UK to Help in Fukushima Decommissioning, Province Commits to Use 100% Renewable Energy by 2040
Nuclear Experts from UK to Help in Fukushima Decommissioning, Province Commits to Use 100% Renewable Energy by 2040
http://au.ibtimes.com/articles/537009/20140203/nuclear-uk-fukushima-decommission-renewable-energy.htm#.Uu-qoLTBOAg
California drought: 17 communities could run out of water within 60 to 120 days, state says
California drought: 17 communities could run out of water within 60 to 120 days, state says
http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_25013388/california-drought-17-communities-could-run-out-water
The woman the Japanese turned to after Fukushima
The woman the Japanese turned to after Fukushima
Lady Judge has been Tepco's head of safety for 16 months – and she helps to protect your pension
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/10613304/The-woman-the-Japanese-turned-to-after-Fukushima.html
Greens Still See Red on Nuclear Power
Greens Still See Red on Nuclear Power
Major environmental groups are ignoring pleas from climate scientists to embrace reactors.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/daily/greens-still-see-red-on-nuclear-power-20140202
Baucus Proposal A Promising Start, But Neglects Existing Nuclear
Baucus Proposal A Promising Start, But Neglects Existing Nuclear
Current Fleet Supplies 60% of Domestic Zero-Carbon Energy
http://thebreakthrough.org/index.php/programs/energy-and-climate/baucus-proposal-a-promising-start-but-neglects-existing-nuclear
The Coal, Hard Truth
The Coal, Hard Truth
China's New Coal 6 Times Higher than Wind, 27 Times Higher than Solar in 2013
http://thebreakthrough.org/index.php/programs/energy-and-climate/the-coal-hard-truth
Pakistan nears gas deal with Qatar to power electricity needs
Pakistan nears gas deal with Qatar to power electricity needs
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/82b74180-8c79-11e3-9b1d-00144feab7de.html?ftcamp=crm/email/201423/nbe/EnergyMining/product&siteedition=intl
Solar Thermal Technology Poses Challenges for Drought-Stricken California
Solar Thermal Technology Poses Challenges for Drought-Stricken Californiahttp://www.technologyreview.com/news/523856/solar-thermal-technology-poses-challenges-for-drought-stricken-california/?utm_campaign=newsletters&utm_source=newsletter-daily-all&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20140203
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Production of Natural Gas From Shale: A Resource Blessing or Curse?
Production of Natural Gas From Shale: A Resource Blessing or Curse?
By Jason P. Brown - Economic Review, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
The extraction of natural gas from shale
and tight gas formations is one of the largest innovations in the U.S.
energy sector in several decades. According to the Energy Information
Agency's (EIA) 2013 Annual Energy Outlook, total U.S. recoverable
natural gas resources were estimated to be 2,327 trillion cubic feet, up
from 1,259 trillion cubic feet in 2000. Using projected annual growth
in U.S. natural gas consumption, current U.S. reserves of natural gas
represent an estimated 70 years' worth of supply. This energy boom has
reversed a long downward trend in U.S. natural gas production. In the
1970s the U.S. energy sector seemingly conceded its decline and began
investing in global markets to survive. That trend reversed course in
the mid-2000s.http://econintersect.com/b2evolution/blog1.php/2014/02/02/production-of-natural-gas-from-shale-a-resource-blessing-or-curse
Ending the World the Human Way Climate Change as the Anti-News
Tomgram: Engelhardt, The End of History?
Posted by Tom Engelhardt at 4:28pm, February 2, 2014.
Climate Change as the Anti-News
By Tom Engelhardt
Here’s the scoop: When it comes to climate change, there is no “story,” not in the normal news sense anyway.
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175801/tomgram%3A_engelhardt%2C_the_end_of_history/
Westinghouse’s Roderick shifts resources from SMR to AP1000
NuScale was the sole winner in the latest round under the DOE’s Funding
Opportunity Announcement (FOA) for small modular reactors (SMR). The DOE
announced its decision in December 2013 .
As a result of that decision, Westinghouse has shifted internal
resources from working on a 225 MWe SMR to focus more on continued
refinements and completion of the AP1000 reactor. At least eight AP1000s
are ...read morehttp://atomicinsights.com/westinghouses-roderick-shifts-resources-smr-ap1000/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AtomicInsights+%28Atomic+Insights%29
Vernon Asks: When A Nuclear Plant Leaves, What Can We No Longer Afford?
Vernon Asks: When A Nuclear Plant Leaves, What Can We No Longer Afford?
http://digital.vpr.net/post/vernon-asks-when-nuclear-plant-leaves-what-can-we-no-longer-afford
FUDS The Sellafield shutdown raises the spectre of science as horror
Series: Framing the debate
The Sellafield shutdown raises the spectre of science as horror
Nuclear power is a myth as much as a reality, a shadow in the modern mind. Behold a place where dark deeds are done
Court to hear Barnwell waste disposal appeal
Court to hear Barnwell waste disposal appeal chronicle.augusta.com
Arguing that
waste-contaminated water is spreading to the groundwater, environmental
groups are challenging the state permit that allows low-level
radioactive waste to be buried at a Barnwell site.
Swedish ship makes first shipment
Swedish ship makes first shipment world-nuclear-news.org
SKB's new vessel for
transporting used nuclear fuel and radioactive waste by sea, the M/S
Sigrid, has made its first shipment. It replaces the smaller M/S Sigyn,
which had been in service since 1982.
Sanders: States should have more say in nuke plant shutdowns
http://www.benningtonbanner.com/sports/ci_25027340/sanders-states-should-have-more-say-nuke-plant
Presented here as another point of view.
Presented here as another point of view.
Sanders: States should have more say in nuke plant shutdowns benningtonbanner.com
This a press release issued
Thursday by Vt. Sen Bernie Sanders. WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 - Sen. Bernie
Sanders (I-Vt.) today urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to provide
a stronger role for states in the process of decommissioning nuclear
power...
Debris clearance at Fukushima
Debris clearance at Fukushima world-nuclear-news.org
A series of photographs
showing progress in the removal of tsunami debris from the damaged
Fukushima Daiichi plant has been released by Tokyo Electric Power
Company (Tepco).
French Nuclear Regulator Wants Power to Impose Fines Over Safety
France’s nuclear regulator
wants the power to fine atomic installations for safety breaches so
faults that aren’t serious enough to close a site are fixed faster.
Decision time yet again on whether to remove nuclear waste
Decision time yet again on whether to remove nuclear waste
New research to focus on challenges of nuclear decommissioning
New research to focus on challenges of nuclear decommissioning
IAEA Delivers Final Report on Remediation in Fukushima to Japan
IAEA Delivers Final Report on Remediation in Fukushima to Japan
FEMA: Caught Between Climate Change and Congress
Thanks to climate change, extreme weather disasters have hammered the
United States with increasing frequency in recent years—from drought and
wildfires to coastal storms and flooding.
But the U.S. agency in charge of preparing for and responding to these
disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), doesn't
account for climate change in most of its budget planning and resource
allocation or in the National Flood Insurance Program it administers.
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