BHUBANESWAR: India is planning to establish a nuclear power plant that uses thorium as main fuel instead of uranium, which is used in the conventional reactors. "It is natural for India to go for thorium reactors given the abundance in its supply in the country. We are in the process of selecting an appropriate site for establishing one," said Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) chairman R K Sinha.
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Thursday, June 28, 2012
Westinghouse and Curtiss-Wright Sign Strategic Nuclear Alliance
PITTSBURGH, June 28, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Westinghouse Electric Company announced today that it has signed a strategic alliance agreement with Curtiss-Wright Corporation's Flow Control business segment's Electro-Mechanical Division (EMD) business unit to jointly pursue and develop business opportunities for the refurbishment of large motors for commercial nuclear power applications in North America and to collaborate on new technology development.
The alliance will enable both companies and their customers to benefit from the combined capabilities and resources of two very experienced nuclear energy organizations. Westinghouse and Curtiss-Wright have several ongoing business agreements in support of operating nuclear plants around the world and AP1000® units under construction in China and the United States.
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Wisconsin - Point Beach nuclear reactor shut down
One of Wisconsin's three nuclear reactors stopped operating Wednesday night after a problem developed with the plant's turbine.
The problem with the Point Beach reactor occurred shortly before 9 p.m., according to a report that NextEra Energy Services filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The problem took place on the non-nuclear side of the plant and did not pose any safety risks, the company said. NextEra told the NRC that it shut down the reactor and that all safety-related equipment to cool the nuclear reactor operated without problems.
The cause of the problem is being investigated, said Sara Cassidy, spokesman for NextEra.
"We'll get it back up as soon as we find out what the issue is and get it safely returned to service," she said.
The reactor is offline during what is projected to be the hottest day of the year, but Wisconsin and Midwest utilities had ample power supply to meet rising demand for power.
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The problem with the Point Beach reactor occurred shortly before 9 p.m., according to a report that NextEra Energy Services filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The problem took place on the non-nuclear side of the plant and did not pose any safety risks, the company said. NextEra told the NRC that it shut down the reactor and that all safety-related equipment to cool the nuclear reactor operated without problems.
The cause of the problem is being investigated, said Sara Cassidy, spokesman for NextEra.
"We'll get it back up as soon as we find out what the issue is and get it safely returned to service," she said.
The reactor is offline during what is projected to be the hottest day of the year, but Wisconsin and Midwest utilities had ample power supply to meet rising demand for power.
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Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Russia - Large fast reactor approved for Beloyarsk
The government of the Sverdlovsk region of Russia has approved the construction of the country's first BN-1200 fast reactor at the Beloyarsk nuclear power plant. The unit will be built to replace the existing smaller BN-600 reactor at the plant, which is scheduled to be shut down by 2020.
Approval for the construction of the fifth unit at Beloyarsk came during a sitting yesterday of the Sverdlovsk government. Vladimir Vlasov, prime minister of the region, said that the decision will make a significant contribution to the sustainable social and economic development of the region. 'The generation of power is very important and timely. Nuclear energy is one of the cheapest forms,' he said.
The government said that the planned 1200 MWe unit will produce around 9 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually and help avoid the emission of "millions of tonnes" of carbon dioxide. In addition, it would completely remove the region's need to import fossil fuels. With a 60-year operating life, the reactor is expected to have an annual capacity factor of at least 90%.
The technical design of the BN-1200 is scheduled for completion by 2013, while the manufacture of equipment will start in 2014. Construction of the Beloyarsk unit is set to begin in 2015.
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Approval for the construction of the fifth unit at Beloyarsk came during a sitting yesterday of the Sverdlovsk government. Vladimir Vlasov, prime minister of the region, said that the decision will make a significant contribution to the sustainable social and economic development of the region. 'The generation of power is very important and timely. Nuclear energy is one of the cheapest forms,' he said.
The government said that the planned 1200 MWe unit will produce around 9 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually and help avoid the emission of "millions of tonnes" of carbon dioxide. In addition, it would completely remove the region's need to import fossil fuels. With a 60-year operating life, the reactor is expected to have an annual capacity factor of at least 90%.
The technical design of the BN-1200 is scheduled for completion by 2013, while the manufacture of equipment will start in 2014. Construction of the Beloyarsk unit is set to begin in 2015.
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Entergy Reactor Less Harmful to Hudson River Than Expected
By Julie Johnsson - Jun 27, 2012 2:15 PM PT
Entergy Corp. (ETR)’s Indian Pointnuclear-power plant near New York City poses less harm to the Hudson River than an earlier study indicated, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.
New data provided provided by New Orleans-based Entergy shows that the plume of heated water discharged by Indian Point into the river has a “small” impact and that the number of fish caught in the plant’s water intake system had been over estimated by a factor of 1,000, the atomic regulator said in a draft report posted on the NRC website today.
Environmental groups oppose Entergy’s bid to renew the plant’s license, which expires next year, citing the harmful effects of radiation leaked by Indian Point into the Hudson and the intake of river water to cool its 2,045-megawatt generators.
“It is a well-established fact that Indian Point’s intake of 2.5 billion gallons of Hudson River a day kills over a billion fish and other aquatic life forms every year,” Phillip Musegaas, Hudson River program director for Riverkeeper, a conservation group based in Ossining, New York, said in an e- mail.
Commission staff changed some of the findings from a 2010 report into the environmental impact of the twin-reactor plant located 24 miles (37 kilometers) north of New York City, after Entergy performed a new study showing the plant’s thermal plume and “heat shock” to the lower Hudson would be small and in keeping with New York state’s water standards.
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Entergy Corp. (ETR)’s Indian Pointnuclear-power plant near New York City poses less harm to the Hudson River than an earlier study indicated, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.
New data provided provided by New Orleans-based Entergy shows that the plume of heated water discharged by Indian Point into the river has a “small” impact and that the number of fish caught in the plant’s water intake system had been over estimated by a factor of 1,000, the atomic regulator said in a draft report posted on the NRC website today.
Environmental groups oppose Entergy’s bid to renew the plant’s license, which expires next year, citing the harmful effects of radiation leaked by Indian Point into the Hudson and the intake of river water to cool its 2,045-megawatt generators.
“It is a well-established fact that Indian Point’s intake of 2.5 billion gallons of Hudson River a day kills over a billion fish and other aquatic life forms every year,” Phillip Musegaas, Hudson River program director for Riverkeeper, a conservation group based in Ossining, New York, said in an e- mail.
Commission staff changed some of the findings from a 2010 report into the environmental impact of the twin-reactor plant located 24 miles (37 kilometers) north of New York City, after Entergy performed a new study showing the plant’s thermal plume and “heat shock” to the lower Hudson would be small and in keeping with New York state’s water standards.
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Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Diablo Canyon nuke plant reactor now at full power
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. -- A reactor at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant on the central California coast has returned to full power after a 2 1/2-month refueling and maintenance project.
Pacific Gas & Electric took the Unit 1 reactor and the twin-reactor plant out of service on April 23.
Utility spokesman Tom Cuddy says operators used the planned outage for refueling to replace control room equipment with new digital devices for better plant monitoring.
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Vietnam - Deputy PM voices nation's commitment to nuclear power
HA NOI — Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai yesterday emphasised that Viet Nam would be consistent in its policy of developing nuclear power for peaceful purposes.
He made the statement at a reception for Denis Flory, deputy general director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who was heading a delegation of overseas experts from the Nuclear Regulatory Co-operation Forum (NRCF) to attend an international seminar in Ha Noi.
He said that the country would keep obeying the international convention on nuclear safety and expressed his hope that the IAEA would assist in implementing this.
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He made the statement at a reception for Denis Flory, deputy general director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), who was heading a delegation of overseas experts from the Nuclear Regulatory Co-operation Forum (NRCF) to attend an international seminar in Ha Noi.
He said that the country would keep obeying the international convention on nuclear safety and expressed his hope that the IAEA would assist in implementing this.
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Nuclear power plant construction to continue globally, bilateral agreements key
Nuclear power plant construction will continue globally, with challenges, a panel of nuclear industry experts said during the American Nuclear Society's (ANS) Annual Meeting June 26. All aspects of construction were addressed, including regulatory framework changes following Fukushima and the importance of bilateral agreements. Currently, over 60 reactors are being constructed across the globe, which will add to the 430-plus operating units that generate over 370 GW.
“It feels good to be building new new nuclear power plants in the United States again,” said Russ Bell, director of New Plant Licensing at the Nuclear Energy Institute.
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“It feels good to be building new new nuclear power plants in the United States again,” said Russ Bell, director of New Plant Licensing at the Nuclear Energy Institute.
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Japan to return to nuclear power on Sunday
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Japan is set return to nuclear power this weekend, as Osaka-based Kansai Electric Power Co. (JP:9503) restarts the first reactor to come online since the nation's nuclear hiatus began May 5. Kansai Electric plans to resume operations at the first of two reactors at its Oi power station on Sunday, ending Japan's first nuclear-free period since 1970
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New U.K. Nuclear Power Plants Could Boost Economy
The construction of a new fleet of nuclear power plants in the U.K. could boost the economy by five billion pounds a year, said a report published Tuesday.
Investment in new nuclear plants could also create more than 32,000 additional jobs a year while giving a significant boost to annual exports, said the report from the Institute for Public Policy Research.
The government is supporting new nuclear power plants in efforts to secure electricity supplies as old power plants close over the next decade while also meeting climate change targets with low-carbon energy.
The report was commissioned by EDF Energy, the U.K. subsidiary of Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR), which plans to build 6.4 gigawatts of new nuclear power in the U.K., or enough to power 10 million homes.
Spanish utility Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC) and France's GDF Suez SA (GSZ.FR) also have nuclear ambitions for the U.K.
"Investment in nuclear energy will have benefits in contributing to both economic growth and job creation and has the potential to give Britain a greater share in the export market," the report said.
Particularly at the local level, investment in nuclear energy can boost jobs. Delivery of up to 18 gigawatts of new nuclear energy could generate an average 11,250 direct jobs and the same number of indirect jobs per year. It is possible that between 5,000 and 10,000 induced jobs per year could also be generated with the necessary investment in place, the report said.
Export activity from the energy sector could more than double, from around GBP700 million annually now to between GBP1.2 billion to GBP1.7 billion by 2030 at today's prices, the report added.
Investment in new nuclear plants could also create more than 32,000 additional jobs a year while giving a significant boost to annual exports, said the report from the Institute for Public Policy Research.
The government is supporting new nuclear power plants in efforts to secure electricity supplies as old power plants close over the next decade while also meeting climate change targets with low-carbon energy.
The report was commissioned by EDF Energy, the U.K. subsidiary of Electricite de France SA (EDF.FR), which plans to build 6.4 gigawatts of new nuclear power in the U.K., or enough to power 10 million homes.
Spanish utility Iberdrola SA (IBE.MC) and France's GDF Suez SA (GSZ.FR) also have nuclear ambitions for the U.K.
"Investment in nuclear energy will have benefits in contributing to both economic growth and job creation and has the potential to give Britain a greater share in the export market," the report said.
Particularly at the local level, investment in nuclear energy can boost jobs. Delivery of up to 18 gigawatts of new nuclear energy could generate an average 11,250 direct jobs and the same number of indirect jobs per year. It is possible that between 5,000 and 10,000 induced jobs per year could also be generated with the necessary investment in place, the report said.
Export activity from the energy sector could more than double, from around GBP700 million annually now to between GBP1.2 billion to GBP1.7 billion by 2030 at today's prices, the report added.
US court rules Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant can keep license
By Scott DiSavino
June 26 (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday ruled that the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant can keep its new operating license, rejecting a challenge that the state of Vermont brought to the license granted by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling means Entergy can keep operating the reactor. The government of Vermont and local and environmental groups were still trying to shut the plant in other legal and regulatory proceedings.
The state had challenged the validity of the plant's water permit. But the court determined the state failed to exhaust its administrative remedies and has waived the right to judicial review, the NRC said in an e-mail.
The NRC said the court found the Vermont Department of Public Service failed to take advantage of multiple earlier opportunities to raise its argument the water permit.
Vermont Yankee is the biggest plant in Vermont by far, representing over 50 percent of the state's total generating capacity.
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Europe Power-Tight supply pushes spot prices up
PARIS/FRANKFURT, June 26 (Reuters) - A tight spot supply
picture pushed up European prompt power prices on Tuesday,
traders said, citing a fall in German renewable power capacity
and low French nuclear plant availability.
Germany's day ahead baseload was 9.75 euros up on
the day at 49 euros a megawatt hour and the equivalent French
contract rose 4.5 euros to 50.5 euros per MWh.
Point Carbon data showed German wind production could fall
to less than a third of Tuesday's 9.3 GW one day on, with 2.6 GW
indicated for Wednesday and 1.1 GW for Thursday. The outlook for
likely output over next week's five working days stayed below 2
GW for each day.
E.ON showed on its transparency site that its Wilhelmshaven
hard coal-fired power block of 757 MW closed on Tuesday due to
boiler problems and will likely be offline for three days.
RWE brought forward by one day the restart of its Emsland
reactor which is undergoing maintenance and may reconnect with
the grid on June 28.
Across the Rhine, the high outage level in French nuclear
energy helped push France's spot power prices higher, a trader
said.
German power curve prices reached a near one-month high
after steadier oil, carbon and gas triggered a rebound in
previously depressed sentiment, traders said.
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Sunday, June 24, 2012
California energy officials plan for life without San Onofre
California energy officials are beginning to plan for the possibility of a long-range future without the San Onofre nuclear power plant.
The plant's unexpected, nearly five-month outage has had officials scrambling to replace its power this summer and has become a wild card in already complicated discussions about the state's energy future.
That long-range planning process already involves dealing with the possible repercussions of climate change, a mandate to boost the state's use of renewable sources to 33% of the energy supply by 2020 and another mandate to phase out a process known as once-through cooling, which uses ocean water to cool coastal power plants, that will probably take some other plants out of service.
"Some of the weaknesses we have in the infrastructure [of Southern California] are laid bare by San Onofre," said Steve Berberich, chief executive of the California Independent System Operator, the nonprofit that oversees most of the state's energy grid.
Berberich and other energy leaders gathered in Los Angeles on Friday for a meeting convened by the California Energy Commission looking at long-term plans for California's power grid. The closed Southern California nuclear plant loomed large over the discussions. Before the current shutdown at the plant, officials had planned only for a scenario in which one of the reactors would be off line. No one had anticipated a complete shutdown.
The plant's 2,200 megawatts of power provide electricity to about 1.4 million homes, but the facility also provides voltage support to the transmission system that allows power to be imported from elsewhere to the region San Onofre serves, particularly San Diego.
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Power production at Kudankulam in two months
NAGPUR: The production of nuclear power from the first stage reactor at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu will be delayed a bit more, with the first light water or pressurized water reactor starting production in another two months, sometime in August. However, experts are not seeing it as a delay; they claim the procedural steps are just taking some time. The second reactor at Kudankulam is expected to start power production in around six months.
Retired chairman of Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) Srikumar Banerjee, now Homi Bhabha Chair Professor in the department of atomic energy (DAE), said that the first light water or pressurized water reactor (PWR) at Kudankulam will start generating in two months, with the second one producing by the year end.
Banerjee was in the city to inaugurate the two-day national workshop on 'recent advances in geology of Dongargarh-Kotri-belt in Central India and its mineral potential'. It has been organized jointly by Atomic Mineral Directorate for Exploration and Research and the Gondwana Geological Society.
An established nuclear scientist himself Banerjee knows the intricacies of commissioning and functioning of a reactor. He explained that the reactor was running on dummy fuel till recently, after which it was put to nuclear heating. After this step the Atomic Energy Regulator Board (AERB) will inspect it and clear it for next step, which is approach to criticality.
The nuclear fuel loading will begin in some time and the reactor will become functional in two months. This means the first target of producing 2,000MW power from PWRs will be completed in six months. In the next stage, four reactors of 700MW will begin staggered power production one after other in 2016. This will be followed by the first 500MW fast breeder reactor (FBR). The FBRs are being brought in with support from three countries, Kazakhstan, Russia and French suppliers. The government is also contemplating setting up four more new reactors, including the third stage at Kudankulam and Jaitapur.
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Nuclear Power - Safer Than Fossil
People are scared of nuclear power plants, and I can't blame them. Disasters such as Chernobyl and Fukushima are certainly frightening.
Engineers insist that they can build much safer nuclear power plants, and protect them against natural disasters such as the earthquake and tsunami that smashed up the Fukushima plants in Japan.
Of course, it would be better if nuclear power plants were sited in locations that are not prone to earthquakes and tsunamis. But even so, the cold facts are that nuclear power plants are far safer than power plants using fossil fuels.
Accidents in coal mines, oil rigs, and natural gas pipelines have taken far more lives over the years than nuclear power plant accidents.
Moreover, fossil fuel power plants pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink. Their emissions of greenhouse gases are a major factor in the warming of our global climate.
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Engineers insist that they can build much safer nuclear power plants, and protect them against natural disasters such as the earthquake and tsunami that smashed up the Fukushima plants in Japan.
Of course, it would be better if nuclear power plants were sited in locations that are not prone to earthquakes and tsunamis. But even so, the cold facts are that nuclear power plants are far safer than power plants using fossil fuels.
Accidents in coal mines, oil rigs, and natural gas pipelines have taken far more lives over the years than nuclear power plant accidents.
Moreover, fossil fuel power plants pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink. Their emissions of greenhouse gases are a major factor in the warming of our global climate.
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Wednesday, June 20, 2012
New life for British nuclear power plans
LONDON, June 20 (UPI) -- Chinese energy companies announced they've submitted bids to build nuclear power plants in Great Britain after German companies backed out.
German energy companies RWE and E.ON pulled out of plans in March to build nuclear power plants in the country and put their Horizon joint nuclear power venture up for sale.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel in March ordered the country's nuclear power plants closed in response to the meltdown of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011.
Both German companies retreated from plans to invest $23.5 billion in the Horizon venture after the Fukushima disaster.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper in London reports that a consortium of European and Chinese companies are bidding on the Horizon venture, which has the rights to land selected for nuclear power plants in the country.
German energy companies RWE and E.ON pulled out of plans in March to build nuclear power plants in the country and put their Horizon joint nuclear power venture up for sale.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel in March ordered the country's nuclear power plants closed in response to the meltdown of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant in 2011.
Both German companies retreated from plans to invest $23.5 billion in the Horizon venture after the Fukushima disaster.
The Daily Telegraph newspaper in London reports that a consortium of European and Chinese companies are bidding on the Horizon venture, which has the rights to land selected for nuclear power plants in the country.
Uranium Producers Likely To Benefit From Rising Demand, As Japan Returns To Nuclear Power Use
June 20, 2012
Last week, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda ended Japan's month-long freeze on nuclear power. On June 16, after the Prime Minister met with three Cabinet ministers sharing nuclear approval authority, he stated that two reactors at Kansai Electric Power's Ohi nuclear plant could be put into operation. The Ohi plant serves the second-largest urban region within Japan, and Kansai immediately began working towards starting the reactors, estimating that the first should be up running in early July and the second by mid-July.
Japan will slowly reopen most of the nuclear plants that provided almost one-third of the nation's energy, before being shut down after the meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima station in March of 2011. The decision to restart nuclear power usage follows a deal between political parties that also included a consumption tax increase. The nuclear power restart is still unpopular with many Japanese people, but many industrial businesses have claimed they require the power.
This could be the start of something in the potential turnaround for uranium miners. Japan was formerly one of the largest users of nuclear power, and its moratorium on the use had a significant reduction in the overall demand for the commodity. The last year was exceptionally negative for uranium miners and the radioactive element itself. Beyond Japan's actions, Germany added that it planned to phase out nuclear power production. Japan's ramping up of its sizable nuclear power development should help buoy demand for uranium, and also help stabilize or increase its price.
After a serious surge to start off the year, where several uranium producers appreciated by more than 60% in January, most have since been stuck in their state of gradual decline that accelerated when the broader equity commodity markets also began to decline.
Emerging market demand trends for uranium look strong, with both China and India announcing multi-year plans to develop nuclear power infrastructure. China plans to increase its nuclear capacity eight-fold by the end of the decade and India plans to increase its production thirteen-fold. Other nations within Asia and Southeast Asia could follow their lead. If this were to happen, emerging market demand would likely replace and even surpass current first-world demand for uranium. Natural gas is not a cheap option in Asia.
Few companies are substantially related to uranium, but examples include Cameco (CCJ), Denison Mines (DNN), Uranerz Energy (URZ), Uranium Resources (URRE) and USEC (USU). Below is a year-to-date performance comparison chart for the group.
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Last week, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda ended Japan's month-long freeze on nuclear power. On June 16, after the Prime Minister met with three Cabinet ministers sharing nuclear approval authority, he stated that two reactors at Kansai Electric Power's Ohi nuclear plant could be put into operation. The Ohi plant serves the second-largest urban region within Japan, and Kansai immediately began working towards starting the reactors, estimating that the first should be up running in early July and the second by mid-July.
Japan will slowly reopen most of the nuclear plants that provided almost one-third of the nation's energy, before being shut down after the meltdowns at Tokyo Electric Power's Fukushima station in March of 2011. The decision to restart nuclear power usage follows a deal between political parties that also included a consumption tax increase. The nuclear power restart is still unpopular with many Japanese people, but many industrial businesses have claimed they require the power.This could be the start of something in the potential turnaround for uranium miners. Japan was formerly one of the largest users of nuclear power, and its moratorium on the use had a significant reduction in the overall demand for the commodity. The last year was exceptionally negative for uranium miners and the radioactive element itself. Beyond Japan's actions, Germany added that it planned to phase out nuclear power production. Japan's ramping up of its sizable nuclear power development should help buoy demand for uranium, and also help stabilize or increase its price.
After a serious surge to start off the year, where several uranium producers appreciated by more than 60% in January, most have since been stuck in their state of gradual decline that accelerated when the broader equity commodity markets also began to decline.
Emerging market demand trends for uranium look strong, with both China and India announcing multi-year plans to develop nuclear power infrastructure. China plans to increase its nuclear capacity eight-fold by the end of the decade and India plans to increase its production thirteen-fold. Other nations within Asia and Southeast Asia could follow their lead. If this were to happen, emerging market demand would likely replace and even surpass current first-world demand for uranium. Natural gas is not a cheap option in Asia.
Few companies are substantially related to uranium, but examples include Cameco (CCJ), Denison Mines (DNN), Uranerz Energy (URZ), Uranium Resources (URRE) and USEC (USU). Below is a year-to-date performance comparison chart for the group.
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US autumn nuclear plant outages seen up slightly
* Autumn 2012 outages seen at 20,900 MW
* Outages reached 19,900 MW in autumn of 2011
* Five-year autumn outage average 20,400 MW
June 20 (Reuters) - About 20,900 megawatts (MW) of nuclear
power capacity is expected to be out of service in the United
States in the upcoming autumn refueling season, according to
Reuters data.
That is roughly 5 percent -- a thousand megawatts -- above
the nuclear capacity shut last year during mid-October, the
height of the autumn refueling season, the data showed.
The data assumes units currently on extended outages -- like
Fort Calhoun in Nebraska and the San Onofre reactors in
California -- will still be shut in mid-October.
The companies that operate these plants have not said when
the reactors will return, so it is still possible they could
return before the autumn refueling season.
Nuclear outages over the past five years have averaged about
20,400 MW in autumn (2007-2011) and 23,000 MW in spring
(2008-2012).
Since 1999, autumn outages peaked near 27,200 MW in 2009 and
bottomed at about 12,300 MW in 2004. Spring outages have peaked
at 32,800 MW in 2011 and bottomed at 16,100 MW in 2004.
The 104 U.S. nuclear power reactors are capable of
generating almost 101,200 MW of electricity, enough to power
about 80 million homes.
Nuclear reactors operate around the clock as baseload
facilities, providing some of the lowest-cost power.
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Modular reactor concept perfect for Hanford site
One key ingredient is missing from the Department of Energy's approach to small modular reactors -- a sense of urgency.
Right now, DOE is considering a proposal to award $450 million to support engineering, design certification and licensing for one or two small modular reactor designs over five years.
The plan is to match federal dollars with private money and have the new reactors operating commercially by 2022.
It's an intriguing plan. Private-public partnerships have proved to be a good way to leverage resources, especially in the early stages of a new technology, when a heavy investment in research and design is required.
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Right now, DOE is considering a proposal to award $450 million to support engineering, design certification and licensing for one or two small modular reactor designs over five years.
The plan is to match federal dollars with private money and have the new reactors operating commercially by 2022.
It's an intriguing plan. Private-public partnerships have proved to be a good way to leverage resources, especially in the early stages of a new technology, when a heavy investment in research and design is required.
READ MORE....
PPL shuts down nuclear reactor, due to water leak
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- PPL Susquehanna LLC (US:ppl) shut down Unit 1 reactor of the nuclear power plant in Berwick, Pa on Tuesday to investigate the source of a minor water leak, said the company in a statement. PPL Susquehanna LLC is one of PPL Corp.'s generating affiliates. Timothy S. Rausch, PPL's chief nuclear officer, said that the leak does not affect the safety of the plant or public and the plant will return to service after needed repairs.
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RPT-Faulty tests blamed for California nuclear plant leak
[Commentary: Expect Southern California to have black outs this summer. If you are not prepared and live in the area, prepare now. San Onofre provides approximately 18% of the energy for the area. There is no plan to replace this loss of energy which means the area will have black outs.]
By Rory Carroll
(Reuters) - Tubes that leaked radioactive steam at a California nuclear power plant, leading to an indefinite shutdown, were not properly tested by the manufacturer prior to installation, nuclear regulators told an overflowing public hearing on Monday.
The San Onofre Nuclear Power plant, located in Orange County, has been shut down since Jan. 31, when plant operators discovered a small radiation leak in one of the plants' two units. The 2,150-megawatt plant is operated by Edison International's Southern California Edison utility.
The nuclear station is located halfway between Los Angeles and San Diego and is critical to the grid to import electricity into southern California. Its extended shutdown raises the possibility of rolling power outages as warmer temperatures boost demand for power over the summer.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday pinned the blame for the leak on Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which it said underestimated the velocity of water and steam surging through the generator by a factor of three or four times in its computerized test of the equipment.
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Japan utility admits flaws worsened tsunami crisis
[Commentary: Where is the real story? Where is the admission that the local government had to approve the Hydrogen and Pressure vent off and failed to do so? Why don't they explain that they had containment, but failed to do what every nuclear plant in North America and Europe would have done? The answer was clear... vent off the hydrogen and pressure to stop the explosion. But, the politicians, not the plant operators, never approved of the simple measure which would have allowed the plant to maintain containment.]
TOKYO (AP) – The operator of the Japanese nuclear plant devastated by last year's tsunami issued a final report on the disaster Wednesday, outlining organizational and communication problems that have not yet been resolved.
TOKYO (AP) – The operator of the Japanese nuclear plant devastated by last year's tsunami issued a final report on the disaster Wednesday, outlining organizational and communication problems that have not yet been resolved.
The report by Tokyo Electric Power Co. comes as Japan prepares to restart its first nuclear reactors since the March 11, 2011, disaster led to a prolonged shutdown of all of the country's atomic generating plants. While many Japanese remain deeply concerned about the safety of nuclear power, the restart raises operators' hopes that more reactors can resume operations.
The massive tsunami severely damaged four reactors at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant north of Tokyo, knocking out cooling systems and triggering meltdowns and radiation leaks. Tens of thousands of people fled their homes in the worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl.
TEPCO Vice President Masao Yamazaki, who headed its probe of the disaster, acknowledged that the company had repeatedly underestimated the risk of a tsunami, despite predictions in recent years that such earthquake-generated waves could jump over seawalls protecting reactors. Officials clung to optimistic views instead of taking the side of safety, he said.
"We must admit that our tsunami anticipation was too optimistic, and our insufficient preparations for a tsunami were the fundamental cause of the accident," Yamazaki told a news conference.
Wednesday's report provided an incomplete picture of the accident because of the difficulty of inspecting the inside of the melted reactors. The company promised to make the best use of the findings to improve safety at its still-functional reactors, which it hopes to restart quickly as it struggles to finance astronomical compensation costs.
But it said the shortcomings disclosed in the report, both in hardware and crisis management, are still unresolved and need more improvement. It said further efforts are needed to foster flexibility among plant workers and establish a solid line of communication during crises.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
Japan Ends Its Nuclear Shutdown
Japan has given final approval for the restart of two nuclear reactors, a move that will end a total shutdown of the atomic power sector caused by safety fears raised by last year’s crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.
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AFP | Getty Images |
Utility Kansai Electric Power began preparations on Saturday to bring the reactors at the Oi nuclear power station in western Fukui prefecture back online following the restart announcement by Yoshihiko Noda, prime minister.
“The company is striving to restart the Oi No 3 and No 4 reactors with a perfect system, while putting safety first,” Kansai Electric said.
The restarts will ease concerns about possible electricity shortages this summer in Kansai, an important industrial region. It will also raise the hopes of nuclear advocates in Japan and elsewhere that the long-term impact on the atomic sector of the failure of the tsunami-crippled Fukushima Daiichi plant will be limited.
Hot weather, closure of San Onofre nuclear plant could pinch power supplies
[Commentary: As published at this site before, we expect power outages in Southern Calfiornia this summer during any hot periods.]
The message from California's grid operator seems pretty straightforward.
The state faces a critical risk of rolling blackouts and power shortages this summer because of a potential combination of expected hot weather and the ongoing closure of the problem-ridden San Onofre nuclear power plant on the coast, according to a recently launched website post from the California Independent System Operator (ISO). The nonprofit monitors the power grid.
The 2,200-megawatt plant in San Clemente can power up to 1.4 million homes, according to Southern California Edison, which owns the plant with San Diego Gas & Electric and the city of Riverside.
READ MORE...
The message from California's grid operator seems pretty straightforward.
The state faces a critical risk of rolling blackouts and power shortages this summer because of a potential combination of expected hot weather and the ongoing closure of the problem-ridden San Onofre nuclear power plant on the coast, according to a recently launched website post from the California Independent System Operator (ISO). The nonprofit monitors the power grid.
The 2,200-megawatt plant in San Clemente can power up to 1.4 million homes, according to Southern California Edison, which owns the plant with San Diego Gas & Electric and the city of Riverside.
READ MORE...
RWE says won't build any new nuclear plants
(Reuters) - RWE AG, Germany's second-biggest utility, is abandoning plans to build new nuclear power plants outside its home market, where the government decided last year to phase out nuclear power.
"We will not invest in new nuclear power plants," incoming Chief Executive Peter Terium said.
Like E.ON and peer EnBW, RWE has been hit hard by the German government's decision to phase out nuclear power generation, forcing it to reinvent itself by shedding assets and tapping new growth areas such as renewable power.
"We can no longer afford the financial risks and the surrounding conditions for nuclear power plants," Terium, who is due to take the top job on July 1, said.
Three months ago, RWE and E.ON pulled out of a 15 billion pound ($23.5 billion) plan to build new nuclear power stations in Britain.
READ MORE...
Thursday, June 14, 2012
UK nuclear plans 'need saving by David Cameron and Francois Hollande'
Chairman of the influential energy and climate change committee and former Tory cabinet minister Tim Yeo said that Cameron must speak to his French counterpart, Francois Hollande, in order to decide what conditions are necessary for the state-owned French utility to fulfil its planned investment.
"This is something that can only be done by the heads of government of Britain and France," he told the Guardian. "There may need to be special arrangements for nuclear [separate from the regulation and subsidy of other forms of power]. Given the size of this investment – billions and billions, with a return on investment coming well into the 2020s – this has to involve the heads of government."
Yeo was speaking after the committee's MPs questioned EDF Energy chief executive Vincent de Rivaz and several other energy company senior directors. De Rivaz was "very downbeat" on the prospects for new nuclear power stations, said Yeo.
"It is a worry for the government that EDF is so downbeat. They are the only horse left in this race and if they falter it might mean the end of the whole [nuclear] programme. The government has got to pay a lot of attention to what EDF is saying," he said.
READ MORE...
FirstEnergy Corp. has restarted the Davis-Besse nuclear reactor
Plant-owner FirstEnergy Corp. of Akron restarted Davis-Besse's reactor overnight. The plant was operating at about 30 percent by noon and expected to reach full power later in the week.
READ MORE...
For Climate-Conscious China, Nuclear Power Fuels an Economic Boom
China built its first commercial reactor in 1985 and rapidly became a global nuclear power player in the late 90s. Last year, it got 1.85 percent of its electricity from nuclear, the lowest share of any country with nuclear power. But by May this year, China had increased its nuclear potential and made plans to more than double it. According to the World Nuclear Organization, thirty-nine percent of global new nuclear build now comes from China, and the country is rapidly becoming self-sufficient in reactor design, construction, and other aspects of the fuel cycle.
Nuclear power makes sense for China, given the country's heavy reliance on coal and its heavy air pollution, which is estimated to cost China 6 percent of GDP in an analysis by The World Bank. Yet, after the nuclear catastrophe in Japan, China's State Council suspended nuclear-power projects approval. Notes from the State Council meeting said: "We must fully grasp the importance and urgency of nuclear safety, and development of nuclear power must make safety the top priority."
Fifteen months later, the program is slowly getting back on track. In late May, the State Council passed a framework for preventing and reversing mishaps, and on June fifth a firm set up to build the Pengze plant in Jiangxi Province, one of the first inland nuclear power plants.
READ MORE...
U.S. - India Nuclear thaw: Westinghouse to build nuclear power plant in Gujarat
New York: When the US and India signed the nuclear deal in 2008, it was heralded as a new era in post-Cold war ties and US companies hoped to reap a bonanza in reactor sales. They have been snagged by Manmohan Singh‘s government but US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton confirmed on Wednesday that Westinghouse Electric Co. has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) that would pave the way for construction of nuclear power plants in Gujarat.
Westinghouse has decided to go ahead with plans for building an AP-1000 nuclear power plant in Gujarat. As the strategic dialogue opened Clinton said that the American company and the Indian state run firm signed a pact on Tuesday to work towards preliminary licensing and site development in Gujarat for construction of new reactors.
US frustration with India’s domestic nuclear liability laws is well known. America has been long-faced about India’s legislation, which it contends is tough on suppliers of reactors. American nuclear power firms have been unwilling to shoulder the kind of liabilities that India was insisting on under its domestic legislation, the US government — including President Barack Obama — had taken up their problems at the highest level in New Delhi. Diplomats from Washington have been in talks with their counterparts in New Delhi over how liability is determined in an accident.
READ MORE...
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Westinghouse has decided to go ahead with plans for building an AP-1000 nuclear power plant in Gujarat. As the strategic dialogue opened Clinton said that the American company and the Indian state run firm signed a pact on Tuesday to work towards preliminary licensing and site development in Gujarat for construction of new reactors.
US frustration with India’s domestic nuclear liability laws is well known. America has been long-faced about India’s legislation, which it contends is tough on suppliers of reactors. American nuclear power firms have been unwilling to shoulder the kind of liabilities that India was insisting on under its domestic legislation, the US government — including President Barack Obama — had taken up their problems at the highest level in New Delhi. Diplomats from Washington have been in talks with their counterparts in New Delhi over how liability is determined in an accident.
READ MORE...
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Nuclear power as best option
Even in defeat, our very own Manny Pacquiao showed the world his fine character that we should all be proud of. Broadcast on TV all over the world was his gallantry and sportsmanship, when he calmly accepted his opponent’s victory, and said he was willing to have a rematch.
Pacman’s gesture reminded me of several quotable quotes. John McGraw said, “Tactics, fitness, stroke ability, adaptability, experience, and sportsmanship are all necessary for winning.”
Mark Twain also said, “One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than a hundred teaching it.”
And Chili Davis said, “Sportsmanship and easygoing methods are all right, but it is the prospect of a hot fight that brings out the crowds.”
By his action, Manny has further won the admiration of his fans and observers from across the globe. Let’s wait for his hot rematch with Timothy Bradley.
The issue of nuclear power is still controversial, triggered by the fear of nuclear power plant breakdowns in Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union, the Third Mile Island in Dauphin, Pennsylvania, and lately, Fukishima in Japan, are bound to occur in a rehabilitated plant in Bataan, thereby harming the population around the plant with radiation leakage. Cojuangco sought to dispel the fears and misconceptions of media persons at a Bulong Pulungan session recently, and present the advantages of nuclear power as a viable source of energy, particularly at this time of high prices and - a diminishing supply — of electric power particularly in Mindanao.
Armed with a power point presentation and years of research into the issue, the businessman explained that nuclear power is the cheapest, safest and most reliable source of alternative energy and that the BNPP can be rehabilitated at a lower cost than putting up another power plant using wind and fossil fuel power other conventional renewable energy sources. Wind power requires an investment of 4.5 to 7.5 times than the investment required for nuclear or fossil fuel power, Solar is even more expensive, and the renewable, except geothermal, are not of base-load quality, that is, being able to supply power needs 24 hours, seven days a week.
Cojuangco said lack of electricity stops the economy, growth, job creation, and other activities of man. He said that in the 1960s and 1970s, the Philippines had one of the highest per capita consumption of power, much higher than that of South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. But now the per capita consumption of Filipinos, compared to South Koreans, is 1:25. This means, he said, that an average South Korean is 25 times richer than a Filipino.
READ MORE HERE...
Pacman’s gesture reminded me of several quotable quotes. John McGraw said, “Tactics, fitness, stroke ability, adaptability, experience, and sportsmanship are all necessary for winning.”
Mark Twain also said, “One man practicing sportsmanship is far better than a hundred teaching it.”
And Chili Davis said, “Sportsmanship and easygoing methods are all right, but it is the prospect of a hot fight that brings out the crowds.”
By his action, Manny has further won the admiration of his fans and observers from across the globe. Let’s wait for his hot rematch with Timothy Bradley.
* * *
This brings us to a hot topic — the rehabilitation of the Bataan Nuclear Power Plant — mothballed since 1986 — now ardently espoused by former Rep. Mark Cojuangco. The congressman, representing the 5th district of Pangasinan in the 14th Congress, is not only gunning for the rehabilitation of the BNPP, but is also asking the support of local governments in Mindanao and the Visayas for building smaller nuclear power plants in their areas. The provincial boards of Zamboanga del Sur and Pangasinan have passed resolutions inviting the national government to explore the feasibility of locating power plants in their areas.The issue of nuclear power is still controversial, triggered by the fear of nuclear power plant breakdowns in Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union, the Third Mile Island in Dauphin, Pennsylvania, and lately, Fukishima in Japan, are bound to occur in a rehabilitated plant in Bataan, thereby harming the population around the plant with radiation leakage. Cojuangco sought to dispel the fears and misconceptions of media persons at a Bulong Pulungan session recently, and present the advantages of nuclear power as a viable source of energy, particularly at this time of high prices and - a diminishing supply — of electric power particularly in Mindanao.
Armed with a power point presentation and years of research into the issue, the businessman explained that nuclear power is the cheapest, safest and most reliable source of alternative energy and that the BNPP can be rehabilitated at a lower cost than putting up another power plant using wind and fossil fuel power other conventional renewable energy sources. Wind power requires an investment of 4.5 to 7.5 times than the investment required for nuclear or fossil fuel power, Solar is even more expensive, and the renewable, except geothermal, are not of base-load quality, that is, being able to supply power needs 24 hours, seven days a week.
Cojuangco said lack of electricity stops the economy, growth, job creation, and other activities of man. He said that in the 1960s and 1970s, the Philippines had one of the highest per capita consumption of power, much higher than that of South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore. But now the per capita consumption of Filipinos, compared to South Koreans, is 1:25. This means, he said, that an average South Korean is 25 times richer than a Filipino.
READ MORE HERE...
India: Kaiga gets cabinet nod for Units 5,6
KARWAR: The Kaiga Generating Station (KGS) has got the nod for setting up Units 5 and 6 by the Union cabinet. It is awaiting clearance from the ministry of environment and forest.
J P Gupta, site director of Kaiga nuclear power station, said on Monday that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) has identified 10 places in the country to set up the nuclear reactors of 700 mw and Kaiga is one among them. The reactors would be set up on priority basis in these places, he said.
After setting up of Unit 5 and 6, Karnataka will get 50% of the electricity generated in KGS. The KGS has made a profit of Rs 165 crore in the financial year 2011-12, he added.
READ MORE HERE....
J P Gupta, site director of Kaiga nuclear power station, said on Monday that the Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL) has identified 10 places in the country to set up the nuclear reactors of 700 mw and Kaiga is one among them. The reactors would be set up on priority basis in these places, he said.
After setting up of Unit 5 and 6, Karnataka will get 50% of the electricity generated in KGS. The KGS has made a profit of Rs 165 crore in the financial year 2011-12, he added.
READ MORE HERE....
India's Thorium-Fuelled Dreams
Thorium is to nuclear power what the fifth Beatle was to pop music. It's the nuclear fuel that showed glorious promise in the early days of atomic energy but somehow, somewhere along the way, got forgotten.
I first learned about India's plans to revive thorium power in 2009 when I started writing Geek Nation, a book that explores India's apparent ambitions to become a scientific superpower. I was given rare access to the sprawling hub for the country's civilian nuclear program, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, not far from Bombay. Research into thorium-fuelled reactors has been happening on this site since 1955 (a fact made obvious by the feeling of stepping into a time-warp when you pass through the security barriers) and is finally approaching its zenith. It's a project that encapsulates India's dreams to become a global technological leader.
Thorium is the original nuclear fuel. It powered the world's first full-scale atomic power station, built in 1954 in Shippingport in Pennsylvania. And at the time, it seemed ideal: more energy is released by thorium than by the same amount of uranium fuel, which means it creates less waste. It also has fewer long-lived waste elements, which don't need to be stored under such tight conditions or for so long. But after Shippingport was proven to work, uranium became the favored nuclear fuel instead, partly because the properties of thorium meant it couldn't be refined to make weapons.
Today, as the availability and price of uranium becomes a possible barrier to the growth of nuclear power and as nations begin the search for cleaner and safer fuels, thorium is making a comeback, with India leading the way.
"In India, the supply of thorium is at least eight times that of uranium," I was told by Dr. Ratan Kumar Sinha, the director of the reactor design and development group at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Indeed, there are millions of tons of monazite -- the ore from which thorium is extracted -- lying on Indian beaches. His team is now working on an Advanced Heavy Water Reactor, powered by thorium, designed to have a lifespan of a hundred years. It is slated to be up and running within the next couple of years. And if it's successful, the government plans to roll it out as one of India's next-generation power sources.
But these thorium reactors represent something more than simply India's ambitions to expand its energy infrastructure. Like China, this nation of geeks is building a formidable expertise in indigenous nuclear technology.
According to the World Nuclear Association, India wants to supply a quarter of its electricity from nuclear power by 2050, up from around three percent now. Sinha's hope is that it might eventually supply half. The civilian nuclear power program also has one eye on the export market -- selling smaller nuclear reactors to developing nations that are desperate for more carbon-free energy.
READ MORE HERE....
I first learned about India's plans to revive thorium power in 2009 when I started writing Geek Nation, a book that explores India's apparent ambitions to become a scientific superpower. I was given rare access to the sprawling hub for the country's civilian nuclear program, the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, not far from Bombay. Research into thorium-fuelled reactors has been happening on this site since 1955 (a fact made obvious by the feeling of stepping into a time-warp when you pass through the security barriers) and is finally approaching its zenith. It's a project that encapsulates India's dreams to become a global technological leader.
Thorium is the original nuclear fuel. It powered the world's first full-scale atomic power station, built in 1954 in Shippingport in Pennsylvania. And at the time, it seemed ideal: more energy is released by thorium than by the same amount of uranium fuel, which means it creates less waste. It also has fewer long-lived waste elements, which don't need to be stored under such tight conditions or for so long. But after Shippingport was proven to work, uranium became the favored nuclear fuel instead, partly because the properties of thorium meant it couldn't be refined to make weapons.
Today, as the availability and price of uranium becomes a possible barrier to the growth of nuclear power and as nations begin the search for cleaner and safer fuels, thorium is making a comeback, with India leading the way.
"In India, the supply of thorium is at least eight times that of uranium," I was told by Dr. Ratan Kumar Sinha, the director of the reactor design and development group at the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre. Indeed, there are millions of tons of monazite -- the ore from which thorium is extracted -- lying on Indian beaches. His team is now working on an Advanced Heavy Water Reactor, powered by thorium, designed to have a lifespan of a hundred years. It is slated to be up and running within the next couple of years. And if it's successful, the government plans to roll it out as one of India's next-generation power sources.
But these thorium reactors represent something more than simply India's ambitions to expand its energy infrastructure. Like China, this nation of geeks is building a formidable expertise in indigenous nuclear technology.
According to the World Nuclear Association, India wants to supply a quarter of its electricity from nuclear power by 2050, up from around three percent now. Sinha's hope is that it might eventually supply half. The civilian nuclear power program also has one eye on the export market -- selling smaller nuclear reactors to developing nations that are desperate for more carbon-free energy.
READ MORE HERE....
IAEA Says Gori Nuclear Reactor is Safe
An inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency has confirmed that reactor No. 1 at the nuclear power plant in Gori near Busan, where a blackout occurred on Feb. 9, is safe.
The agency said at a press conference Monday that the equipment at the No. 1 reactor in Gori is well-maintained according to IAEA standards and safety measures have been firmly in place since the Fukushima accident in Japan
READ MORE HERE...
The agency said at a press conference Monday that the equipment at the No. 1 reactor in Gori is well-maintained according to IAEA standards and safety measures have been firmly in place since the Fukushima accident in Japan
READ MORE HERE...
Atomic ‘Agnostic’ Named for U.S. NRC Ties Industry Growth to Aid
[Commentary: Saying Allison McFarlane is agnostic or neutral on nucelar power is like saying Michael Schumacher is in neutral while his Formula 1 car is going 200 mph in reverse.... straight into a wall. This is yet another anti-nuclear pick by the Obama Administration.]
By Katarzyna Klimasinska
President Barack Obama’s pick to head the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said atomic power can’t grow without government subsidies, criticized an industry-supported plan to dispose of spent fuel in Nevada, and said she was drawn to nuclear research because she got bored with geology.
“I would describe myself as agnostic; I’m neither pro-nuclear nor anti-nuclear,” Allison Macfarlane said in a June 2007 interview for the Atomic Show on The Podcast Network.“We’re not going to see a large expansion of nuclear power in this country unless there is a lot of government subsidy.”
READ MORE HERE...
By Katarzyna Klimasinska
President Barack Obama’s pick to head the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has said atomic power can’t grow without government subsidies, criticized an industry-supported plan to dispose of spent fuel in Nevada, and said she was drawn to nuclear research because she got bored with geology.
“I would describe myself as agnostic; I’m neither pro-nuclear nor anti-nuclear,” Allison Macfarlane said in a June 2007 interview for the Atomic Show on The Podcast Network.“We’re not going to see a large expansion of nuclear power in this country unless there is a lot of government subsidy.”
READ MORE HERE...
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Japan Wins Scientists’ Panel Nod to Restart Atomic Reactors
Kansai Electric Power Co.'s Ohi nuclear power station is seen behind Japan's national flag displayed on a fishing boat in Ohi Town, Fukui Prefecture, Japan. Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/Bloomberg
A panel of Japanese scientists reported that two nuclear reactors idled for safety checks are safe to operate, giving Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda the approval he needs to re-start the units.
After a meeting late Sunday that was moved to a new venue after anti-nuclear protests, the 12-member panel appointed by the governor of Fukui prefecture, where Kansai Electric Power Co. (9503)’s Ohi nuclear plant is located, released a document stating the plant can be operated safely. “It has been evaluated that safety measures are satisfactory for ensuring reactor security even in the event of an earthquake and tsunami that must be anticipated based on the lessons learned from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear accident,” the panel said.
Noda, backed by businesses including Komatsu Ltd. (6301) and NEC Corp. (6701), said June 8 the nation needs to resume nuclear power generation to avoid blackouts and preserve quality of life. Polls show 70 percent of Japanese oppose atomic energy.
The science panel was appointed by Fukui Governor Issei Nishikawa to provide an extra measure of safety checks after last year’s disaster at Tokyo Electric Power Co. (9501)’s Fukushima plant in the northeast undermined support for atomic power. Radiation leaks prompted the evacuation of as many as 160,000 people.
Public Opposition
Seventy-one percent of respondents to a Mainichi newspaper poll published on June 4 objected to a speedy restart of the reactors in Ohi. In a separate poll released June 5 by the Pew Research Center, 70 percent of Japanese said the country should reduce its reliance on nuclear energy and 52 percent said they were worried that they or someone in their family may have been exposed to radiation.Nishikawa is expected to accept the panel’s advice, clearing the way for Noda to allow the reactors to resume operation. The prime minister and three cabinet members with final say on the restart may give the go-ahead as early as June 16, the Kyodo News agency reported, citing unnamed officials.
Japan, once the world’s biggest nuclear power generator after the U.S. and France, shut its last operating reactor on May 5 after last year’s March 11 quake and tsunami caused meltdowns and radiation leaks at the Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant. Supporters of restarting the two Ohi reactors, including Hiromasa Yonekura, chairman of Japan’s biggest business lobby Keidanren, say power shortages in the Kansai region could force factory shutdowns and slow the economic recovery.
Local Authorities
While not legally required, central authorities typically seek the consent of local governments to restart reactors.Local authorities near Fukui prefecture dropped their opposition to the restart on May 30, leaving the decision to the Fukui governor, the Ohi mayor and four key ministers: Noda, Trade and Industry Minister Yukio Edano, Environment Minister Goshi Hosono and Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura.
In April the four approved safety measures at the plant and confirmed the necessity of the restart to avert power shortages.
Yukiko Kada, governor of Shiga prefecture, next to Fukui, criticized the government for what she called the “rush to restart the reactors” in an April 11 interview.
Power Cuts
The Japanese government announced power-saving targets on May 18 in areas supplied by seven of 10 regional utilities, including Kansai Electric, which is most dependent on nuclear power. Homes and companies supplied by Kansai Electric should cut consumption by more than 15 percent from 2010 levels on weekdays beginning July 2 through Sept. 7, it said.Six weeks will be needed for the two 1,180-megawatt reactors to reach full output, Akihiro Aoike, a Kansai Electric spokesman, said. Users in the Kansai region should prepare to conserve power even if the reactors are brought online because full production won’t be reached until after July, Edano told reporters on June 1.
Absent nuclear power, Kansai Electric’s electricity output may fall 14.9 percent short of peak demand this summer should the nation experience a heat wave similar to 2010’s, a government panel said last month.
Western Japan has a 40 percent likelihood of higher-than- average temperatures in the three months to August, the Japan Meteorological Agency said on May 24. The eastern and northern regions have a 30 percent possibility of a warmer-than-usual summer, the state-run agency said.
Even if power shortages during peak summer hours are averted, increased use of thermal power plants will keep draining Japan’s national wealth, the government panel said.
LINK
Federal court rules against Nuclear Regulatory Commission
By: Regan Carstensen, The Republican Eagle
The United States Court of Appeals unanimously rejected Friday a decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to store radioactive waste at nuclear power plants for 60 years after they close.
According to a previous version of the Waste Confidence Decision, waste would be stored at the plants for 30 years after closing. But an amendment made by the NRC in December of 2010 doubled the time period.
“Basically what the NRC did is they sort of went in and waved their regulatory wand,” said Philip Mahowald, general counsel to the Prairie Island Indian Community.
Upset with the decision, the states of New York, Connecticut and Vermont filed for an appeal in February last year. The state of New Jersey and the Prairie Island Indian Community filed for appeal soon after, as did several environmental groups.
Their main contention was the health and safety hazards that would come about if long-term storage of nuclear waste would be located at local sites.
“When there’s a major federal action, a federal agency is required to take a look at the potential environmental impacts,” Mahowald explained. “Here they just amended the rule without taking a good hard look and doing a full environmental impact study.”
“Had the federal government had its way today, more than 4,350 tons of radioactive nuclear waste would have been automatically approved for long-term storage along the Mississippi River until at least 2094 — with no comprehensive environmental impact study, despite Prairie Island’s dry casks being located on our ancestral homeland 600 yards from our homes and along a recognized floodplain,” Prairie Island Tribal Council President Johnny Johnson said.
With the Court of Appeals decision vacating the most recently amended regulation to the Waste Confidence Decision, the NRC now has to do a more comprehensive review of on-site storage.
LINK
The United States Court of Appeals unanimously rejected Friday a decision by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to store radioactive waste at nuclear power plants for 60 years after they close.
According to a previous version of the Waste Confidence Decision, waste would be stored at the plants for 30 years after closing. But an amendment made by the NRC in December of 2010 doubled the time period.
“Basically what the NRC did is they sort of went in and waved their regulatory wand,” said Philip Mahowald, general counsel to the Prairie Island Indian Community.
Upset with the decision, the states of New York, Connecticut and Vermont filed for an appeal in February last year. The state of New Jersey and the Prairie Island Indian Community filed for appeal soon after, as did several environmental groups.
Their main contention was the health and safety hazards that would come about if long-term storage of nuclear waste would be located at local sites.
“When there’s a major federal action, a federal agency is required to take a look at the potential environmental impacts,” Mahowald explained. “Here they just amended the rule without taking a good hard look and doing a full environmental impact study.”
“Had the federal government had its way today, more than 4,350 tons of radioactive nuclear waste would have been automatically approved for long-term storage along the Mississippi River until at least 2094 — with no comprehensive environmental impact study, despite Prairie Island’s dry casks being located on our ancestral homeland 600 yards from our homes and along a recognized floodplain,” Prairie Island Tribal Council President Johnny Johnson said.
With the Court of Appeals decision vacating the most recently amended regulation to the Waste Confidence Decision, the NRC now has to do a more comprehensive review of on-site storage.
LINK
Southern California Edison says Nuclear Plant out through August
Wayne Barber | Jun 10, 2012
Edison International (NYSE: EIX) subsidiary Southern California Edison (SCE) said late June 7 that it expects both units at the San Onofre nuclear power plant will remain offline through August at least.
The California Independent System Operator (Cal ISO) has already been working on the assumption that the mammoth nuclear plant would not be available this summer. Some fossil generation, which would have otherwise been idle, has been tapped to help the grid operator make it through the summer heat. That’s part of a larger California ISO contingency plan to reduce the risk of potential blackouts.
Edison Chairman and CEO Ted Craver suggested in a news release that Unit 2 could be the first of the reactors to return to commercial operation while Unit 3 is expected to take longer.
All of this is contingent, however, on getting a restart plan approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
SCE is performing various safety tests and inspections and anticipates submitting its plan to the NRC by the end of July. The restart of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, often referred to as SONGS, must be reviewed and approved by NRC. SCE engineers and third-party experts are currently working on a plan to address the NRC Confirmatory Action Letter (CAL) that outlines actions SCE must complete at SONGS before seeking permission from the NRC to restart either of the two pressurized water reactors.
As the actions for each unit are completed, SCE will submit its responses to the NRC. There is no deadline for submitting the action letter responses. A series of regularly scheduled inspections and equipment testing will continue as planned over the next couple of months.
Also, the NRC has set June 18 as the date of a public meeting to discuss the Augmented Inspection Team findings.
NRC and company officials have repeatedly said that the nuclear plant will not restart until they are satisfied it is safe to operate.
Earlier this spring a report sponsored by Friends of the Earth suggested that running the nuclear plant on reduced power should not be considered a viable option.
Unit 2 was taken out of service Jan. 9 for a planned outage. Unit 3 was safely taken off line Jan. 31 after station operators detected a leak in a steam generator tube.
Given that the steam generators were replaced only a few years ago, the unplanned outage has caused a stir in Southern California.
Together, the two nuclear units near San Clemente, Calif., can generate 2,200 MW of power, enough to meet the needs of 1.4 million average homes at any point in time, according to the plant website. A smaller Unit 1 was retired in 1982, according to the website.
Other co-owners in the nuclear plant are Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) subsidiary San Diego Gas & Electric, and the city of Riverside, Calif.
“Replacement power costs for outages associated with the steam generator inspection and repair (commencing on February 1 for Unit 3 and March 5 for Unit 2) through March 31, 2012 were approximately $30 million,” an SCE spokesperson said in a June 8 email.
LINK
Edison International (NYSE: EIX) subsidiary Southern California Edison (SCE) said late June 7 that it expects both units at the San Onofre nuclear power plant will remain offline through August at least.
The California Independent System Operator (Cal ISO) has already been working on the assumption that the mammoth nuclear plant would not be available this summer. Some fossil generation, which would have otherwise been idle, has been tapped to help the grid operator make it through the summer heat. That’s part of a larger California ISO contingency plan to reduce the risk of potential blackouts.
Edison Chairman and CEO Ted Craver suggested in a news release that Unit 2 could be the first of the reactors to return to commercial operation while Unit 3 is expected to take longer.
All of this is contingent, however, on getting a restart plan approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
SCE is performing various safety tests and inspections and anticipates submitting its plan to the NRC by the end of July. The restart of San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, often referred to as SONGS, must be reviewed and approved by NRC. SCE engineers and third-party experts are currently working on a plan to address the NRC Confirmatory Action Letter (CAL) that outlines actions SCE must complete at SONGS before seeking permission from the NRC to restart either of the two pressurized water reactors.
As the actions for each unit are completed, SCE will submit its responses to the NRC. There is no deadline for submitting the action letter responses. A series of regularly scheduled inspections and equipment testing will continue as planned over the next couple of months.
Also, the NRC has set June 18 as the date of a public meeting to discuss the Augmented Inspection Team findings.
NRC and company officials have repeatedly said that the nuclear plant will not restart until they are satisfied it is safe to operate.
Earlier this spring a report sponsored by Friends of the Earth suggested that running the nuclear plant on reduced power should not be considered a viable option.
Unit 2 was taken out of service Jan. 9 for a planned outage. Unit 3 was safely taken off line Jan. 31 after station operators detected a leak in a steam generator tube.
Given that the steam generators were replaced only a few years ago, the unplanned outage has caused a stir in Southern California.
Together, the two nuclear units near San Clemente, Calif., can generate 2,200 MW of power, enough to meet the needs of 1.4 million average homes at any point in time, according to the plant website. A smaller Unit 1 was retired in 1982, according to the website.
Other co-owners in the nuclear plant are Sempra Energy (NYSE: SRE) subsidiary San Diego Gas & Electric, and the city of Riverside, Calif.
“Replacement power costs for outages associated with the steam generator inspection and repair (commencing on February 1 for Unit 3 and March 5 for Unit 2) through March 31, 2012 were approximately $30 million,” an SCE spokesperson said in a June 8 email.
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Friday, June 8, 2012
San Onofre nuclear plant to stay offline this summer
The top official at Edison International said Thursday that the plant will not restart any time soon and that, instead, the utility will lean on a pair of mothballed generating units in Huntington Beach and will implement alerts and incentives for customers to conserve power.
When running at full capacity, San Onofre supplies about 19% of the power to Edison customers in Southern California.
Officials said the contingency plans should be sufficient to get customers through the summer without power shortages under all but the most extreme circumstances.
The plant, located on the coast just south of San Clemente, has been shuttered since Jan. 31, while officials probe the extent and cause of unusual wear on tubes that carry radioactive water in the plant's newly replaced steam generators.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has ordered the plant to stay offline until Edison can identify the exact cause of the wear and determine how to fix it.
Ted Craver, chief executive of Edison, parent company of plant operator Southern California Edison, said the earliest that the Unit 2 reactor could restart would be the end of summer, and Unit 3, which showed more troubling wear, may take longer.
"I don't see how we could submit [a restart plan] to the NRC before the end of July, and their process is maybe another month, so that's the end of August," Craver said.
Making the call on when it is safe to restart the plant will be a "huge decision," he said: "I'm not sure there's going to be a bigger decision I make in my time as CEO here."
The NRC will have final say on when and under what conditions the plant can fire up again. The agency announced Thursday that it has scheduled a public meeting in San Juan Capistrano on June 18 to discuss the initial findings of a special inspection team it dispatched to the plant.
Edison officials believe the perplexing wear is happening because the rate of steam flow among the tubes is causing excessive vibration, leading the tubes to rub against each other. But they still have not pinpointed exactly what led to those conditions.
Reports by environmental group Friends of the Earth have blamed design changes in the replacement steam generators for causing the wear issues. Craver said the steam generators were designed to prevent vibration issues but "the implementation of the design doesn't appear to be meeting the specification."
To date, 1,317 tubes in the plant's two working reactor units have been taken out of service, representing a little more than 3% of all the plant's tubes. About one-third of those were plugged because of excessive wear and the others were plugged as a preventive measure, Craver said.
The short-term plan to restart San Onofre could involve running at lower power to decrease the rate of steam flow. In the longer term, Craver said other options could include adding supports for the tubes or replacing the steam generators entirely. The latter is a costly proposition since the last steam generator replacement came in at an estimated $671 million.
Edison officials have said they will seek to recover the inspection and repair costs under the warranty with steam generator manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, but ratepayers could end up on the hook for the costs to buy replacement power.
The steam generator problems and other issues at the plant have led some environmental groups and local residents to say the plant can't be operated safely and should be decommissioned. San Onofre is one of two nuclear plants in California. The other is the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant in San Luis Obispo County.
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Taylor Wilson: Why we need nuclear energy
Editor's note: Taylor Wilson first became fascinated with nuclear power at the age of 10. The Nevada teen-ager is the youngest person in the world to build a nuclear fusion reactor and has won dozens of national science awards. Now 18, he is now aiming to use his vast knowledge of nuclear physics to try and make nuclear fusion a viable source of power.
(CNN) - Many of the problems we face as a society are rooted in energy. Conflicts are driven by our unending quest for fossil fuels. Clean water, stable food supplies and manufacturing and innovation are all driven by this unquenchable appetite for energy.
As a society we lack that stable supply of energy. There is, however, one source that is completely clean, immensely powerful and incredibly abundant: nuclear fusion.
When the power of the atom was first discovered in the 1930s, scientists immediately realized the atom’s potential not only as a weapon but as a force of good - one that could provide abundant energy, ensure stable food supplies and eradicate disease. In the 1940s, the crash program known as the Manhattan Project brought together the greatest minds in the country to unlock this strong nuclear force. During the next two decades, the promise and peril of nuclear technology was demonstrated and entered American popular culture.
I recently went with a group of friends to see the new "Avengers" movie. It’s impossible to avoid how nuclear technology directly influenced many of characters, from the peril of Bruce Banner’s alter ego, the Hulk, to the promise of Tony Stark’s Arc Reactor. These characters were first penned during the height of American nuclear research in the early 1960s. Popular culture as a whole recognized that while threatening, the newfound power of the atom was the future.
One of these technologies, nuclear fusion, is perhaps the disruptive technology that we are in desperate need of. We don’t have the energy source that the human race will need to survive centuries into the future. We are polluting our planet with fossil fuels and even without this eventuality, the simple fact of the matter is we won’t have fossil fuels forever. In fact, we won’t even have uranium to run commercial nuclear power plants for all that long either. Even if we did, the problems with accidents and spent nuclear fuel are still a major concern with these plants.
Nuclear fusion, on the other hand, is potentially more powerful than our fission-based power stations but depending on the fuel cycle, produces very little to no residual radiation or radioactive waste. It is also universally abundant. The fuels, whether they be hydrogen, heavy-hydrogen, lithium or boron, are found all around us.
Unfortunately, after decades of research, the so called “break-even” point — obtaining more power out of a fusion reaction than is put in - has eluded researchers. The traditional approach of magnetic confinement (typically Tokamaks which essentially consist of a large magnetic thermos for super-hot plasma) works great in principle but as these reactors are scaled up, so are the instabilities that cool the plasma.
Even with these billion-dollar machines, Tokamaks such as ITER are only able to burn Deuterium-Tritium fuels - the byproducts of which lead to low and medium level radioactive waste, extreme structural materials degradation and lead to much of the energy leaving the reactor without imparting energy to the system.
I built a fusion reactor, although very inefficient, when I was fourteen. While that device is old news and intrinsically cannot produce break-even, it can burn the other fuel cycles - the “holy grails” of fusion power that the big-boys’ toys can’t.
For a few million dollars, smaller disruptive technologies of various designs like that reactor will, in my opinion, bring nuclear fusion power closer to reality than the billion-dollar projects ever will. Nuclear energy from fusion provides the energy for all the life we see around us - plants and animals, you and me.
And while it’s easy for the stars to do it with lots of gravity at their disposal, we scientists here on earth have to get clever to unlock its secrets. When we do, we will have brought the power of the heavens down to earth, unlocking the fabled Prometheus’ Fire. and we will have the energy source we need to survive long into the future.
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US nuclear output falls after Indian Point 2 in New York shuts
By Colin McClelland BLOOMBERG NEWS
U.S. nuclear-power production fell for the first time this week after Entergy Corp.’s Indian Point Unit 2 in New York shut down and output slowed at FirstEnergy Corp.’s Perry reactor and Energy Northwest’s Columbia plant.
Generation declined 547 megawatts, or 0.6 percent, from yesterday to 85,342 megawatts, or 84 percent of capacity, according to filings with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and data compiled by Bloomberg. Output was 1.7 percent below a year ago with 9 of 104 reactors shut.
Entergy’s Indian Point 2 reactor was at 1 percent of capacity today, according to the NRC. The unit automatically halted yesterday, and crews were investigating the main electrical generator as the “probable” cause, Jerry Nappi, a spokesman based at the plant, said then in an e-mailed statement. Nappi didn’t immediately reply to a call and e-mail seeking comment today.
The 1,020-megawatt unit on the Hudson River 27 miles (43 kilometers) north of New York City was at full power before it shut down at about 6 a.m. local time, he said yesterday. The 1,025-megawatt Unit 3 is operating at full capacity.
FirstEnergy lowered output from the 1,261-megawatt Perry nuclear reactor in Ohio to 60 percent of capacity from 100 percent to perform fuel integrity testing, quarterly turbine valve testing and a control rod pattern adjustment to improve reactor core performance, Jennifer Young, a spokeswoman at FirstEnergy based in Akron, Ohio, said in an e-mail today.
“The plant is expected to return to 100 percent power this weekend following the work,” Young said. The reactor is located on Lake Erie about 35 miles northeast of Cleveland.
Columbia Salmon
Energy Northwest reduced production by the 1,190-megawatt Columbia reactor, 10 miles north of Richland, Washington, to 85 percent of capacity from 100 percent. The unit periodically reduces output at the request of the Bonneville Power Administration because of high water levels on the Columbia River, according to John Dobken, a spokesman based at the plant.
Hydroelectric plant operators on the river try to avoid spilling water over their dams because that can increase nitrogen levels in the water and harm salmon, Dobken said. Instead, operators run the water through their power-generating turbines, which means less output is needed from the nuclear plant to meet demand, Dobken said.
Saint Lucie
NextEra Energy Inc. increased power from the 839-megawatt Saint Lucie 1 reactor in Florida to 48 percent of capacity from 3 percent. The unit shut June 3 after running at full output the day before.
Victoria Ingalls and Doug Andrews, company spokesmen at the plant 45 miles north of Palm Beach, said yesterday they were consulting with management before commenting.
Dominion Resources Inc. boosted output by the 799-megawatt Surry 1 reactor in Virginia to 30 percent of capacity from 1 percent. The unit shut May 7 until yesterday for refueling, Rick Zuercher, a company spokesman based near Richmond, said by e- mail at the time. The twin Unit 2 at the plant 17 miles northwest of Newport News is operating at full capacity.
Constellation Nuclear Energy Group LLC increased generation at the 1,140-megawatt Nine Mile Point 2 reactor in New York to 19 percent of capacity from 3 percent. The unit shut for refueling and maintenance from April 9 to June 5.
The 621-megawatt Unit 1 is at full power at the site 6 miles northeast of Oswego. Constellation Nuclear Energy is a joint venture of Constellation Energy Group Inc. and Electricite de France SA.
Susquehanna Boost
PPL Corp. raised power at 1,149-megawatt Susquehanna 1 reactor in Pennsylvania to 18 percent of capacity from 4 percent. The unit started June 5 after cracked turbine blades were found during a refueling and maintenance stoppage that began March 31, according to Joe Scopelliti, a company spokesman at the site.
The flaw, found on turbine blades for both units last year, prompted PPL to shut the 1,140-megawatt Susquehanna 2 on May 31 to inspect its turbine for similar wear, Scopelliti said. An engineering review hasn’t determined the cause of the cracking at the plant 50 miles northwest of Allentown, he said.
The Tennessee Valley Authority boosted the Browns Ferry 3 reactor in Alabama to 75 percent of capacity from 68 percent. The unit shut May 30 to June 3 after an electrical fault, according to the NRC.
Browns Ferry
Browns Ferry 1, which has a capacity of 1,065 megawatts, and Unit 2, with a capacity of 1,104, are at full power at the plant 84 miles north of Birmingham near the Tennessee line.
Progress Energy Inc. started the 900-megawatt Harris reactor in North Carolina after a refueling and maintenance halt that began April 20. The unit is at 6 percent of capacity.
Duke Energy Corp. is operating the 846-megawatt Oconee 3 reactor in South Carolina at 3 percent of capacity after planned refueling and maintenance that began April 13. The work included the replacement of an analogue reactor protection system with a digital version, Sandra Magee, a spokeswoman based at the plant, said then in a telephone interview.
Oconee 1 and 2, which also have capacities of 846 megawatts, are running at full power at the site about 30 miles west of Greenville.
Entergy’s Grand Gulf plant in Mississippi is operating at 1 percent of capacity. The 1,297-megawatt unit, located 25 miles southwest of Vicksburg, shut Feb. 19 for refueling and a fire was extinguished April 11 in the A main condenser.
Reactor maintenance shutdowns, usually undertaken in the U.S. spring or fall when energy use is lowest, can increase consumption of natural gas and coal to generate electricity. The average refueling down time was 43 days in 2011, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute.
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U.S. nuclear-power production fell for the first time this week after Entergy Corp.’s Indian Point Unit 2 in New York shut down and output slowed at FirstEnergy Corp.’s Perry reactor and Energy Northwest’s Columbia plant.
Generation declined 547 megawatts, or 0.6 percent, from yesterday to 85,342 megawatts, or 84 percent of capacity, according to filings with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and data compiled by Bloomberg. Output was 1.7 percent below a year ago with 9 of 104 reactors shut.
Entergy’s Indian Point 2 reactor was at 1 percent of capacity today, according to the NRC. The unit automatically halted yesterday, and crews were investigating the main electrical generator as the “probable” cause, Jerry Nappi, a spokesman based at the plant, said then in an e-mailed statement. Nappi didn’t immediately reply to a call and e-mail seeking comment today.
The 1,020-megawatt unit on the Hudson River 27 miles (43 kilometers) north of New York City was at full power before it shut down at about 6 a.m. local time, he said yesterday. The 1,025-megawatt Unit 3 is operating at full capacity.
FirstEnergy lowered output from the 1,261-megawatt Perry nuclear reactor in Ohio to 60 percent of capacity from 100 percent to perform fuel integrity testing, quarterly turbine valve testing and a control rod pattern adjustment to improve reactor core performance, Jennifer Young, a spokeswoman at FirstEnergy based in Akron, Ohio, said in an e-mail today.
“The plant is expected to return to 100 percent power this weekend following the work,” Young said. The reactor is located on Lake Erie about 35 miles northeast of Cleveland.
Columbia Salmon
Energy Northwest reduced production by the 1,190-megawatt Columbia reactor, 10 miles north of Richland, Washington, to 85 percent of capacity from 100 percent. The unit periodically reduces output at the request of the Bonneville Power Administration because of high water levels on the Columbia River, according to John Dobken, a spokesman based at the plant.
Hydroelectric plant operators on the river try to avoid spilling water over their dams because that can increase nitrogen levels in the water and harm salmon, Dobken said. Instead, operators run the water through their power-generating turbines, which means less output is needed from the nuclear plant to meet demand, Dobken said.
Saint Lucie
NextEra Energy Inc. increased power from the 839-megawatt Saint Lucie 1 reactor in Florida to 48 percent of capacity from 3 percent. The unit shut June 3 after running at full output the day before.
Victoria Ingalls and Doug Andrews, company spokesmen at the plant 45 miles north of Palm Beach, said yesterday they were consulting with management before commenting.
Dominion Resources Inc. boosted output by the 799-megawatt Surry 1 reactor in Virginia to 30 percent of capacity from 1 percent. The unit shut May 7 until yesterday for refueling, Rick Zuercher, a company spokesman based near Richmond, said by e- mail at the time. The twin Unit 2 at the plant 17 miles northwest of Newport News is operating at full capacity.
Constellation Nuclear Energy Group LLC increased generation at the 1,140-megawatt Nine Mile Point 2 reactor in New York to 19 percent of capacity from 3 percent. The unit shut for refueling and maintenance from April 9 to June 5.
The 621-megawatt Unit 1 is at full power at the site 6 miles northeast of Oswego. Constellation Nuclear Energy is a joint venture of Constellation Energy Group Inc. and Electricite de France SA.
Susquehanna Boost
PPL Corp. raised power at 1,149-megawatt Susquehanna 1 reactor in Pennsylvania to 18 percent of capacity from 4 percent. The unit started June 5 after cracked turbine blades were found during a refueling and maintenance stoppage that began March 31, according to Joe Scopelliti, a company spokesman at the site.
The flaw, found on turbine blades for both units last year, prompted PPL to shut the 1,140-megawatt Susquehanna 2 on May 31 to inspect its turbine for similar wear, Scopelliti said. An engineering review hasn’t determined the cause of the cracking at the plant 50 miles northwest of Allentown, he said.
The Tennessee Valley Authority boosted the Browns Ferry 3 reactor in Alabama to 75 percent of capacity from 68 percent. The unit shut May 30 to June 3 after an electrical fault, according to the NRC.
Browns Ferry
Browns Ferry 1, which has a capacity of 1,065 megawatts, and Unit 2, with a capacity of 1,104, are at full power at the plant 84 miles north of Birmingham near the Tennessee line.
Progress Energy Inc. started the 900-megawatt Harris reactor in North Carolina after a refueling and maintenance halt that began April 20. The unit is at 6 percent of capacity.
Duke Energy Corp. is operating the 846-megawatt Oconee 3 reactor in South Carolina at 3 percent of capacity after planned refueling and maintenance that began April 13. The work included the replacement of an analogue reactor protection system with a digital version, Sandra Magee, a spokeswoman based at the plant, said then in a telephone interview.
Oconee 1 and 2, which also have capacities of 846 megawatts, are running at full power at the site about 30 miles west of Greenville.
Entergy’s Grand Gulf plant in Mississippi is operating at 1 percent of capacity. The 1,297-megawatt unit, located 25 miles southwest of Vicksburg, shut Feb. 19 for refueling and a fire was extinguished April 11 in the A main condenser.
Reactor maintenance shutdowns, usually undertaken in the U.S. spring or fall when energy use is lowest, can increase consumption of natural gas and coal to generate electricity. The average refueling down time was 43 days in 2011, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute.
LINK
Worried About Jobs, Japan's PM Restarts Two Nuclear Reactors
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said on Friday he has decided that two idled nuclear reactors in western Japan must be restarted to protect jobs and avoid damage to the economy, adding that steps had been taken to prevent a recurrence of the Fukushima disaster.
The decision - expected to be confirmed at a meeting with key ministers - will ease worries about power shortages among firms in the region, including struggling electronics giants Panasonic Corp and Sharp Corp.
But the move, seen by many as a first step to bringing more reactors on line, could undermine Noda's already sagging support among voters still worried about safety after the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
Noda said the government had confirmed that even if Kansai Electric Co's two reactors at its Ohi plant in Fukui lost power as happened after Fukushima, there would be no damage to the reactors' core.
"Cheap and stable electricity is vital. If all the reactors that previously provided 30 percent of Japan's electricity supply are halted, or kept idle, Japanese society cannot survive," Noda said, pointing to the possibility that more companies would shift production offshore and jobs would be lost.
"It is my decision that Ohi reactors No.3 and No.4 should be restarted to protect the people's livelihoods," Noda said. Nuclear power had supplied nearly 30 percent of Japan's electricity needs before last year's earthquake and tsunami wrecked the Fukushima plant.
All of the country's 50 reactors have been taken offline since then, risking power shortages especially in the western metropolis of Osaka and other parts of Kansai Electric Power Co's service area.
A group of regional governors, long concerned about whether it was safe to resume power generation at the two reactors, last week signaled their agreement to the restarts as a "limited" step.
But the governor of the host prefecture of Fukui has yet to sign off, saying the ball was in the government's court and insisting that Noda make his stance clear to the public. A formal decision is expected to be made at a meeting of Noda and other key ministers after the Fukui governor responds.
The decision - expected to be confirmed at a meeting with key ministers - will ease worries about power shortages among firms in the region, including struggling electronics giants Panasonic Corp and Sharp Corp.
But the move, seen by many as a first step to bringing more reactors on line, could undermine Noda's already sagging support among voters still worried about safety after the world's worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.
Noda said the government had confirmed that even if Kansai Electric Co's two reactors at its Ohi plant in Fukui lost power as happened after Fukushima, there would be no damage to the reactors' core.
"Cheap and stable electricity is vital. If all the reactors that previously provided 30 percent of Japan's electricity supply are halted, or kept idle, Japanese society cannot survive," Noda said, pointing to the possibility that more companies would shift production offshore and jobs would be lost.
"It is my decision that Ohi reactors No.3 and No.4 should be restarted to protect the people's livelihoods," Noda said. Nuclear power had supplied nearly 30 percent of Japan's electricity needs before last year's earthquake and tsunami wrecked the Fukushima plant.
All of the country's 50 reactors have been taken offline since then, risking power shortages especially in the western metropolis of Osaka and other parts of Kansai Electric Power Co's service area.
A group of regional governors, long concerned about whether it was safe to resume power generation at the two reactors, last week signaled their agreement to the restarts as a "limited" step.
But the governor of the host prefecture of Fukui has yet to sign off, saying the ball was in the government's court and insisting that Noda make his stance clear to the public. A formal decision is expected to be made at a meeting of Noda and other key ministers after the Fukui governor responds.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
China to Stoke Nuclear Power
State-Owned Firm Plans IPO to Fund Reactors; $5.4 Billion Deal Is Possible
Associated Press
A nuclear reactor under construction in Hainan province in December. China has 14 reactors in service.
The state-owned nuclear-power operator didn't give any other details about the timing or size of the offering on its statement posted Tuesday on the website of the Ministry of Environmental Protection, but analysts said such a deal could raise as much as $5.4 billion for the Chinese government. At that size, it would be China's biggest IPO since Agricultural Bank of China Ltd. raised $10.1 billion in Shanghai as part of its $22.1 billion dual listing in Hong Kong and Shanghai in July 2010, according to Dealogic.China suspended the construction of new reactors following the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan last year. However, the State Council, or cabinet, said last week that leaders had approved the country's 2020 nuclear-safety strategy and had completed inspection of existing nuclear reactors, a sign that approvals may soon resume.
China National Nuclear Power, according to a statement on the environmental ministry website, will sell shares to raise funds for nuclear-power projects in Fujian, Zhejiang, Hainan and Jiangsu provinces, the statement said, adding that these projects were approved by China's National Development and Reform Commission between 2008 and 2010. Those projects require 173.5 billion yuan in funding, it said. In a separate statement on the website, the ministry said China National Nuclear had passed its environmental tests, a necessary step before the company can file for a listing with the China Securities Regulatory Commission, the securities regulator.
Chinese laws require a minimum of 20% of equity for power projects, with the rest coming from loans, meaning China National Nuclear would need to raise $5.4 billion in equity to meet that level. But because the projects will be phased in over a number of years, the IPO might not raise that entire minimum amount, analysts say.
Even so, the IPO could be asking a lot of the country's equity markets. The commission hasn't approved any sizable IPOs since May, when the regulator gave the green light to China Postal Express & Logistics Co.'s potentially 9.98 billion yuan deal, though that has yet to launch. Since early May, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index is down 4%.
"A big IPO would weigh on the stock market further as it would divert funds from the secondary market, especially when the sentiment remains fragile," said Yang Delong, a fund manager at China Southern Fund.
China is moving toward a big expansion of its nuclear sector. The country's long-term plans include the construction of as many as 100 reactors over the next two decades. While the government controls electricity prices—making it difficult to determine just how lucrative China's energy sector is—the country is clearly moving away from coal as a fuel source, a positive for companies like China National Nuclear Power that build nuclear-power plants. China's nuclear-power capacity could rise to between 60 gigawatts and 70 gigawatts by 2020, missing expectations of 80 gigawatts because of the suspension, local media has reported.
The country has 14 nuclear reactors in service, which together produce 11.8 gigawatts, and it plans to expand its nuclear-power generating capacity to 40 gigawatts by 2015.
China National Nuclear Power's state-owned parent, China National Nuclear Corp., has two listed subsidiaries already: Hong Kong-traded CNNC International Ltd., 2302.HK +5.05% which is involved in overseas uranium supply, and Shenzhen-listed Sufa Technology Industry Co., 000777.SZ -1.84% which makes valves for nuclear-power equipment.
Profit at parent China National Nuclear Corp. rose 16% in 2011 from a year earlier, it said on its website, without elaborating. Its target profit in 2012 is 7.5 billion yuan, according to the website.
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Pennsylvania: Unit 1 at Susquehanna Nuclear Plant Returns to Service Following Outage
BERWICK, Pa., June 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Unit 1 at the Susquehanna nuclear power plant in Luzerne County, Pa., resumed generating electricity for customers Thursday (6/7) after a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage.
Plant operator PPL Susquehanna LLC also announced that it has found no turbine blade cracks on Unit 2, which was shut down May 30 for inspection based on the discovery of cracks on some Unit 1 turbine blades, which were replaced during the just-completed outage.
"Our focus on the long-term safe operation of the plant guides decisions on equipment issues such as these," said Timothy S. Rausch, PPL Susquehanna senior vice president and chief nuclear officer. "We have determined that we do not need to replace blades on the Unit 2 turbine, but will install more diagnostic equipment on the turbine before restarting the unit."
Diagnostic equipment on the turbines of both Susquehanna units will be used to validate the suspected causes currently under engineering review.
During the Unit 1 scheduled outage, which began March 31, workers completed hundreds of maintenance tasks and upgrades, replaced about 40 percent of the uranium fuel, and replaced turbine blades where indications of cracks were found during an inspection.
"Going into the refueling outage, we proactively planned the Unit 1 turbine inspection, and were well-prepared for the blade replacement work we conducted," Rausch said.
PPL Corporation said the total impact of the turbine blade inspection and replacements for both units is not expected to be material and the company is maintaining its 2012 forecast of $2.15 to $2.45 per share in earnings from ongoing operations.
The two units at the Susquehanna plant have a generating capacity of about 2,500 megawatts.
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Plant operator PPL Susquehanna LLC also announced that it has found no turbine blade cracks on Unit 2, which was shut down May 30 for inspection based on the discovery of cracks on some Unit 1 turbine blades, which were replaced during the just-completed outage.
"Our focus on the long-term safe operation of the plant guides decisions on equipment issues such as these," said Timothy S. Rausch, PPL Susquehanna senior vice president and chief nuclear officer. "We have determined that we do not need to replace blades on the Unit 2 turbine, but will install more diagnostic equipment on the turbine before restarting the unit."
Diagnostic equipment on the turbines of both Susquehanna units will be used to validate the suspected causes currently under engineering review.
During the Unit 1 scheduled outage, which began March 31, workers completed hundreds of maintenance tasks and upgrades, replaced about 40 percent of the uranium fuel, and replaced turbine blades where indications of cracks were found during an inspection.
"Going into the refueling outage, we proactively planned the Unit 1 turbine inspection, and were well-prepared for the blade replacement work we conducted," Rausch said.
PPL Corporation said the total impact of the turbine blade inspection and replacements for both units is not expected to be material and the company is maintaining its 2012 forecast of $2.15 to $2.45 per share in earnings from ongoing operations.
The two units at the Susquehanna plant have a generating capacity of about 2,500 megawatts.
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Hungary's nuclear power project vied by Rosatom
Russian firm Rosatom is keen to upgrade and expand Hungary's Paks nuclear power plant, including financing and construction of new power blocks.
An official from Rosatom was quoted by the business daily Napi Gazdasag as saying that the company intended to fully finance the estimated 3 trillion forints ($12.4bn) construction cost of the plant.
The Hungarian government is expected to float the construction tender for up to 3,000 megawatts (MW) in new nuclear power capacity at the Paks site to augment an aging fleet of power stations.
The current plant at Paks, which is located 100km south of the capital Budapest, generates 2,000MW of electricity by using four Russian-made VVER reactors to provide power to about 40% of the country's population.
Built in the 1980s, the Paks reactors are undergoing life span extension projects and are expected to generate power until 2030.
The new nuclear units are intended to increase Hungary's reliance on nuclear power to 60% of the electricity mix, and are expected to be operational between 2020 and 2030.
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An official from Rosatom was quoted by the business daily Napi Gazdasag as saying that the company intended to fully finance the estimated 3 trillion forints ($12.4bn) construction cost of the plant.
The Hungarian government is expected to float the construction tender for up to 3,000 megawatts (MW) in new nuclear power capacity at the Paks site to augment an aging fleet of power stations.
The current plant at Paks, which is located 100km south of the capital Budapest, generates 2,000MW of electricity by using four Russian-made VVER reactors to provide power to about 40% of the country's population.
Built in the 1980s, the Paks reactors are undergoing life span extension projects and are expected to generate power until 2030.
The new nuclear units are intended to increase Hungary's reliance on nuclear power to 60% of the electricity mix, and are expected to be operational between 2020 and 2030.
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